LOL--we can liken it to the topic/subject just below this one--A dog pissed all over me. . .
Do You Recognize Your Baptism?
by sweetstuff 67 Replies latest jw friends
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dobbie
Wow i can't believe how young some of you were to get baptised. One thing that attracted me to it was because my jw pal told me they waited until they were adults rather than christened like babies. I think its flipping wrong to baptise anyone under the age of 18 tbh! Anyway my baptism (at 20) was now obviously based on a load of lies and pure rubbish so as far as i'm concerned it was just a dip in a swimming pool by two silly men and nothing more than that. And if i do think of my baptism at all it is just to wish that i hadn't done it!(though i wouldn't have my kids so i suppose there's good out of everything bad)
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kerj2leev
All I was thinking about was the pressies I would get
I got a leather book bag! I was hoping for a nice 4 door car, so I could preach!
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Narkissos
Yes. I was only 13 but I did it, nobody else.
This is a part of my life story I have to own to and re-interpret, rather than pretending "I" was not "really" there. Regardless of any influence, pressure and misinformation, I was.
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sweetstuff
Yes. I was only 13 but I did it, nobody else.
This is a part of my life story I have to own to and re-interpret, rather than pretending "I" was not "really" there. Regardless of any influence, pressure and misinformation, I was.
I respect your standpoint Nark but I do wonder, how someone can hold themselves responsible for a decision made at the age of 13 when by law, they can't drive a car, drink alcohol, marry, vote.Would you view a child taking a temper tantrum at 13 because they didn't get their way and a 30 year old adult doing the same thing as equal? Or would you give the 13 year old a certain amount of give, because he or she hasn't developed into a complete person yet?
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nvrgnbk
I got jacksquat too.
Now at my Satanic baptism...
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dedpoet
I did when it happened, but I was 41 at the time, and more than
old enough to know better than get embroiled in a cult like the jws.15 years or so after the event it's just an unpleasant memory,
like the rest of my time as a jw, and one that fades with every
passing year. -
Narkissos
sweetstuff,
My pov is more psychological than legal I guess. When exactly do you get to be a "complete person," or your "true self"? If you start picking and choosing within your life story where you were really there and where you were not really there, how can you know you won't disown tomorrow what you are doing and saying right now?
We all have to deal with guilt and responsibility about our past actions and words. The alibi, I wasn't there, just seems a very poor strategy to me. It begs for the question, where were you then?
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sweetstuff
sweetstuff,
My pov is more psychological than legal I guess. When exactly do you get to be a "complete person," or your "true self"? If you start picking and choosing within your life story where you were really there and where you were not really there, how can you know you won't disown tomorrow what you are doing and saying right now?
We all have to deal with guilt and responsibility about our past actions and words. The alibi, I wasn't there, just seems a very poor strategy to me. It begs for the question, where were you then?
From a psychological standpoint, we are at 13, 14 largely undeveloped, and while obviously we were all there physically, in many cases it was under derrest and extreme sociological pressure. While there is no magic age when you become a complete person, because we all in fact learn until we die, change, grow, most psychologists would agree, a child is a far cry from being mentally and emotionally aware of all aspects of their decisions or in this case, of the decisions they are pushed towards.
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educ8self
It does make sense from a spiritual point of view, here is what I mean: If the majority of people on here does not recognize there is any such thing as spirituality, or if their idea of such is so far removed from the JW one, then it couldn't be recognized in the same way as the JWs would view it. Yes it may be reinterpreted based on your current view, but then that's just another view - unless we can actually comment to the effect of what actually happend regardless of the perspective (or story, including psych theory) you view it from.
In any case, the main theme amongst ex-JWs seems to be they know what they are NOT, so in terms of who they ARE and how that experience fits into it, it would of course still be a work in progress, in spite of the obvious tendancy to disidentify with that past identity. (which is, of course a way of being defined by it - as it's opposite) For that matter, if someone is completely absorbed in an interpretation of their life story, they will not see who they are now, without any story. Being without a story (an interpretation/rationalization of past events) is actually being free from it.
edited to add:
I guess I should really say being free from any story, rather than the JW one in favor of another. But whatever floats your boat.