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Child Baptisms in the Jehovah’s Witnesses
Submitted by Teeny on July 7, 2012 - 10:52 pm 15 Comments
There aren’t a lot of things that sicken me. At the ripe old age of 33, I’ve seen and done quite a lot. However, child baptisms is one of those things that jumps out of left field and smack me in the face. To be more precise, child baptisms within the Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Take today’s District Convention of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Cyprus as an example. Child baptisms aren’t performed every year in Cyprus, but today, a 7 year old boy got baptised. Yippee! That’s so great!
Many Brothers and Sisters stood in awe of this young man as he said “YES” to the two baptism questions. As he received a round of applause for being so loyal to Jehovah, do you think it even crossed his little mind that he may live to regret his decision?
My mother-in-law even commented by saying how proud she was to see this young man (we’re talking about a 7 year old kid here) taking this mature step in his life.
Has a little throw-up found it’s way out yet?
Does this kid know what he’s getting himself into? As a Jehovah’s Witness, when you get baptised, you’re dedicating yourself to Jehovah’s Organisation – The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. You’re signing over your mind and free will to a bunch of hypocrites that live in New York. Anyone care to disprove me?
I’ve heard many Witnesses say that as a baby is – well, a baby – when getting baptised, it can’t consent to the baptism, therefore the baptism is null and void.
Jehovah’s Witnesses use a stick to beat other religions over the head with when it comes to baby baptisms. They claim that Witnesses don’t do baby baptisms because Jesus Christ himself got dunked at the age of 30 and also because a baby doesn’t fully understand what it truly means to get baptised. But I suppose child baptisms are alright then?
This conversation actually happened after the 7 year old got baptised:
Jaymes: [Turning to the brothers that's sat to my left] Err, you don’t think this is wrong?
Brother: No way. If anything, it’s so encouraging.
Jaymes: Encouraging? I’m discouraged.
Brother: Don’t be silly. The other children will see the steps he’s taken to get baptised and will also want to get baptised. This young brother is a shining example to all other children in his congregation.
Ding ding ding! Come on down, the price is right! Arghhhh!
So let me see if I’ve got this right. If you have to consent to a baptism and be old enough to be able to understand what you’re getting into, why oh why did this 7 year old get baptised? After all, the entire concept of ‘consent’ is something that’s used in our legal system. For instance, a child can’t consent to marriage or sex (unfortunately) before a certain age. Why are these laws in place? Yep, you guessed it! To protect children from making binding contracts that could harm them. I said this before, but I’ll say it again: Is it possible this 7 year old will – in the next few years – realise that he’s made a mistake? Hell yes. If you’re reading this, you’ve probably seen the errors of your ways and want out too.
The Elder made it very clear in his baptism talk today – “This is the most important decision in your life and isn’t something that is taken lightly. Only after many hours in prayer to Jehovah can we be sure that this is the right decision”.
Knowing this, in what way is a 7 year old child any more consenting than a baby? When I was 7, I did what my mother said or I got the vacuum cleaner, broom (or whatever other hurtful object was near) over the head. I didn’t know what I wanted until I was around 28 years old. Of course, not everyone’s the same, but I can tell you – with a high level of certainty – you don’t know what you want when you’re 7, 8, 9 or even 15 years old. I was 15 when I got dunked and only did it to ease the pressure my mother was piling on.
Child baptisms are wrong. Very wrong! To be honest, they’re far worse when a cult is involved.
Before I go, I think I need to ask this question one more time: Why is it okay for a 7, 8 or 9 year old to get baptised, but not a 6 month old baby? Answers on a postcard.
Child Baptisms in the Jehovah's Witnesses,12 Comments
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- Maria Rodriguez: Well said! I particularly like number Zero: all the times that they’ve been right. This is a real...
- Sheila: Wow I’m pretty sure you’re heart would be as cold as ice if I could see it in the abyss that...
- Barinthus: Oh as for “using subtitles.” Unfortunately due to how our legal framework is set up, many Deaf...
- Barinthus: A bit late to the party. I’m Deaf and native ASL user. To clarify, the signs used in this video is...
- hannah: The witnesses are an cultic group and an occult.anyone who is controlling and judgemental and they are in the...
Again, this just shows you how hypocritical the JW’s really are. They put other churches down for baptizing babies, but yet they baptize a 7 year old, which is not any different from what most churches do. Then again, it wouldn’t surprise me if the boys parents forced and pushed him into being baptized. If they did, it is typical of the JW’s to do that.
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He’s never had to face temptation to know what he is or is not capable of. He doesn’t understand that he is now obligated to act as a secret police against all his friends and family for the rest of his life or risk facing disfellowshipping himself. He does not understand the true consequences of what happens if he makes a mistake or if he changes his mind. All he knows of consequences are short time-outs in his room and not getting desserts. This month, the Madagascar movie is the center of his world and the best thing ever. In a few months, Madagascar will be boring and the next Monsters, Inc movie will be the center of his world and the best thing ever. However, people expect him to spend the next 80 years believing Jehovah is the creator of his world and the JWs are the best religion ever? Really?
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listen to adult material-being beaten in the rest rooms if not behaving as robots. My heart goes out to them. May they find their way when the time comes.
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Now, to use one of the Society’s favorite illustrations; if I can say, that at 17 years old, I was ill equipped to make the choice I did, how much less so is a second-grader?!
Not to mention, they use their literature to make young teens feel guilty if they haven’t been dunked yet. I know, it worked on me!
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Andrew Reply:
July 10th, 2012 at 8:06 am
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craig Reply:
July 10th, 2012 at 6:39 pm
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Andrew Reply:
July 11th, 2012 at 9:28 am
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The point being: if the Society uses 10 as the minimum age for understanding, they should never baptize someone younger than that. Or is this an unadvertised change in the WT regarding the “age of understanding”?
It’s ironic that a governing body that constantly changes its mind demands its followers to commit (at baptism) to never changing theirs (at least as regards their unwavering trust in the WT as “God’s organization”.)
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Now I’m 14,and I’m extremely happy I didn’t give in. I’ve been an Atheist since I was 12,and I hate to imagine what shit would be like now if I had gotten baptized.And,I’ve set a much better goal for myself! I’m going to try convince my mother to leave the JWs. I hate to see her waste whats left of her life.
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