Random thought: Today is the 45 anniversary of my baptism

NewYork44M

I was on the bus this morning and this thought came up while I was playing Candy Crush. Happy baptism birthday to me. I was a mere child when baptized. If I could only go back to talk to my 12 yo self...

SAHS

You know, I thought that I would have definitely have been divinely executed by Jehovah by at least the early 1990s.

I was born in 1996 and baptized around 1982.

Now, however, after thoroughly researching TTATT, I have obviously come to realize that what I was baptized into was anything but “the truth.”

My baptism, like so many other JWs, was coerced in that it was the expectation of my parents. Saying “no” is never a viable option for JW children.

So, what does JW baptism really mean for anyone? Well, not much according to the current pertinent statistics!

steve2

Yes, NewYork44m, I reflect upon what I would say to my younger self from the vantage point of now being in my sixties.

"Hey, you're going to be okay. Life is not an emergency - don't treat everyday stuff as being about life and death. Chill out. Weekends are for recreation and rest. You're really going to be okay. Oh, and don't listen to the brothers when they tell you to get baptized and pioneer - they don't have a clue how things are going to turn out."

jws

I have no idea exactly what day it was. It wasn't that important to me. I *think* it was in January when I was 17. The highlight was that I managed to get my parents tickets to go see Red Skeleton for their anniversary that night so they had to drive back and forth and couldn't get a hotel. Which allowed my brother and I and a friend to get a hotel room unencumbered by them dropping in on us. So we got some booze and met some worldly girls in a hotel room down the way and had a lot of fun that night. I was way more interested in that than about the baptism. Something I was forced into.

SAHS. I don't get the joke. You were baptized 14 years before you were born? Is that some kind of, "my parents had my life all figured out for me before I was even born" type of comment?

moreconfusedthanever

mine is coming up in a couple of days. 33 years ago. The two brothers from my congregation, who were also children at the time, are no longer "in the truth" either.

We were never going to finish school. Then we were never going to get married. Then we would never have children this side of the big A.

We never planned for our future and we never followed a career path. Now we may have to be a burden to our children in our retirement.

Pete Zahut

I was a mere child when baptized. If I could only go back to talk to my 12 yo self...

A relative of mine is a Bethelite (17 yrs) who was baptized at 12. She claims to have thoroughly understood the religion and knew exactly what she was doing when she got baptized. She said her parent's or other JW didn't coerce her into it , they let her make the choice. I asked her if her parents would have allowed her to attend a local church or study another religion or would they have been deeply upset if she'd have done so and what would the elders have done if she at 12 would have been allowed to study other religions of the world before getting baptized.

She looked away and didn't answer. Later she made several complaint-like comments about all the layoffs and weird changes going on at Bethel. She, (in a worried manner), made it clear that others there felt the same way. We strongly suspect that it won't be too long that she (like you) will be taking a second look at the decisions she made when she was 12 years old.

Phizzy

I was 12 when I was dunked. My decision, it was in the very early '60's , but of course I didn't know the ramifications.

Interestingly, my Vows were not to an Organization, simply to God.

When I stopped going to the K.H an enthusiastic M.S came to my home to give me "encouragement", he said I had gone against my Vows, when I showed him word for word what those Vows were, he was speechless. I said, you cannot possibly know if I have gone back on that or not, can you ?

Little shit never mentioned it again, or came back to answer the dozen or so questions I asked him to give me answers to.