Can Baptisms be anulled? (page 2)

RAYZORBLADE

Hey RF, I know what you mean.

Little Toe, yes, good points indeed.

Personally, I left, don't believe in god...and well...that's where I was coming from, on a personal level - so an annullment would mean nothing to me.

Gotcha' RF

Azalo

(Wow, I got a response by the legendary LT)

OK like I said earlier I faded away a long time ago. but i guess the scenario that I am talking about is as follows: a child gets batized at age 0-16, due to may reasons none of which are dedication to God or the WT. Later on said person has started to expand their intellectual horizons and think for themselves and realizes that this whole JW thing doesnt really fly for me I think I will quit but doesn't want to be ostracized from their family for a decision made when they were a "dumb impressionable kid". another way to say it is, is it fair to try children as adults?

does anyone know if the WT has ever considered putting an age requirement on baptism or do they only care about the numbers? I wonder if there is a stat that shows what % of baptisms are children.

Azalo

bump

Any other opinions?

LittleToe

(Wow, I got a response by the legendary LT)

To be honest. replies like this make me uncomfortable I'm just another poster, with an opinion. There are far more worthy posters, on this board.

There is no age requirement for baptism. In the last five years I can recall at least one eight year old who was dunked. Mature for her age?? I doubt it, poor thing. Her parents were ecstatic.
(I used to Oversee the baptisms at our Circuit Assemblies)

I really would recommend that you let it drop and forget about it. IMHO the WTBTS baptism is a sham, and is certainly not taken seriously by any Christian group, organization or religion.
I think it has little merit in God's eyes.
Since you have faded, I wouldn't even give them the benefit of a DA letter. You are one of the lucky few who managed to slide out the back door, my friend.

I did get baptised (as opposed to re-baptised) last year, at a local church. Their only requirement was that I was a believing Christian.
To be honest, I could just as easily have got anyone to have done it in a river or in the sea, but it was bl**dy cold in January!!!
LOL
The directions are clear enough in Matt.28 (and I suspect everyone here could repeat them verbatum)

Ravyn

I have been struggling with this very issue and after reading this thread it just struck me--after I left JWs I was baptized by the Mormons--(they baptize you after only 6 lessons and I wanted to know more about them)who considered the JW baptism invalid and then I converted to Catholicism who also baptized me because they considered the Mormon AND JW baptism invalid...so basically the JW baptism becomes invalid when your current religious affiliation considers it so. So wouldn't it also hold that if you yourself decide it was invalid, then it was invalid?

Ravyn

also another thing that came up for me while reading this post (again)---the whole 'one baptism' thing---why do we consider that to mean one particular act of baptism and not one TYPE of baptism---where I am going with this is: why would it be wrong to get baptized more than once if each baptism was a different kind of baptism? I can see it would be unnecessary to get baptized twice if you got baptized as, say, a Methodist both times---but if you changed your whole paradigm then I think getting baptized in the new religion is appropriate(for as many times as you change it). So far I was baptized as a JW, a Mormon, and a Catholic. I also had an Initiation Ritual as a witch. Now if I decided to become Buddhist or even Orthodox (Greek) I would be required to be baptized with them too.

Ravyn, of the Collects-Baptisms-like-scouting-badges-Class

be wise

Ravyn, that makes a lot of sense.

I mean your dedication is supposed to be to God not an organisation. I never felt a connection with God or anything but I got baptised under pressure from an organisation so there is no reason why I should have to annul it, it's not the WTS that we were was baptised into. Although they seem to make it feel that way or at least that's the way I felt.

benext

The fact that the organization makes the elders go over the questions in the OM book with baptismal candidates then meet to decide whether or not a person (regardless of age) can be baptized would make the question moot in their eyes.

Billygoat

I was baptized twice. Once at 16 as a JW. I was DFed three years later. Six years after that I was baptized at a Baptist church. Why? Because I wanted to. I wanted to commit my life to God. Not the JW Jehovah, but to the God of the Bible. The church said I didn't have to get baptized again, but could if I felt the first time wasn't for the right reason. Which it wasn't. A year later when I joined the Catholic church (in order to get married to my first husband) they counted my Baptist baptism, but not the JW one.

Maverick

I wrote a baptism nullification letter and sent it in Jan of this year. I sent copies to about fifty people I knew and had it posted on four different web sites. It took the brothers about six weeks to figure out what to do. They changed my status to that of an unbaptized publisher and disassociated me. So technically anyone who wants can associate with me without official recourse. Then they spead gossip and rumors about what a big apostate I am. I still have JW's that see me and talk to me. But the attitude with the Duds is a person who quits is sick and/or evil. I called the PO a retired grocery clerk, coward and a lier, and the CO a corporate inspector general who never had a real job. I called the Governing Body demigods and hypocites. They did not DF me for apostacy. The CO told them to avoid the Baptism Nullification altogether. Maverick

Can Baptisms be anulled?

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