I am surprised!
Way back in '05 -----I mean '75 the lines for the baptismal candidates were soooo long!
Young and old stood in line to get dunked so they would survive the "BIG A" that was coming that year!
Disgusting comment regarding the baptism at the DC
by under_believer 68 Replies latest jw friends
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anewme
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Nosferatu
I wonder if they had enough chlorine in the pool to kill all of the bacteria from the urine....
Ewww, baptismal pee.
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SirNose586
" "how many young people are choosing to dedicate their lives to Jehovah..." Yeah, right. "Choosing." As if they had much choice in the matter. I remember the comments about how old I was getting to be, and "oh, my goodness, still not baptized?" the dirty looks, the hints, the talks about how we wouldn't be under the parents' umbrella of protection if Armageddon came right now, better hurry and get in the protection program, lol."
--Virgochik
Sounds very familiar. I got dunked so they would stop bothering me. Little did I realize, the hinting, the bothering, the bugging, the suggesting, the persuasion, the nagging, and the lecturing never ends... -
XBEHERE
I always wondered how they can claim that baptism is a more serious step than marriage and yet at 11,12,13 if you go to the elders and want to get dunked they say yes. This same person 5+ yrs later wants to date and get married and they advise him or her to wait until they are older and can make a more reasonable "mature" decision. Yeah that makes perfect sense...IDIOTS!
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under_believer
What's weird about it is when I was baptized (late 80's) people getting baptized young was frowned on, at least in my congregation. One young guy I knew got baptized at 14 and I remember many negative comments about it from certain (though not all) elders in my hall.
I think that the "understanding" on this issue has slowly shifted over the years.
OTOH, I remember my elder Dad talking down to a certain brother in our hall because he encouraged his kid to wait until his 20's "just in case he did something that could get him disfellowshipped." -
Jourles
how old I was getting to be, and "oh, my goodness, still not baptized?" the dirty looks, the hints, the talks about how we wouldn't be under the parents' umbrella of protection if Armageddon came right now
I wonder if the "brothers" have a harder time with this. Since I was baptized at 18, it was probably beginning to look like I might skip out. In the congregation I was in when I was baptized, there was one particular brother who ALWAYS asked me to say prayer. AND I WASN'T BAPTIZED YET. I would get that little nervous look on my face and shake my head slightly. Then he would say, "Oh that's right. I forgot you're not baptized yet." If you went and visited friends out of state, they would ask you to say prayer at the meals. Do you know how embarrassed you feel when you say you can't 'cause you're not baptized yet? If you're old enough to grow facial hair, or drive for that matter, it is automatically assumed that you are already baptized.
In my case, embarrassment worked wonders. No wonder I hate the org with a passion these days.
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SirNose586
"I wonder if the "brothers" have a harder time with this. Since I was baptized at 18, it was probably beginning to look like I might skip out. In the congregation I was in when I was baptized, there was one particular brother who ALWAYS asked me to say prayer. AND I WASN'T BAPTIZED YET. I would get that little nervous look on my face and shake my head slightly. Then he would say, "Oh that's right. I forgot you're not baptized yet." If you went and visited friends out of state, they would ask you to say prayer at the meals. Do you know how embarrassed you feel when you say you can't 'cause you're not baptized yet? If you're old enough to grow facial hair, or drive for that matter, it is automatically assumed that you are already baptized.
In my case, embarrassment worked wonders. No wonder I hate the org with a passion these days."
--Jourles
Wow, that's dirt. Yeah, the pressure is always harder on the brothers. That always bugged me...since sisters didn't have any responsibilities, they weren't pressured as hard. Wouldn't it be fair to bug them just as much as the males got bugged? Apparently not. -
Bstndance
The pressure started at 13 and went on until I was 15 and the only one not baptized my age. I lasted about a year and then left.
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greendawn
It appears that they are desperately trying to keep up their numbers but this is not fair on the children who will have to meet the strict demands of the cult, and the consequences if they don't live up to them, sooner or later, demands that they are not in a position to understand at this age.
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Good Girl or Bad Girl?
"how many young people are choosing to dedicate their lives to Jehovah..." Yeah, right. "Choosing." As if they had much choice in the matter. I remember the comments about how old I was getting to be, and "oh, my goodness, still not baptized?" the dirty looks, the hints, the talks about how we wouldn't be under the parents' umbrella of protection if Armageddon came right now, better hurry and get in the protection program, lol.
I was pretty much told, I had better get signed up for the questions and baptized at the next circus ass-embly. Reminded I was old enough to take my stand for Jehoopla, and if I wasn't for him, I was against him. Comments and dark looks about being old enough to move out... yes, free choice here!
Virgochik, this is EXACTLY how I feel - I have non-JW friends who just do not understand how I could have felt coerced/forced; it's exactly this: they make you feel like you are such an outcast/freak/bad person if you are not yet baptized and since you have little/no contact with the real world you have no way to know how things really are. Baptized Girl