by Gayle 17 Replies latest social current
Ten years old is far too young & when I was an elder I would have never have allowed any child of that age to be baptised , regardless of how pushy the parents were & how "mature" (at 10 years old?) the child was.
Regarding the sign language assembly , having given talks at sign language meetings before , I have to admit that it certainly is impressive on a certain level. This is a sector of society that is ignored by many , and the JWs are filling the vaccuum to an extent.
That 10-year-old just signed a contract that will affect him for the rest of his life. If he breaks the rules, even as a child, he will be held to the same accountability as an adult. How can that be right? Should he change his mind later, he will be cut off from family and friends forever. I consider baptizing children criminal. If we are supposed to follow in Christ's footsteps, how about starting with his age at baptism: 30.
Thank you that was a lovely article to read, I hadn't realised how progressed the signing conventions had got. Something to really applaud the witnesses for.
I was baptized when I was 12 years old. There's no WAY I knew what I was getting into despite the fact that for a 12 year old, I was pretty mature.
poor kid
Fo'shizzle mah nizzle
Ignoring debators stupidity.
I'm in the same league as dozy. I would not have allowed a 10 year old to get baptised, and I doubt any other elders on the body I served would either.
No child of 10 can be prepared to make such as decision. You wouldn't allow them to marry, to run a home, drive a motor vehicle and threason why is that are not emotionally or physically mature enough to make decisions that could impact on theirs and others lives. baptism, we are told, is a serious step. One which will change your life forever in that it makes known publicly your dedication to Jehovah. The consequences for breaking the rules imposed by that dedication can result in dis-fellowshipping and the subsequent bullying that goes along with that, (if don't think shunning is a form of bullying read a book on psychology).
No 10 year old has the mental capacity or maturity to understand these consequences.
I have a ten year old grandson and a discussion started by a question of how a cherry pit comes to be led all the way to adam and eve dying in the day they consumed the fruit and how that day turned out to be 1000 years. His comment "who would want to be married for 1000 years?" and then "shut-up already" speaks to how ready he would be for baptism. Oh Just a minute now. Maybe that is sufficiently perceptive.
