by starfish422 21 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
I was baptized at 13 - one of the biggest mistakes of my life! Now my mom tells me "I knew you were too young - but you didn't think so." I also thought I was old enough to date, drive a car, get married, drink and do whatever else I wanted to do.
One thing for sure - If you are not old enough to LEAVE - you're not old enough to JOIN.
Regarding the rules imposed if one is baptized.......
parents treat a baptized child who has defected (no matter what the reason) different from one who was never dunked but decided that it is a bunch of hooey.
and treatment is even worse if that baptized one chooses God & conscience over the WT. The teenage years are way too important to spend in a cult.
will
The teenage years are way too important to spend in a cult.
So true! Now we have to spend our 20's making up for what we missed!
Mrs. Kwin is going to have a piercing party for her birthday (Nov. 25). Anyone want to come? We'll make an Apostafest out of it!
Kwin
The minimum age for baptism should be 18. Maybe we should start writing to our local MPs and MPPs and pressure them to introduce legislation.
I always said if you are not old enough to say NO and quit the religion you are not old enough to say YES.
I put this to one elder in the congregation and guess what....he agreed with me (in private of course)
Main talk at a DC.
Brothers...we can see the END? is not far off.Governments are turning against us even as we speak.They do not want our children to survive the upcoming Great Tribulation? so legislation (the devil's tool) has been enacted to prevent our children from surviving the GT?and being baptised.
Theocratic warfare must now come to the forefront.If necessary children will be baptised in private at as early an age as possible to "protect " them from this attack of SATAN...If a bathtub is not available the toilet may be used for small children...just be sure to hold on tight and not flush more than twice.
A 13 year old could not possibly make that kind of a decision and truly understand the consequences.
That's right. It is morally reprehensible on the part of the WTS to allow this. They pride themselves on "not baptizing children" the way those "slimy religions of Christendom" do and yet, when they do it, it's somehow "different."
One day there will be a big expose on children in their mid-teens who are shunned because they got baptized at 10 or 11 (or even 13) and then "sinned" and were DF'd while still living at home with mommy and daddy. I expect a good attorney somewhere will view this as a form of child abuse, and truly it is.
I always said if you are not old enough to say NO and quit the religion you are not old enough to say YES.
Simply brilliant! Thanks Poztate, I'm keeping this statement handy.
At our assembly last week, NO ADULTS were baptized, the youngest was 11.
WTS would never stop shackling their children to the cult: there would be a negative growth rate in the US/Europe.
This is sooooo true!!
parents treat a baptized child who has defected (no matter what the reason) different from one who was never dunked but decided that it is a bunch of hooey.
On the one hand, I'm happy for my unbaptized siblings and their respective mates/partners that they can enjoy the company of my JW parents/baptized siblings and their respective mates. All they have to put up with is the occasional Infomercial? directed at the non-JW mates/partners - they don't get criticized for "living in sin", not going to meetings, not Serving Jehovah?. I'm happy that they have that little loophole in their favour.
On the other hand, I'm really cheesed off that my JW family members feel that it's ok to treat me and my family as though we are dead, even though we aren't committing any moral infractions.
Yeah, that sure makes a lot of sense, doesn't it?
Simply brilliant! Thanks Poztate, I'm keeping this statement handy
If Jesus (supposedly) had the good sense to wait until he was 30, then so should everyone else. Poor kid, they are so vulnerable at that age, clinging to any acceptance from any quarter...I have a 13 year old daughter myself, there's no way she could handle a head trip like that. And, sadly, the worst is yet to come... Euripides
Many young ones I have know were pressured into early baptism, and this is totally wrong.
However, there is an interesting alternative angle on this.
Leaving JWs aside, it is generally agreed that religious conviction or lack off is generally established between the ages of 12 to 16. After that, it is very difficult to completely change a person's core convictions, e.g.whilst it may be possible to 'convert a Catholic to be a JW, it is much more difficult to convert an atheist. I am not saying that it never happens but as a general rule, a person's core convictions are usually established at a young age.
Eyeslice
