first a publisher, now GF wants me baptized by Sept... (page 2)

Legolas

Have you ever read 'Crisis of Conscience' or 'In Search of Christian Freedom' both are by Raymond Franz who is a former member of the Governing body? PLEASE I urge you to read these two books. Did you ever ask the person you study with about the UN?

damselfly

You have to go through the book of questions before baptism which happens over several sessions. Get the answers very wrong and they will say you are not ready

Unfortunately this was supposed to be my easy out and it backfired on me.

I answered 75 % flat out wrong, 20 % I said "I don't know" to and the other 5% the answer was helpfully pointed out to me so that I could read it!

No matter though, they shoved me in the pool anyways! Don't to it to please others, because eventually you won't be able to take it anymore.

Damselfly

greendawn

Damsel did they really force you to get baptised and how old were you at the time? You refused to accept their dogma and yet they wanted you to be a dub.

misguided

Buck:

Iam getting pressured into being baptized in September.

Listen to yourself. Should anyone be making this serious, life-changing, personal decision for you? I think deep down you know what your answer should be.

Ask ALL your questions now, while you can, because after you'll get the "you shouldn't be asking that question" look, body language, or outright said to you, once you've taken "the plunge."

Just my 2 cents.

Rose

HappyDad

Man, you are in a bad situation. I don't mean to be rude but the truth of the matter is this.

If you get baptized.......even though you don't want to.....the rest of your life may/will be miserable if you go through with this.

I'm sure that you really love this girlfriend, but you will have a lousy and possibley short marriage if you don't really want to be a JW and she does.

Maybe because of my age, but I can easily get over a lost love and many of lifes curve balls and sucker punches these last ten years. It may hurt you deeply and for a long time, but my advice is to get out of this romance before it drains you of your love for life and all the good things and good years yet to come.

Becoming a baptized JW now will just be the beginning of you looking in the mirror and hating yourself for "caving in".

HappyDad

Elsewhere

If you get baptized, you will be subjecting yourself to the FULL AUTHORITY of the elders and the Watchtower Society. You will then be obligated to do anything and everything they tell you to do and if you don't they will Disfellowship you and everyone you know who is a Jehovahs Witness will be required to shun you.

Haven't you been reading the articles in the Watchtower and listening to the talks at the District Convention about obeying the elders? On several occasions they have clearly stated that even if the elders tell you to do something that you *know* to be wrong you must still do what they say or you will be Disfellowshipped and shunned.

Are you really willing to do this? It is obvious that you are willing to respect your girl friends religious beliefs when different from your own, but is she willing to respect your beliefs if different from hers?

damselfly

Greendawn, Yes this really happened. My mother emotionally blackmailed me into agreeing that yes someday I would get baptized. Afterall I wouldn't want God to kill me, and if I wanted to have my family be able to speak to me then I would do it. ( HA! now they don't talk to me anyway )

This put everything on fast forward mode, my mother arranged to have the questions gone over with me ( I never made the call ), I didn't have a bible study with anyone and the book was sped thru with apparently zero consideration to what my response was. Sample answer.... Do you accept blah blah Jehovah as blah, something else? Me UMMM I don;t know?

I was baptized within the next 6 weeks, I had just turned 14.

Damselfly

prophecor

GetBusyLiving

You sound just like my old best friend. He used to be cool. Then he got a witness girlfriend. She dated him behind the scenes and manipulated him to get baptized. He's become the biggest push-over I've ever known.. and he's totally trapped. I've seen it happen to a lot of guys.

I'd say break up with this girl and let her get on with her life and you with your own, but you probably won't. Good luck with whatever you do.

GBL

Big Tex

It takes great courage to stay true to yourself. Many times it requires one to stand alone or to face tremendous fears. I see you in such an instance.

You see your life now spreading before you, mapped out by a controlling woman in a high control sect. Continue on this path, and you will lose yourself possibly for all time. You will be sucked into a world where you will never be able to do enough to please or satisfy. There will always be demands for more until you have nothing left to give.

Love, true love, demands nothing from you. Love gives; it doesn't take; it is not selfish. Turn the tables for a moment. For the sake of discussion, would you pressure a woman to have sex with you, especially if she were hesitant? Would you constantly, relentlessly badger her until you got what you wanted? And if you did, could you say that you truly loved this woman, in the sense that you cared more for her needs than yours?

You must make up your own mind, but I think deep inside you already know. Do what you need to do to protect yourself. You are a valued and important person because of your uniqueness.

Be well,

Chris

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. -- 1 Cor. 13:4-5

first a publisher, now GF wants me baptized by Sept...

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