legal action to Baptism of minor annulled?

by cyberjesus 32 Replies latest watchtower child-abuse

  • cyberjesus
    cyberjesus

    let's imagine that a 10 year old gets baptized. parents split and kid never goes back to the hall again. 15 years later kid celebrates Christmas and gets df since some dub saw him celebrating.

    due to that mother stop talking to son.

    can he get his baptism annulled?

    if the wt refuses can this be taken to court?

  • Simon
    Simon

    What would the purpose or objective of the annulment be? What would it accomplish?

    Would the mother suddenly say "oh, I don't need to listen to the WTS anymore!" ... she was already shunning her son at their say so.

    They could replace whatever previous edict with some new "enemy of Jehovah's org" edict and all the same rules would apply.

    But some lawyers would be a bit richer and the kid would be a bit poorer and still shunned.

    Why would the faithful respect the court over their own "authority"?

  • Fisherman
    Fisherman
    A person, minor or adult, does not just dive into the pool; He must qualify for baptism. Later on, after being a JW for a while, the WT will not accept a person's change of heart because the person claims and now believes that he jumped into it or was a minor at the time. Children can get expelled from school for not obeying the rules and minors can go to jail too. If a person decides that he no longer wants to be a JW, he can leave, but in the JW community that it is a sad and disgraceful thing. If anyone young or old thinks that he can un-JW himself without any consequences, he has to be kidding. AKA un-ring the bell or annul a marriage after 6 pregnancies,or be a virgin again after intercourse.
  • berrygerry
    berrygerry

    Rephrasing for Simon and Fish.

    let's imagine that a 10 year old consents to sex with an adult. 15 years later, the kid, now a 25-year-old adult, realizes that the then-consensual sex has seriously affected his/her life.

    can he/she get his consent at 10-years-old annulled?

    can the adult involved be taken to court?

  • Fisherman
    Fisherman

    BB

    A child does not qualify to give consent to sex.

  • berrygerry
    berrygerry

    A child does not qualify to give consent to sex.

    Ahh, but they do qualify to be baptized, with all of the adult repercussions?

  • Fisherman
    Fisherman

    Ahh, but they do qualify to be baptized,

    Sometimes yes.

  • berrygerry
    berrygerry

    Sometimes yes.

    So, how do you differentiate why it is not OK for a child to consent to sexual abuse, but that that same child is capable to consent to emotional and spiritual abuse?
  • Wild_Thing
    Wild_Thing

    Since a baptism isn't legally binding, it can't be annulled.

    On a side note, it makes me really sad to see so many people discussing "what if" scenarios to skirt around, outlaw, or somehow force the organization to stop disfellowshipping and shunning people. It is such a cruel arrangement.

    But even if they did away from disfellowshipping, they would still shun. It would become an unwritten rule that they would call a "conscience matter" so people didn't peg them as the cult they are. Even today, some shun people anyway even if they aren't disfellowshipped. (**raises hand**)

    The only thing that will stop the madness is if people within the ranks decide to stop it. They are the ones with the power to stop shunning their families and they don't even know it.

  • jwfacts
    jwfacts

    Fisherman, you must be kidding. Minors are not allowed legally to have sex, vote, drink, join the military or drive, because it is well established that they do not have the maturity to make responsible decisions at that age.

    Two out of every three people raised as JWs end up leaving, which is a significant indication that these children did not make a mature and educated decision. Usually at that age they are simply trying to keep family and friends happy. As kids they have no idea what they are doing, it is coercion in every case, based on biased indoctrination.

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