I made a promise to myself long ago that if I ever had kids they were not to get baptized at an early age (18 or younger). Something as serious as baptism needed to be heavily meditated on with a mature mindset. Permanent vows such as this are no different than a marriage vow and need to be made when they themselves are out of their “bloom of youth”.
While mentally submersed in WTS doctrine I had ongoing debates with myself regarding the blood doctrine. Thinking about the decision I would make if I had a child in an emergency blood transfusion situation.
I really wondered if Jehovah God would condemn me if I decided to allow my child to have a blood transfusion. Not because I had a lack of faith in the resurrection, doctrine, or even the emotional turmoil associated with it. It was because the child would not be baptized and/or have a full understanding of the matter. Children don’t understand the 1919 doctrine, the 1914 calculation, or even the bible for that matter! Yet they are to die “AS” a mature dedicated Jehovah’s Witness because their daddy was burdened with theological blood guilt?
Who was I to decide another human’s fate? I believed these decisions belonged to each individual human WHEN they are capable of thinking and deciding theological decisions on their own. Just because they are my child or a baby…doesn’t give me that right.
If my child later realized they no longer wanted to be one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, I would have robbed them of a life that they had the right to live, regardless of beliefs. I reflect on this old debate now knowing the TTATT.
Reversing roles, I began thinking….how disgustingly unfair it would’ve been had my parents allowed me to die knowing what I know now about the organization. I began seeing now the dangers of becoming one of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
I had this conversation with a Pioneer sister some time ago. She reasoned, “Well there’s no guarantee that the baby would even live with a blood transfusion and then you would be placed in a bad position before Jehovah (Organization). Plus remember we can always rely on the resurrection.”
I sat there kind of bewildered. Not because I didn’t disagree with her at the time but because she gave me a very canned response to the question. I felt that the answer she just parroted off to me was a very cheap and disrespectful way of answering a very intricate and delicate matter. This, along with the FDS 1919 doctrine is what had me on my way out emotionally and mentally.