Questions about Non JWs attending a JW baptism

by TTWSYF 14 Replies latest jw experiences

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  TTWSYF

  Hello all,

  I attended my brother and sister in laws' baptism at a kingdom hall a number of years ago. I was [am] not a JW so when I arrived I was bombarded with attention from the flock to which I politely stated that I was there to see my brother and his wife. It seemed like the distraction was intentional. I had my camera to take pics because my bro told me how important this was to him [I was unaware of the WTS policies at the time]. I was NOT able to get pics for them because of how much the cong had kept my attention until after the baptism.

  My question is this. Was that an intentional ploy to keep me from witnessing the invalid baptism? I ask this because JWs are baptized in the name of the Father, the Son and God's spirit directed org.

  Just asking if this rings a bell with anyone
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  confuzzlediam

  Not from my experience. I was a born-in. Baptism is a time of excitement for all who are involved. It is hard to take pics because everyone is standing around trying to see the event. I would imagine they were even more excited to see you there witnessing his baptism and was done without malicious intent. Just my thoughts...
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  OneEyedJoe

  Most JWs don't even realize that they're baptized in the name of the organization, so on an individual level I can't imagine that they were intentionally trying to distract you from that. As a JW I never heard any direction specifically around engaging non-believers at a baptism, but there's a constant reinforcement of the need to welcome any new ones and ask personal questions, etc. So my guess is that you just experiences run-of-the-mill love bombing that just so happened to result in your missing the baptism.

  Plus, I'm sure any pioneers there were counting their time. Pioneers love to count time when they'd be wasting their time at meetings/errands/etc anyways.
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  TTWSYF

  Thanks One Eye and Confuzzle. I guess I have become a bit cynical against the WTS on ALL matters. I wonder why....ok, no I don't
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  OneEyedJoe

  Yeah, once you see how deep a lot of the insane stuff goes, it's easy to start to assume that everything is an orchestrated conspiracy.
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  sparrowdown

  Whenever someone new turns up at a KH the JWs are all over it like sea gulls on a fry.

  They were probably hoping to give you a good impression of the "love amongst themselves" they are so proud of.
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  TTWSYF

  love bombing is so annoying...but tough to complain about
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  sparrowdown

  Don't worry, it never lasts.
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  Godsendconspirator

  All they want is new recruits. When someone gets baptized they don't really care too much because that means they're in and they're not getting out. They got the baptized candidate but what they want is any chance to get more (you).
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  Village Idiot

  I knew a woman who wasn't able to squeeze through the crow to witness her daughter's baptism. She was crying.

  No, they didn't do that on purpose.