Baptism Nullification- will it work for you?

Dear Friends:

It's been two months now since I sent in my Baptism Nullification letter. However, it appears to have been effective, as I have not heard a peep from anyone at Bethel or the local elders either. From our point of view, we are now free of the entrapments of the Watchtower Cult, and I feel that it is important to share this with those of you who may need an alternative to the two "official" methods of leaving: disfellowshipping or disassociation. Neither was a choice we wanted to make, since we believed that we had done nothing wrong, but that we could no longer tolerate the lies and hypocrisy of the WTS.

So, I share with you now, word for word, the document we used. It's a bit lengthy and legalistic (but so is the 7 page legal document the Society has mailed some brothers and sisters in the past), so I feel it is not too lengthy by comparison. If you can make use of this, please do so. All you should have to do is copy and paste it into Word or Wordperfect. If you need the mailing address, let me know. Be sure to change the wording where appropriate to fit your situation.

Last, but not least, the credit for this should go to Maverick. Who posted the original on which this variant is based. The bulk of the wording is his, and I hope he does not mind the plagiarism...

RE: Declaration of Baptism Nullification for <Your Name Here>To Whom it may concern:



After careful study of the Scriptures and reflective meditation with regard to my relationship with my Creator, Jehovah, and His Son, Jesus Christ, as of this date, <todays date> I, <Your Name Here>, am officially notifying you that I consider my oral agreement known as my "Baptismal Oath", between myself and The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc., to now be null and void. This Declaration of Nullification of Baptism should NOT be considered a Letter of Disassociation.



It is commonly knowledge that The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc., (aka "Christian Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses"), is the primary legal corporation, which directs through a governing body, the meetings held by the local corporations at each local Kingdom Hall, as ratified by the membership at each Kingdom Hall. Regular correspondence from the WatchTower Bible and Tract Society to the local Kingdom Hall groups affirms this fact. This body of men (i.e. the governing body) maintains complete hierarchical control over each Kingdom Hall in the United States, as has been proven in numerous court cases. This "corporate governing body" of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society shall be referred to as "The Corporation" in the remainder of this declaration.



"The Corporation" claims to be the legal directors and the sole religious representatives of Jehovah God and His Son, Jesus Christ, on Earth for all mankind- a claim that cannot be substantiated. I, <Your Name Goes Here>, in good conscience, conclude that this claim, along with other similar claims made by "The Corporation", constitute an invalidation of any implied agreement, oral or otherwise, made by me in good faith with the religious group then known as "Jehovah's Witnesses" during my baptismal ceremony on <Your Baptismal Date Goes Here>.



My baptism pledge, which occurred on the aforementioned date, was orchestrated by what I erroneously believed to be a singularly religious body. I also believe that my baptismal oath, which constituted an oral contract, did not occur with informed consent, as should be part of any valid contractual agreement under common law in the state of <Your state or Commonwealth here>. To be specific, I do not believe that I was fully informed as to the complete nature of the belief system of the Jehovah's Witnesses, as directed by "The Corporation", before my baptism. Moreover, all of the doctrines and beliefs, as well as their manner of enforcement, were not made known to me prior to my baptism and my oral agreement to same.

At that time, there was a great deal of peer pressure and coercion from our local congregation to follow through with the baptismal event, with many of my questions left unanswered. I was also suffering at that time from <Your mental condition here> which I am only now recovering with medical assistance.

In addition, "The Corporation" has proven to be in violation of the implied intention of its religious sub-partner in this contractual arrangement. "The Corporation" inserts unconditional loyalty to itself as proof of loyalty to God and His Son, Jesus Christ. This was made effective by the change made in the aforementioned baptismal pledge by "The Corporation" in 1985, one of many points a new baptismal candidate is not made aware of at the time of his or her baptism.

Furthermore, "The Corporation" requires that all members believe that all writings of "The Corporation" are inspired by God, and requires that its members have absolute acceptance of its interpretations of scriptural passages and meanings, world events and trends. Moreover, no member is invited to participate in, vote on, or discuss any changes in the rules, regulations or doctrines imposed by "The Corporation" upon its members. This constitutes a "closed belief system".



