Is it possible to nullify a baptism? (page 4)

Giordano

There are any number of great opinions on this forum but we also know you have a hole in your universe.... family wise.

The simplest way to restore your life with your family is to make a good faith effort to be reinstated. Then a slow fade, school and or a job.

While you endure that for the sake of your parents remember what this effort will cost you. And there is no safeguard that their natural love for you....... which is conditional on your obedience to the Society........ will be restored.

You may be able to remain at home until you are 18. Then it's good by.

So your choice is to go it alone or submit to the religion.

As has been mentioned: There is no respect for this religion it's one of the worst religions out there.

JWs suffer and die every day worldwide because of their ban on a life saving blood transfusion. Which no other religion agrees with. Even the most orthodox Conservative militant Jew.

Believe it or not you have made some friends on this forum...many of us will be interested in what you decide. No one will be disappointed as we have all faced what you have been facing.

frozen2018

The best way to renew a relationship with family after being disfellowshipped is to go make a success of yourself. I've seen this happen.

A witness kid was baptized when he was 14 or so. When he graduated High School he announced he no longer wanted to be a JW. This sent an earthquake through his family and congregation as his dad was an uber-elder, his mom had been a full time pioneer forever, and his sister had married a bethelite and moved to NYC. The son was disfellowshipped and shunned by everyone.

The disfellowshipped young man continued to live in the area. He married (no family attended or acknowledge the wedding), had a couple of kids (not acknowledge by family), and lived his life. He started a business and it turned out that the disfellowshipped man was quite the entrepreneur. Then his father, the elder, went to work for him. In fact, a few others in the congregation went to work in his company. They justified it by claiming they actually worked for the elder father, not the disfellowshipped son. Turns out they are one big happy family!

You may have heard that "living well is the best revenge." So that is my advice to anybody, live well and sooner or later the ones who are shunning you will turn up like nothing had ever happened.

stan livedeath

A point to remember if family members shun you....it isnt by mutual agreement. So..if you choose to talk to a family member..then do do..just as you would to anyone else. They can reply..or ignore you. If they do so..the word ignore changes to ignorant. Do you want to talk to ignorant people?

Finkelstein

You could make the offer that you wouldn't try to be oppositional to the religion or their participation in it, if they still want to keep in touch and have some kind of relationship.

Your approach on the matter should be like how you address other people in their religion.

Reserved and non confrontational.

At least you've tried and let the onus of responsibility lie onto their shoulders.

Good luck nevertheless

Pete Zahut

I am now 18yo and haven't spoken to my family since I was 16,
My mother mentioned it was a possibility, considering my father was an elder I thought maybe they knew something the general congregation wasn't made aware of for obvious reasons.

So are you speaking to your parents then...if so what's the problem?

Anyway....baptism is an "outward symbol" of your dedication to Jehovah. It only has meaning for those who attribute meaning to it. Jehovah's Witnesses put a lot of emphasis on living up to ones dedication even though they are quite flexible when it comes to other dedications. We've seen taking place globally, how they sell off Kingdom Halls that were officially and ceremoniously dedicated to Jehovah and built using free JW labor. These building are often sold for a profit to other religious organizations or what they call "Babylon the Great".

Even the "wicked world" realizes that minors lack the capacity to sign a contract because it is presumed that they don't typically understand fully what they are doing. A minor who enters into contracts can either honor the agreement or void the contract Yet JW's hold each other accountable for an agreement they may have entered into as your children even though they weren't allowed to investigate other religions so as to be fully informed of all the options out there.

Having said that, there isn't a provision for nullifying ones baptism. I've heard of cases where Disfellowshippings were reversed but never baptisms. I think your only option is to either just live the best life you can and hope that your parents eventually come around or get yourself reinstated so that you can later fade. I'd be tempted to call Bethel and tell them your situation and ask them to explain to you the scriptural reasoning behind parents shunning their minor children. See if your parents are being overly strict about all of this even by Bethel's standards. If so, what you can do about it. Perhaps they'll advise you to appeal to the Circuit Overseer after all, any reasonable person can see that if you hadn't been baptized as a kid, you wouldn't have been disfellowshipped and your parent's could still talk to you....even if you'd done something worse than what got you D.F'd in the first place.

Finkelstein

To openly deny your baptismal commitment to Jehovah isn't going to change anything with JWS, that is worthy to them of being DFed.

MidwichCuckoo

It shouldn't even be an issue - 13 is a minor. If they stuck to baptising adults (maybe follow Jesus and aim for 30 years) they wouldn't be able to 'trap' individuals and instil fear into them.

This cult ruined my life, and the older I get, the more I realise that.

MidwichCuckoo

Also - I'd like to add - this is a a very damaging form of child abuse. Baptising minors is forcing adult issues on to them. The mental trauma of dealing with any issues arising from decisions made as a child is damaging.

There needs to be a class action taken by all of us affected - it would hopefully finish this cult off.

caves

I cant remember the year I want to say 2007-2010 maybe. There was an article in one of the 'magazines' that said that one could. I asked a younger elder about it and was told 'yes'.He said there was a "sister" in a cong on the other side of town that did just that. Overheard by a much older elder who said 'perhaps' and then told the younger elder to not have such discussions. I asked to merely see the responses I'd get.

So yes, it could be done. The "Sheparding book" would probably be the go to though.The one Dubfounded_12 put in the comment. Not that mag I read. It was way more loose.

To go thru all that to be still severely marked to the point that its still shunning. Them waiting with baited breath for you to be baptized "for real". In the meantime your weak, shunned, and still treated as if you'd die at the big A anyway. What a headache.

You could always try so you know.

@Midwichcukoo- Babies get baptized all the time in other religions. It would not get far in court. I agree its damaging, to put it mildly.

iwantoutnow

Whats the point, you would be Shunned anyway.

Is it possible to nullify a baptism?

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