Most persons, imo, are pressured to get baptized. They are told they "should be ready". Children are made to feel that Jehovah will not protect them any longer at a certain age. For years, after 6 months of "studying", you were "dropped" if you didn't get baptized......Were you pressured to "dedication"?
Were You Pressured To Get Baptized?
by minimus 34 Replies latest jw friends
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joelbear
i was the last of my friends to get baptized. it was clearly expected of me. i didn't really feel like i was dedicating my life to god. i certainly didn't understand at 15 years old the implications of what i was doing. that one day my family and friends would be forced to shun me.
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minimus
If people were plainly, bluntly told what would happen to them if they did "join", most of us would've run away.
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greendawn
A lot of youngsters were pressured into getting baptised near 1975 due to the Armageddon hysteria of the time another false alarm, I knew someone who was dipped at the age of twelve and left at the age of 16.
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luna2
I was baptized in the late 80's. I don't know if they'd started to push for short study times back then or not. I studied for three years (with one 6 month break in there) and I didn't get too much pressure. I refused to go to the meetings for a very long time, so maybe they just focused on that first. LOL Unfortunately, once I started going, I was committed to the foolishness and got baptized not too many months later.
What I should have done was gone to the danged meetings sooner in my study career, gotten the love-bombing out of the way and allowed myself to experience real Dubiness for a couple years. I wonder if I would have seen the light and escaped baptism? Hrm.
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damselfly
Yes I was, regret set in as I was still dripping wet. I would never have made the decision on my own.
Damselfly
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blondie
No, I wasn't. I was baptized at 16 and it was my idea. In fact, it never came up at home.
Blondie
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minimus
I was baptized at 9. My mom told me she couldn't cover for me, before Jehovah, as I was "old enough".
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blondie
9, eh? I supposed she handed you the keys to the family car, started letting you drink beer, and asked when you were going to get married and make her a grandma?
Just shows you that too many JW parents think that baptism is a talisman that saves you.
Blondie
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minimus
Funny thing is, I cried to get baptized at 8 at the DC! The Congregation Servant counseled my mother to let me get baptized at the next big one.