Baptisim BlackMail

by OUTLAW 27 Replies latest jw friends

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  Bumble Bee

  Lilycurly, your story mirrors mine. I was 18 as well. Even back then I still didn't really know what JW's really truly believed. I was terrified to go through the questions, terrified that they would discover how ignorant of my so called beliefs I was. I was so relieved to find out all I really had to do was quote from the scriptures listed in the book. I only prayed about my dedication because I thought that's what I should do, but I really had no clue.

  And the bathing suit was another thing! We were at a CA, and we had to walk along a red carpet through the crowd to the pool! Every body turned out to watch the baptisms there, and of course, because it was the two of us (my brother), all my family came out, even non JW's!
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  Finally-Free

  Peer pressure. As an adult recruit I was made to feel that I would continue to be viewed as "bad association" until I was baptised. I thought I might have a social life after baptism. I was wrong. Even after baptism I was viewed by many as "bad association" because I used to be "worldly". The same thing happened to most adult recruits that I knew, except of course, those who were very well off financially. They were popular from the first day they walked into the hall, and they were always fast tracked in the congregation.

  W
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  OUTLAW

  Finally-Free..Us 3rd generation JW`s,were better than the 2nd generation JW`s..Certainly better than the ones who had just joined,but we tolorate you..LOL!!..What a crock of Sh*t!..Thank God I got out as a teenager..When your a 3rd generation JW,you have to polish your ass before you go to the Kingdom Hall..That gives everybody something shiny to kiss..LOL!!...OUTLAW
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  LovesDubs

  I was told after making the JWs I had become friends with that if I didnt get baptized, they could no longer associate with me. They told me I had six months and then our friendship would have to end!
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  Dagney

  My siblings were baptised at the god-awful ages of 5 and 7 in the 1940's.

  Pressure started on me when I was about 8. I finally succumbed at 13.

  Pressure!!!!!! Blackmail!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  You bet.
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  Lilycurly

  Bumble Bee---Good to know I wasn't alone in that case.

  Although I have to say that I knew everything I "beleived" by heart when came the questions. And by beleive, I mean....what I was supposed to beleive to not die horribly by the hands of God. For me it was very similar to an exam at school. I studied a lot, learned everything from a tender age, but never truly cared. It was very strange that I could know all of this stuff, and have everyone around including myself think that I accepted them as the truth...while still having that subconscious part of me who didn't give a crap and knew this was all just routine. And that part of me woke up a few years later.

  Maybe that's what being brainwashed feels like...it's not really you...there's always that very fain voice that tells you it isn't really you...
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  avidbiblereader

  I felt I had to get baptised to date as I joined when I was 18, I have also seen many baptise to play the game and a dedication was the last thing on their minds.

  abr
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  wonderwoman

  Daddy Dearest was a big shot elder and our little family was expected to be a shining example of a jw family at all times. All the other kids my age were baptized already or planning to. Everyone was on my ass at every second asking when, why not, where, with who...and I finally caved at 13 so I could do it with my girlfriend. Answering the questions to pepare for baptism only made me more confused and depressed. The day of was the worst day of my life. My dad was a huge dick that day, berating me for everything from the dress I wore to me wanting to sit by my friends during lunch. He humiliated me in front of everyone, refused a special dinner with my grandparents (who drove up for the occasion), and at the end of what is supposed to be the most glorious day for any witness, I had come up with a zillion reasons I didn't want to be one.
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  jaguarbass

  I felt I was forced into being baptized. I wanted to marry a girl from the hall and in order to use the hall for the wedding ceremony I had to get baptized. I didnt want to chance loosing the familys blessing on the relationship. So I got baptized, we both did. I got married in 72 so the Armeggodon in 75 buzz was building momentum. And I became a pretty good jw for about 3 years. When 75 came and went, I started to cool and left in 83 never been back.
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  serendipity

  According to my Dad, I was a bad example to my younger siblings because I was not baptized and in college. Since I lived at home, he thought he'd give me incentive: get baptized or get out.
  
  Finishing college was important to me, so I got baptized.