They Push You In,,,,Then Punish You If You Go!

by new boy 41 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  new boy

  They brag about the fact that they the don' t baptize their babies because "How can a baby 'Know' what religion it wants to believe in the rest of it's life!"

  But a 14 year old does?.....They put so much presure on their children to get dunked, that if your not baptize by 18 years old there is something really "wrong" with you.

  So the poor kid does it, just to get everyone off their backs. Legally a minor can't be held to a contract if they are under 18 years old and why? Because the government knows that most minors don't know what the hell their doing when it comes to serious agreements.

  So now he is twenty and doesn't what to be a JoHo anymore....He leaves and now he is screwed...can't talk to anyone, no more family...They punish him for making the wrong decision, on what religion to be in. What bull shit...

  How old were you when you got baptized?
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  Wordly Andre

  26, I was baptized, & first Commiunion, Confirmation ohh but it was in the Catholic church, no one pressured me
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  lost_light06

  I was 18 years and 3 days old when I got baptized. Sure I was a legal adult but I had also been raised in the religion and had been pressured since my early teens to do it. When I finally told my mother, at the age of 27, that I would not be a JW anymore she said to me "but you made a dedication to Jehovah, a promise to serve him." I rebutted "I was 18, still in high school. If I had wanted to be married at that age you would have done anything to stop me, yet you let me make the supposedly most important decision of my life at that age".

  "but you made a dedication" she says.

  "I made a mistake, I can see that now that I’m older. Am I to be punished forever for that?"

  "but you made a dedication"…………

  Now she will not talk to me even though I am neither DF’d or DA’d. I "broke my promise to Jehovah" therefore I am un-worthy of her association. I made that promise when I was barely 18, still in high school. I had been such a sheltered JW robot that I refused to have a girlfriend through my school years. I never played sports or participated in after school activities. All of my friends were JW’s. I was socially retarded outside of the kingdom hall. Yet now, 11 years later I am held to that promise.

  Side note: My brother is not a JW. He was never baptized and walked away when he was 17. He too was raised as a JW and knows the religion well. He does all the things I do now that I’m out of the borg. Celebrates holidays, birthdays, etc. My mother and sisters don’t shun him, but they shun me. Why? Because I got dunked in a pool.

  ~LL06
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  WTWizard

  I was 25, after having studied (from a biased source) for about 8 months. And I regret it.

  I have seen children as young as 10 get baptized in the congregation I used to go to. It was common to see them getting baptized as young as 12, and that was back in the early 1990s. I have seen showcased children as young as 6 in the Puketower, the yearbook, and at the Grand Boasting Session when they got baptized.

  Now that they are struggling, they are going to be pushing baptism more on younger children. It will not be unusual for someone to get baptized at age 6, as they showcase it as if everyone should be doing it and something is terribly wrong with anyone not baptized by then. Of course, that is much too young. Children that young are still impetuous. They make decisions, thinking it is just for a few weeks (like how many children wanted to learn an instrument, played for a few weeks, and then lost interest). Then something happens, or they lose interest, and then the hounding begins.

  I wonder what happens when 6- and 7-year olds start writing disassociation letters.
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  Casper

  I was 28 when I was baptized, at a time when I was dealing with a tragic event in my life.

  Looking back on it, I realize they were not up front with me on a lot of things. Things you only find out about after you take the plunge.

  I agree, minors should not be pushed into baptism... especially not one that puts a strangle hold on you, if later on you decide differently.

  They argue for marriage "Past the Bloom of Youth".... why not baptism.

  Cas
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  spanteach

  I was 14 when I was baptized. Just like someone mentioned earlier, my parents would never have dreamed of allowing me to enter into a marital contract. Yet I was forcibly coerced into dedicating my life to God? This doesn't make sense.

  Then when I'd left, I got the same "but you made a dedication to Jehovah" speech. The bottom line is, if I was going to be held accountable in later life then the dedication should have been my decision and mine alone.
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  new boy

  Lost Light

  What a good point...they would never what you to get married at 18!....They would figure you were just "in love"....and not thinking correctly...The funny thing is, It's a lot easier to get out of a marriage then leave them.

  I was 17 and one of the last ones of my group to get dunked....I wanted to be sure...what a joke!
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  spanteach

  The year leading up to my baptism, my dad would point out various ones around my age who were already baptized and why wasn't I baptized as I surely knew more of the truth than they did. So....it's a contest? I wish I'd had the guts to stand up to him and say what I now feel. But alas, I was a teenager who had no one in my corner and I didn't have the strength I have now.

  Because my dad was an elder at the time, he was the one to "study" with me. But because he was the King of Inconsistency, I think he studied with me a total of three times. Way to go, dad!
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  Witness 007

  Good point newboy, I was baptized at 18 but didn't know half of what I know now! I wish I could just cancel the whole thing, but they don't allow that. If you leave you will pay!
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  Hope4Others

  We never pushed our kids with baptism despite being a pioneer and husband a servant. Husband always felt that this was a big decision and wanted

  our kids to graduate from school first. I agreed about that he did not want them to do it because all the other kids were or because the elders felt

  that we should push them in that direction. So they never did get baptised any of them and I am really happy about that now they are all really free.

  So this is has made it easier for us to fade.

  hope4others