Finally, when I gave my oral affirmation during my baptismal swearing-in session, it was not my intention to be a party to, or a willing member of, any corporation with such a manifesto. Therefore, my baptism was formulated under false pretenses, due to a negligent or intentional misrepresentation by "The Corporation", and consequently any resulting conditions of this alleged contractual membership are unenforceable, null and void under common law of the state of <Your state or Commonwealth here>.



This request for Baptismal Nullification asserts no malicious intent as to the motive of "The Corporation".



This Declaration of Nullification of Baptism should NOT be considered a Letter of Disassociation.



By this declaration, I am stating that my status within the community at large is now the same as a person who was never baptized as a member of Jehovah Witnesses. "The Corporation" is hereby instructed to amend my membership status in accordance with this declaration on any and all official records of the aforementioned "Corporation", and its corporate and or religious affiliates.



This statement is not subject to any further interpretation, or any internal judicial review, or AD HOMINEN attacks. "The Corporation" is further instructed to maintain all possible confidentiality with regard to this declaration.



The undersigned fully understands the final and binding effect of this Declaration and is signing it voluntarily.



Dated: <Todays date here>



By: ________________________________  <Sign in Ink>



<Your Typed Name Goes Here>

It's great to be free of the shackles of Watchtower oppression and lies. It takes courage to take this step, but as for me and my family, we have not regretted it.



I invite your comments...

OH MY that is awesome.

Wonder if it might work after being DFed?

Well, I know you're not going to like this (and I won't hammer away at it, because I've said it all before), but I'm not a big fan of baptism nullification -- at best, it is effectually no different than disassociation, and at worst, it evades personal responsibility and evokes a whiny sort of victimhood.

Hey, you invited comments!

Dedalus

Daedalus:  I appreciate your candid comment- however, keep in mind that the elders get bamboozled by this method, as there is no field to fill in on their S-77 form for baptism nullification.  Therefore, it stymies their efforts to force your leaving into their little theocratic mold...

Actually I think it does the exact opposite - at least in my case

The DFing did make me the victim. Granted I set it up but they had other choices too.

The shunning makes me a victim.

But theis declaration - even though it won't change a damn thing in how they treat me - sets me free

I won't have to answer that dreaded question "Were you disfellowshiped?" with a YES.

I could say I was never legally baptized. With the baptism null and void they have no official hold. They can still pull their crap but inside of me it changes. Whether I send the letter or not (although I probably will just to tick off my ex cuz I know the elders there will tell him.)isn't the point. The point is freedom from one more label they stuck on me and one more reason they have to try to shame me. It won't work anymore

You do this by claiming you were taken advantage of, coerced, manipulated, deceived.  That makes you a victim too, doesn't it?

They don't need an official hold to shun you.

But, if writing a letter like this made you feel better, I sincerely believe that is all that matters.

Dedalus

and when it comes down to it - that is all that really counts - how I feel about it

Hi Joe,

Thanks for posting your letter. 

Was there an announcement of your baptism nullification at the hall and if so how it was worded?  Just wondering how the elders dealt with this.

 

IW

Island Woman:  There was no official announcement to the best of our knowledge.  The elders made no visits, but they did prompt other congregation members to call us often during the 1st month "to see how we were doing". There were some emotional discussions with other relatives still in the truth, (which again occurred under the false guise of "just wanted to talk to you about how you're doing"), but we are past that now.  [I can say, thank god for caller ID.]  All along, we have refused to tell other JWs why we left, so that we cannot be accused of "creating sects or divisions", or attempting to "stumble our brothers". 



This is an important point, too, as some brothers and sisters keep it together only because they are WT members.  Their lives are so crappy, that if you take that away from them, they have no further reason to live, and the fabric of their lives would tear at the seams...  Who would want to be responsible for that?

However to answer your question, to the best of my knowledge, no official announcement has been made about our status at the local congregation, instead, we have simply disappeared from sight.  However, since we were not there, is it possible they made one in our absence?  It seems unlikely, and appears instead that they have adhered to our request for confidentiality, as noted in the end of the statement, perhaps for fear of legal recourse.

