Youngest person disfellowshipped -- ever? (page 2)

darthfader

Try unbabtized and 17. Yes, that's correct they DF'd an unbabtized person.

White Dove

Was the CHILD of 17 an unbaptized publisher?

I heard they do announcements for those.

Geez, character assassination as a child?! errrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrd4 (cat had something to say about it)

The very first meeting I ever went to, I was physically stopped from talking to a young girl with a tiny baby. She had been disfellowshipped for being pregnant at the age of 16. Her own father pushed the flat of his hand out in front of me and physically stopped me in my tracks so I could not talk to her, or even hold her baby. I was 14!! I had been brought up to be kind and considerate to everyone and this was the first time in my life I had seen someone being shunned.

The shock and distress of that experience stayed with me and helped me to come to my senses a few years later, leading to my eventual fade. I could never come to terms with their assurance that the shunning of a teenage mother was a "loving arrangement by Jehovah to keep the congregation clean". It was nothing short of cruelty and abuse

Ding

This reminds me of how the Pharisees kept THEIR organization "clean" too.

They kicked people out of the synagogues.

And Jesus said.....

Bucholz

I met a 17 year-old girl in a neighboring congregation, Df'd while pregnant (she was my cousin's BF). She was the only one in her family in 'the truth'. She continued attending meetings and conventions, then faded and never came back. (This one had a Happy ending)

FatFreek 2005

Not entirely off-topic, consider the following:

When I was baptized smoking wasn't a disfellowshipping offense. I had just turned 16 and was struggling with my addiction. I kept it secret as best that I could, got caught a few times but by the time my first-born son was born, I was 20 and had enough mental incentive to go through with it. I simply didn't want him to ever see me with a cigarette in my mouth.

Any baptized member who now uses tobacco and cannot quit (deemed unrepentant) will be disfellowshipped. Well, if you've done the math, I would have been DFd by today's standards. By today's Watchtower standards, I would then not have been permitted to continue a relationship with any family members who didn't live within my household. Assuming I was part of a large Watchtower-raised family, I would have been quarantined from baptized grandparents, uncles, aunts, and cousins when regular family gatherings were held. Even an older baptized brother and sister who no longer lived within my household would have been off-limits to me.

There is no stated minimum age limit for baptism and we've heard of children as young as 6 who've been immersed in water. In this thread we've heard of children as young as 14 being disfellowshipped.

In today's civilized society -- the U.S., for example -- if we heard of a parent who imposed a similar quaranteen on some child because of the above scenario, there would be public outrage. We'd be hearing about it on Dr. Phil.

However, when such a punitive quaranteen is endorsed and imposed by some religious heirarchy, political heads begin to turn the other way. Freedom of religion seems to enable a religion to freely get by with what a set of parents can't get by with.

Len

FlyingHighNow

I would not let my kids be baptized because of the disfellowshipping policy.

OnTheWayOut

I met a lady at Tahoe Apostafest who was baptized at 6 years old.

NewChapter

I knew someone that was baptized at 12 and disfellowshipped at 13. He didn't tell me why, but most normal teenage behavior and mildly rebellious teenage behavior will get ya into trouble. Three decades later he still hadn't gone back.

NC

Band on the Run

What is the crucial difference between infant baptism and age 6? This is scandalous.

Almost all the young people in my KH were d'f'ed within two weeks for immorality. I've talked with some. They are very upset that the Witnesses said what they did was wrong. Personally, I believe having a child, out of wedlock, with no skills, education, etc. is damn stupid and should be censured strongly. Society cannot go about rewarding such behavior. The Witnesses were clear.

Teenagers are not adults, though. Mercy is important. To err is human, To forgive, divine. Christ forgave.

Cigarette smoking bothers me much more b/c addiction is a complex physical problem. More and more brain research has proven it is not a matter of will power or being a superior human. Some people are born with more addictive genes than others. Christ is to judge, not we humans. What would Jesus do? I do feel the church in its broadest configuration cannot tolerate certain behaviors. Separate the sin from the siinner. Think of al lthe cliches and rhymes I've used. Humans have known about this long before Jesus appeared.

Youngest person disfellowshipped -- ever?