Born ins..Were You Forced to Be a JW Growing Up? (page 6)

XJW4EVR

Was I forced? No. There was no physical force that made me become a JW. That said, there is an incredible amount of pressure to get baptized as early as possible. The reason is simple, an additional hook that is sunk into the mind of a person to keep them in bondage to the WTB&TS. Once a person is baptized, the threat of disfellowshipping becomes even more ominous than when one is not baptized.

~Question With Boldness~

I wasn't exactly born in, but both my sisters were. My parents converted when I was about three. I guess it all depends on how the word forced is being viewed. I certainly didn't get a choice on whether or not to attend the meetings, or take part in the family book studies, or decide for myself whether I believed any of it. I lost interest and argued with them that I didn't want to go to the meetings, no I would not speak with the Elders, and no I would not have a bible study with another sister. Eventually they stopped trying to drag me to the car...Then when I finally left for good, they reacted like it was a completely spontaneous outcome... Go figure.

Scully

I was threatened with being kicked out of the house if I didn't smarten up and do what they wanted me to do. They'd also give me the silent treatment for days on end, to teach me what it would be like if I were ever DFd.

~Question With Boldness~

As another thought, do you notice how they maneuvered around this? They present it in a myth and fact but it deal with two separate ideas.

The "myth" is that JW parents force their children to take part in the religion. Then the supposed refutation says

Nevertheless,
they realize that when a child becomes
an adult, he or she will make a personal
choice with regard to worship.

When a child BECOMES AN ADULT.

So really, they didn't refute the myth at all just danced around it by saying "when the child is an adult he can decide" when that was not the question in the first place.

~Question With Boldness~

Posted before I reached the end of the thread and realized LostGeneration said the same thing. Hat tip to you!

N.drew

How is it that a parent can (should) know the Bible on the one hand, but on the other use intimidation to cause the child to choose to worship (god), when it's supose to be a choice? The Bible is very clear about that. "YOU WILL KNOW THE TRUTH AND THE TRUTH WILL SET YOU FREE". To choose to worship God because that is what the parent wants is obeying the parent, thus is not obeying the god.

exwhyzee

Fact:Witness parents strive to inculcate love
for God in their offspring, just as the Bible
commands them to. (Ephesians 6:4) Nevertheless,
they realize that when a child becomes
an adult, he or she will make a personal
choice with regard to worship.
—Romans 14:12; Galatians 6:5.

They need to take a look at what is happening in their own organization. Yes , when a child becomes an adult he or she makes a personal choice but there are consequences for those who don't make the one they like, especially for Witness kids who were baptized when they were only 9 or 10 or even 13 or 14? How many of us knew kids like this who were punished for leaving once they became adults? There is no choice for them other than stay in or loose their families and friends. Thant's what I call being forced.

Leolaia

Thank God I resisted getting baptized.

Band on the Run

It seems that families active for generations feel more holy than recent converts. So you are not turning your back on a few misguided years but every relative for generations past. I grew up quite worried when my remnant greatgrandfather died. My assumption was that he could watch me bathing from heaven so I juggled the clothes and the towels in a modest way.

When they announced that God was present in the convention, I spied the air vents and every corners. But I also recalled Moses exposure to the face of God and was very confused.

Invetigator74

This is the WTS admitting in a roundabout way that they are losing many of their "born-ins". What they don't bother to say is that by the time the children become adults, they have already been baptized and are officially a member of the organization. Choosing to leave as an adult isn't as simple as "making a personal choice with regard to worship". Now they have to weigh the considerations of losing family, home, job, support; because this is what will happen if they choose some other avenue of worship

So true Undercover , I was 8 years old when my parents converted as JW, and the constant indoctrination,guilt trips,etc, I was baptized as soon as I turned 14. So by the time I became a adult , I couldn't take back the baptism. Up to this day there has been no normal relationship between my parents and I.

Born ins..Were You Forced to Be a JW Growing Up?

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