@djeggnog wrote:
You certainly have the [option] to approach one of the local elders in your congregation and/or to write a formal letter to the body of elders and indicate your desire to disassociate yourself from Jehovah's Witnesses. It should not prove to be a burden to anyone that wishes to leave off from actively associating with Jehovah's Witnesses to do so, and it's really quite easy to do. The downside of making such a decision though is that you will no longer be able to socialize with those active Jehovah's Witnesses with whom you may have formerly conversed or associated, but you may freely speak to your own family members if they are willing to do so (some of them may shun you, but they aren't required to do so!), and you are also free to speak to the elders at any time. It is not necessary to provide a reason for your decision to withdraw from associating with us, and keep in mind that later, should you have a change of mind, you can always rescind your letter and indicate your desire to return to active association with us.
@moshe wrote:
BAD ADVICE!!
Tell the dudes at Bethel you are annulling your baptism and you want to start over with a new study and have new [baptism] as an adult, after you fully understand the reasons for making a dedication to follow the WT organization.... Bethel's WT legal dept. knows that you have every right to cancel your WT membership made as a minor, but if you do nothing, then at age 18 they assume you legally accept your past baptism. The hook is set for real then.
@skeeter1 wrote:
Say what Eggnog? You are such a product of the mind control! Wow, are you in a deep JW induced coma!
The real story is there is no law or legal requirement that you ever write such a disassociation letter or even speak with the elders to [disassociate] yourself!... If they continually bug you, you can inform them that you will be getting a restraining order if they persist, against them as individuals. Go to the county courthouse and see what it takes to get such an order.... As a minor, under 18, you MAY had some GREAT legal arguments to annul your baptism and NOT be subject to any shunning. You might even get a "legal aid" society to do the legal work for free in your area.
Bethel doesn't have a "legal department," let alone a "Watchtower legal department." In the 60s, we would rebaptize those who were practicing sin when they were asserting their dedication to do God's will, but we don't annul anyone's baptism. Because knowledge is what brings responsibility, we do not rebaptize someone that may have considered baptism to be a religious rite that gave her or him membership as one of Jehovah's Witnesses without their fully recognizing the significance of baptism. Contrary to your worldview of matters, we are not the secular authorities that believe everything must turn on the age of an individual. Things have changed since those years. How long has it been since you and @moshe called yourself Jehovah's Witnesses?
I wasn't telling @POWER_OF_YOUTH that he was required to write a letter and to send it to the body of elders. I merely told him that he had to make a choice as to what he wanted to do if his desire was to stop associating with Jehovah's Witnesses. I told him that he had the option of approaching one of the local elders in his local congregation or and/or writing a formal letter to the body of elders to indicate his desire to disassociate himself from Jehovah's Witnesses. Without his writing a letter to this effect or speaking to one of the elders as to his wishes, the elders would likely visit him at his home when what he really wanted was for them to leave him be. None of the elders are clairvoyant. He has to tell at least one of the elders that he's no longer interested and doesn't want to be bothered at home by them as if they could change his mind back. Like the Bible says, "wisdom from above is ... reasonable." (James 3:17) How it is that you are seeing what I had suggested here to @POWER_OF_YOUTH as being "mind control"? Actually, it's just common courtesy to communicate your intentions to an elder!
You are giving him as advice the idea of obtaining a restraining order against the elders in his local congregation should they come by to see him at his home without his having informed them orally or written a letter to the effect that he was no longer interested in associating with Jehovah's Witnesses? Then you go on to repeat what @moshe ignorantly said about seeking to obtain an annulment of his baptism? Jehovah's Witnesses here in the US have a constitutional right under the First Amendment of the US Constitution to freedom of religion. Did you know this? "Congress can make no law" when its comes to religion, so neither can it promulgate a law directing whether Jehovah's Witnesses will or will not annul anyone's baptism, which we do not do.
It would be wonderful if you and @moshe would stop pretending that you are qualified to dispense legal advice to anyone. Neither of you are.
@djeggnog