Hope that helps...

When I asked about people who'd writen to bethel, the general consensus was that it took at least three months to get a reply.  you said it was two months since you sent this letter, so there is still time to get a reply.  There would be no announcement until the legal department decided what to do, the same as a disfellowshipping announcement is not made until after any appeals are made even though this may delay it a while.

Any ex elders out there who would now how they would react to such a letter?

Thanks for the reply, Joe.

 

IW

Maverik was disfellowshipped anyway. I imagine the same will happen again. People, it is best at this time to just stay quiet and leave without making noise or thumbing the nose at the WT.

I think it's pretty good !

Maybe something similar could be done for people who got baptized while still a minor and unable to enter into contracts and so on?

 

Peacefulpete seems to have a problem with English, maybe it is not his primary language. I was NOT DF'ed. They changed my status to an unbaptized publisher and DA me as such. Then the locals bros.gave talks on apostacy and how those who leave the Org are the worst kind of people and should be avoided at all cost. Dedalus has taken a stand and is stuck now...feels he can't back out of it. He is right as to the effect, (treatment). It will be the same as a preceived apostate. They, (the bros) will spread the word that you are bad, bad, bad! The big plus, in my tiny little Mensa mind, is that this method takes the stick out of the Org. hand. It is outside their normal path to punishment. They like control and order, their control, their order. It took the bros. about six weeks to deal with me. I wonder if they are just hoping by not reacting, the fallout will be small. Of little importance. We will see. I'm for anything that gives them heartburn. Maverick

Maverik...I understood your English just fine. I just know what you said made no sense. They anounced you as DA, that means they did not change your status to an unbaptized publisher as you contend. That may have been the way it was explained to you to shut you up but ipso facto you were DF'd. The main objective for most of us as well as the original poster is to avoid the resultant shunning not to get some satisfaction derived by sticking it to the Elders as seems to be your motive.



BTW..I was unable to post for a day or so. When I attempted to there was no header or footer. An odd popup box appeared when I moved the cursor to the top of the page. It gave the usual options of reply, edit,etc. It allowed me to edit another posters text without any security requirements. I did not do it but I could have..This needs to be investigated by you folks who know about these things.

i feel like i want to get one up on them and fill out the form my sisters have been df'd my youngest sister suffers from depression and has recently had a baby she moved back to the area to get help as she is on her own she was df'd 10 yrs ago. My mum and dad who are still in the truth sorry the LIE as i like to call it, they were great helped her had her round for tea etc until the co decided that they should stop having any contact with her so she is now on her own and depressed and cant have any help because of the narrow minded jw's i am very bitter and will fill out this form purely to be a problem even if only for a few days. My mum says she is finding it very hard and she is depressed but knows it is the right decsion to shun her (i left 2 yrs ago not df'd) and cries all the time at the moment. All i could say and i am sorry for this is get a grip you made the decsion if you dont like it wake up and leave....

 

 

Joe,

Thanks for posting that.  Keep us posted as to the outcome

                         wanna

Joe ,

Thank you for posting the Baptism Nullification.  It is what I have been searching for, for a long time now.  Some hope I guess and you have given me that.  I was baptised at 14 having no idea what I was doing, no idea of the impact this would have on the rest of my life.  I disassosciated at 17 and haven't had any family contact in 18 years.  My dearest wish is to somehow have my batism revoked, null and void or some such thing so that I might be able to be in contact with my family as if I had never been baptised in the first place.

I am hoping there is something in this which may provide me with the solution.  Any sugestions are very welcome!

Judy

Looks like we have two new posters to welcome. HI Judy and rangersfc!

To me, while this is a nice attempt, it doesn't amount to much else but a disassocation. I say that because it seems evident that a person will be treated in the same manner as one who has DA'd. In legalistic terms perhaps, as well as in intent, nullification is different, but if the end result is the same (shunning and being treated a s disloyal) then it seems to not make much difference to me. A commendable effort though!

Of course, time may tell - as Gadget mentioned, it may simply be that they didn't get around to a reply on this letter yet.