Lady Lee,
This is an excellent thread. I think of it along with those "pre-nup" agreements that some married people, as adults, are literally "forced" into signing. The word coerce comes to mind.
Wouldn't this also apply to a young person, who is prodded and pushed into a act so that they will "survive" the world's end at Armegeddon?
When I was thirteen, there was an all out effort by the Congregation Overseer, who was studying with us at the time, to get me baptised. I was told that because I "knew right from wrong", that I was at the "age of understanding", and so I must be baptised in order to be saved during the tribulation.
This great fear of a horrible death loomed over me and was the main reason why I was baptised the following year, at fourteen. I didn't realize then that this great "truth" changed back and forth, and that people were cut off from family and friends, and that my questions would be considered apostacy.
There is just no way we can make a good decision about something, unless we have all the facts. JW's don't give all the facts. They keep so much hidden. Then you are trapped and cannot leave without having to pay a terrible price.
I remember how I felt when I was baptised--protected and secure. It lasted only for a short while, until the society released new "light". It was explained that even though we were baptised, we still might die a horrible death. This shocked me and hurt me and the explanation was that Jah's avenging angels would be so busy at Armegeddon, that accidents would occur--but not to worry--we would be resurrected.
That was just the beginning of how "the truth" changed, and I was expected to accept it and move on. If children are not allowed to be considered adults in this world until they are 18-21, why are such very young people getting baptised? It isn't a good thing.
How many of us at 18-21 made mistakes that we wish we could undo? All of us. Even at 30-40, we are still growing, still being shaped and molded. I would say that most of us really don't find ourselves until we reach our 50's or later. We are all emotionally scarred from our own early cognition, and it usually takes us a lifetime to figure out "who we are". How can we possibly be making life and death decisions regarding an obligation to a certain religious belief system until we have lived enough of life to have some foundation of experience and knowledge.
The WTBTS is wrong to allow such life altering commitments to be made through baptism, when the person is very young. And, if we do get baptised, even as a young adult, or an older adult, and we then come to realize ourselves that it is not what we thought, or our beliefs change, we should not be punnished when deciding to "leave".
Love and LIght,
Sentinel