is my baptisum as a minor vaild?

by highdose 16 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  highdose

  as a young minor, barely into my teens i was in a congo that had extreme peer pressure to get baptized. in fact you were seen as a bad person if you didn't, and everyone else my age was, the threat was that if you were the last to get baptized of your generation then you would be seen as unspiritual.

  this and some other things have troubled me since:

  when i came to be baptized i was suffering from an illness that greatly affected my concentration.

  when it came to the assembly and i had to stand and answer those two questions i was shaking so much i didn't actauly say anything, in fact my mouth wouldn't open.

  i am totaly sure that if i had waited until age 30 to get baptized as Jesus did, i never would have got baptized at all.

  so my question is: was my baptisum actualy vaild? or did it mean nothing except a young badly informed brainwashed child going along with peer pressure?
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  Black Sheep

  I have never heard of anyone claiming an invalid baptism on the grounds that they didn't repeat the vows.

  If they don't completely submerse you the baptism is repeated straight away, but that is different as there are witnesses.

  How you could make it stick when you probably don't have any witnesses to your misdemeanor, is an interesting question.

  If you confessed to the elders that you didn't say the vows, then your confession should be enough. (No need for two witnesses.)

  In my humble opinion, they should not be able to DF you.

  The statement "Highdose is no longer a JW" is not correct either, because you never were, so DA is out too.

  A lot probably depends on the elders you take it to.

  Cheers

  Chris
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  highdose

  "confess to the elders my misdemenour"? i never thought of it as a misdemenour, maybe they would?

  i don't intend going to some stuffy elders to be told off, looked down on, and generaly made to feel worthless, this question is for my own mental well being... which frankly is just as important, if not more so.

  I was baptised at the time when there was alot of talk about how JW's children were alot more mature than wordly ones and that therefore they were bascaily "mini adults" and capable of making a decision about blood and wether to get baptised. as a adult now, i can see that this is total rubbish!
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  alanv

  I'm sorry to say I think your baptism will stand as far as the local elders are concerned. After all anybody could use that excuse when they finally realize they need to get out of the religeon. If that is how you feel now, ther are two ways to leave. One is by simply fading away as I have done or formally disassociate yourself. It depends very much on whether you still have family in. I have heard of people who get rebaptised who felt there original baptism did not mean anything.
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  Tired of the Hypocrisy

  The jw's standard is that any Catholic baptism of a child is invalid because the Catholic Church is not the True Church and that one MUST be rebaptized for salvation. So, using their own standard I would have to say that since the wbts is not the true church either, then a child's baptism is not valid.
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  wobble

  Highdose,

  Before taking any action on this,I would advise you to read similar threads on here,use search,basically they can claim that by your subsequent actions and way of life you believed your baptism was valid,and so they can DF or DA you, especially if you are male and accepted appointment to office.

  Love

  Wobble
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  AllTimeJeff

  Hi there. My brother and I both were baptized when we hit 13. As minors, we didn't understand the full import of our decision, and definitely at the age of 13, were unable to make such a lifelong committment.

  I am afraid that while you have the high moral ground, the Governing Body views your decision made as a minor as lifelong and valid. Even though you have since changed your thinking, you will be unable to lay down your vow. They have you, hook, line and sinker on that one.

  I apologize if this isn't the news you wanted to hear, but there isn't any point in holding out hope when it doesn't exist. To them, you are viewed as forever baptized as a JW.
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  blondie

  The problem with this approach is that many religions baptize members who are under 18, Baptists for one,

  Many churches have forms where parents have to give signed authorization (not true in the case of jws).

  http://joyfulministry.com/bapinstt.htm

  What would happen in the WTS had a similar form?
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  ablebodiedman

  If you made a vow:

  In the name of the father

  and of the son

  and in association with; "God's Spirit Directed Organization"

  Then your baptism is automatically invalid because this is NOT what Jesus Christ commanded!

  abe
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  freddo

  Check out WT 1964 P126 First Paragraph.

  "However, it is a different matter when a person was committing a serious wrongdoing at the time of his "dedication" and baptism and even thereafter. If one was habitually sinning, practicing a grievous wrongduring this time, even though ceasing from it some time after his baptism and making advancementin the service of Jehovah, he was in an unclean state before God at the time of his baptism. Such a baptism, as it did not follow a true dedication, would be invalid. If such a person has now foresaken that practice of sin, repented and made a sincere dedication of himself to Jehovah God, he should be rebaptized. (italics added)