Baptism question..... (page 2)

lavendar

Thanks, Blondie!

My son is like the frog in the pot. The water slowly gets heated up and before he knows it, he's cooked!

Lord have mercy!

Stealth453

Sence when can you get HIV or Aids from a pool???

...and crabs can pole-vault.

jgnat

I've described the baptism process and some of the questions from an outsider's point of view.

What to expect at baptism: http://www.angelfire.com/ab6/jgnat/UBM/index.blog?entry_id=1109843

The questions: http://www.angelfire.com/ab6/jgnat/UBM/index.blog?entry_id=1110914

Lavendar, I fear if your son is already talking baptism, he's too far gone to listen to your protests. I strongly suggest you obtain Steve Hassan's book on Combatting Cult Mind Control. www.freedmofmind.com

He presents tips to keep from saying anything that might shut off your son from listening to you.

Not freaking out or openly opposing the society are top of the list. If you do, he may decide you get your instructions from 'satan'. Good luck.

jgnat

OH! On the positive front, if he is breaking any of the principles in the hundred questions or so, he must hold off baptism. That may buy you some time. Does he smoke? Fornicate?

lavendar

jgnat, thanks for writing! Our son knows how we feel about the WTS. We are what they call "oposers". We've tried to talk sense into him in a loving way. But, we feel he thinks if he doesn't join, he'll lose his wife. I think the KH has been putting a lot of pressure on HER to get him to join. We sent him a Christmas card telling him how much he'll be missed at Christmastime and that we'll be thinking of him.

It's very heartbreaking for us......

Justahuman24

They don't ask directly if one has HIV or AIDS per se but they do ask if you have any "communicable" disease. They mainly do it for the ease of mind of the other members. They pretty much know that most JW's and most people for that matter are in the dark about how HIV is transmitted. So let's say if someone who has HIV gets baptized together with other people and then it's later publically known that that someone has HIV and had HIV at the time of baptism, then most likely some of the people who got baptized in the same pool as the one with HIV will be scared and be afraid that they may gave caught HIV. Granted, it's irrational for those people who know HIV isn't transmitted that easily if it were, people with HIV would be prohibited from going to the beach and swimming in public pools at parks.

I think the WTS should do a better job at educating its members how HIV and other diseases are transmitted so they won't freak out. Bcz what about someone who doesn't know they have HIV or someone who has another disease such as herpes, hepatitis but have no symtoms and don't know they have it?

justahuman - but super nonetheless

avidbiblereader

As an ex elder I remember going over the questions a couple of times with the "candidate". I always bothered me in doing so, in the witnesses quests to get others to believe that they do everything according to the first century christians, you cannot find one place that this was required. I have always felt that it would be appropriate to take the same questions and course that the Etheopian took or Cornelius, or the course that John the Baptist put people through. Use your mind, this is what the questions are designed NOT to do. It is a matter of seeing how far your thinking completely agrees with organization arrangement and so later when you step out of line, you knew the rules of engagement, even if you were answering them as a child that was programmed exactly what to say on each question. It is a nice safety net for them legally also.

abr

lfcviking

They will also ask if you are HIV or have AIDS. They don't let people with those things get baptized in the same water as healthy people.

Well i was baptised in July 1999 and they didn't ask me those qusetions 'Blondie'. So is that a relatively new development? Or were they questions you got asked by your over particular Congregation Elders when you was baptised?

LFCV

Justahuman24

LFCV, it's a new development. It was added a few years ago like 2 or 3. I know that when I was baptized, it was a recent addition to the precedure. In fact, the questions were not in the green book but the elder who asked me the questions said that the WTS required that that question be asked "out of love and consideration for the brothers". justahuman - but super nonetheless

Baptism question.....

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