Baptism and At What Age? (page 2)

Seeker4

I was 11. What idiocy. You should be of legal age, minimum. After college at least!

I think the minimum age should be 33. Hey, if it was good enough for Jesus, ti should work for the rest of us!

S4

Good Girl or Bad Girl?

How is it that someone can dedicate their life to Jehovah at these ages, when maturity is still in development? This seems to be something that JW's push and practice on a regular basis. You wouldn't let someone get married at those ages, then why would anyone let them get baptized at these ages?

I agree with this. During their marriage talks they say that marriage is the #2 most important thing you will ever do in your life. #1 is baptism. How can they "force" you to make a lifelong choice at such a young age, when you aren't even able to do the #2 most important thing?!? No, they don't actually force you. But if you are like me, 15-16 years old and still unbaptized (I finally took the plunge at 16 - last one in my congregation in my age group), all of your friends' parents will not let them associate with you anymore. You will be "marked" in a way, and you will feel it in the most blatant and painful way because everyone will continually say to you, "when are you going to get baptized?" "why haven't you gotten baptized yet?" "oh, SHE isn't baptized! (in shocked voice to each other in your presence, yes this did happen)" No, they don't force you. They just shake your whole known world until you do something about it to gain back some level of normalcy. ~GG/BG

done4good

I was 15. I remember there being "parties" or witness get-togethers where only baptized kids were allowed to go to. I thought it was such crap, even then. I should have took that as my cue, and just got out then.

j

kid-A

I was like you, faded out after fighting off baptism pressures before the age of 18.

I think 16-18 are crucial years and many young dubs will either decide to leave or stay within these two years. Therefore, its extremely important for the borg

to assimilate them before 16, when the serious doubts really start to emerge in the maturing mind.

karnage

My sister was baptized at 14 or 15, soon after that... she was having sex in the back seat of cars, smoking and God knows what else. She is now DF'd and living with her partner (she's a lesbian). I remember her ramping up her studies and pressing hard towards baptism because her associates were all doing it and she liked a Ministerial Servant in the congregation.

She regrets thinking it out a little more.

Phil

I was a Catholic when I was baptized before I was one year old. The claim was that if you are not baptized and you die, you will not go to heaven. You will go to a place called Limbo. What that means I have no idea. This baptisim thing is a crock anyway. It was invented by man for obvious reasons.

becca1

I was 10. Do you think "it took"?

undercover

You wouldn't let someone get married at those ages, then why would anyone let them get baptized at these ages?

Good question.

According to the WTS, getting baptized is the most important decision of your life. The second most important decision is if to marry and to who(m?).

When it comes to baptism, they push for children to hurry up and make that dedication. Yes, children. Anyone under the age of 18 is a child, legally speaking. But then when a young adult, 18, 19 or 20 speaks of marriage, all of a sudden everyone feels that they are too young to make such a monumental decision.

Why is it that they were mature enough at 14, 15 or 16 to make the most important decision of their life, but yet at the age of 18, 19 or 20 they aren't mature enough to make a secondary decision?

avidbiblereader

Sad they know and so do we, why they do it.

abr

annalice

I was baptized at 16. i noe consider that null and void. If I legally was not able to get married at that age how could they baptize me that young?

I have always wondered why if we are always told that the things mentioned in the bible are there for us to follow and live our lives by, WHY do we not follow the example set by Jesus and wait until our thirties to get baptized? Why is his age specifically mentioned if not for an example for us to follow? If Jesus had been baptized at 16 and that was mentioned in the bible you sure as hell can believe that that would be the age EVERYONE would be baptized by. Are they scared that with out that control over us that even more of us would leave the org? And so what if more did leave why would they want them around any way if there were not right for their organization. Shouldnt they be concerned with the quality of each witness rather thatn the quantity? If Jesus felt comfortable going around and preaching and teaching to others through his teens and twenties and not making that public declaration of water batism until his thirties why is that not good enough for us to follow?

Baptism and At What Age?

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