Why baptise young ones?

dobbie

Just had two months worth of mags shoved through my door(thank goodness i wasn't in but out with kids having fun!)Had a flick through them but what caught my attention was the july 1st watchtower 2nd study article "Youths, make it your choice to serve Jehovah". It seems to be basically encouraging all the young ones to get baptised, and mentions one boy who was only thirteen!I was'nt born into the jws but i know that in my early teen years i would personally never have been emotionally ready for such a major commitment. It just seems odd that they go on about how its wrong to christen babies but its okay to baptise young teenagers and bind them even closer to all the doctrines. I know my husband used to get a lot of pressure to get baptised and finally gave in at 18 whereas the rest of his sibs were still at school, think he was the most sensible one, what happens if the blood issue comes up and they have to deal with it what a lot of burden on young shoulders! Sorry to go on about it but it just does'nt seem right to me.

free2beme

Get them baptized before they get old enough to ask any real life-questions and get them under control. Now the Witness reason, "Never to young to dedicate your life to Jehovah and it might help you stay out of troubles as a teen knowing you have a commitment."

SirNose586

Get them started young, and they'll be pro salespersons for life!

Inquisitor

Answering your question from the Org's perspective, I'm sure JWs wouldn't hesitate to point to the examples of young Samuel (the prophet) or 12-year-old Jesus to insist that even young teens can serve Jehovah with a "sound mind". And so if they are ready to serve at that age, they can ~~enslav~~ dedicate themselves to do ~~Org's~~ God's bidding.

Never forget that a fundie's first line of defense is scripture. In their minds, the literal interpretation of scripture trumps all.

INQ

foundfreedom

I was 12 when I was baptised. I kind of pushed my daughter to be when she was around 16 but then I gave up when I could see it just wasnt in her heart to do so! I am really happy that she never was and my 11yr old son will never have to go through that emotional turmoil like my daughter and I had to. I was pushed into it by my dad who was an elder at the time.