How Soon Will We See 9-Year-Olds in Committee Meetings?

by TTATTelder 18 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  TTATTelder

  That teddy bear baptism video was shocking.

  If you haven't seen it yet. Check it out on this thread:

  http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/271170002/on-subject-child-baptism-video

  Consider this........If 7 and 8 year-olds are getting baptized now, then that means young children can be pulled into a committee meeting and accused of everything from sexual sins to slander to apostasy. They also can be privately reproved, publicly reproved, marked, or disfellowshipped.
  

  Now before you go dismissing this as "Ohhh that would never happen"...... take a moment and think about the backbiting, power-hungry, competitive nature of some elders out there. Some of these men will stop at nothing to knock a fellow elder down. Attacking a fellow elder's baptized child, (given the chance, such as after the child's confession of something) is definitely on the table for some of these socio-pathic, delusional men.

  With the GB encouraging child baptism at every turn, there is going to be a much larger pool of baptized 7,8,9,10, etc year old children running around the organization. These kids are going to feel obligated now to confess things to elders.

  I am just bringing up this subject in general and posing the question in the title. What do you think?

  -TE
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  _Morpheus

  I would never it wouldnt happen.. Of course it will if they get haptised that young.. However it wont be a flood of 9 or even 10 year olds. It will really start at 14 or so.
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  antes8080

  have seen as young as 14 getting DF.. the other day i was talking to a young one from the cong he got baptize at 8 he is know 13 and he tells me he regrets getting baptize.. am not sure of kids under 10 will do DF ofense but early teens were teens act like teens..
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  sir82

  Child baptism isn't as new of a phenomenon as you might think.

  My ex-PO got baptized at age 9 in 1950.
  
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  paulmolark

  4 years ago in Tampa Florida this happened over party celebrations during holiday with 10 year old. No discipline was delivered because of age and lack of understanding.
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  the comet

  4 years ago in Tampa Florida this happened over party celebrations during holiday with 10 year old. No discipline was delivered because of age and lack of understanding.

  
  

  Wait, so at 10 they have the mental capacity to dedicate their lives to god for all eternity, but they lack the understanding to know if a holiday party is "wrong"? Yup makes perfect sense!
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  paulmolark

  I know a number of kids from the time I was younger till now who were baptized as young as 8 to about 12 years old. I can see this backfiring on them in the long run now because during those years most parents would just simply tell their children that maybe they should wait, or they simply just assumed that their kid was not ready and would just say no. Come to think of it my mom was 10

  Now with the GB PROMOTING this you will have a bunch of 9 - 13 year olds get baptized, then go to high school and realize that they like boys or girls and the breaking up of families will begin earlier than before.
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  TTATTelder

  paulmolark....totally agree

  I too was baptized as a pre-teen in the 80's, but it has never been pushed with GB approval like it is now. I think it will be 10x more common going forward and thus will present opportunities for authority abuse and general confusion organizationally. Up until now, with only a few rare exceptions,the "baptized" designation, with all of its commitments and consequences, has been for consenting adults or those at least old enough to somewhat know what they are getting into. It is one thing for an occasional outlier to get baptized "too early". It is another thing altogether to have it become the expected thing and the norm.

  There is no section in the elder book for "baptized children". Little do the kids know, they are entering an adult marriage to a high control organization, and it is not a marriage of mutual respect or voice.

  -TE
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  Old Goat

  Congregation committees have no business dealing with very young children. Most of the current crop of elders are failures as parents. Their children have run wild, 'left the truth,' and pursue a secular life. If they can't engage their own children, how will they regulate the children of others. This is wrong. How desperate for increase in numbers must they be.

  There is nothing in the bible that allows an elder to step between a parent and his child. Watchtower elders assume authority beyond anything the scriptures allow.
  
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  freemindfade

  Good post. But I doubt you'd see much of that. Chlisten at that age are very dependant on their parents and adults around them. The fear of being ostracized would be an overwhelming thought for someone so young. It's hard for us grownups to lose association with loved ones. Dfing works on fear and kids especially in the org are raised in a persecution complex atmosphere of fear! It's all they know. I still think most wouldnt act against their billion year contract until teen years. But yes the whole thing is sick. I was baptized at 15 and it was almost like I was late to that party and still I regret it and feel I was not equipped to make such a binding decision. Jesus f%@#ing christ was 30!