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A nice post.
I would guess that even though you say you are no longer associated with the JW's or believe in the bible as you once did .. you 'surely' have had the love of Jehovah impressed upon your heart and have truly left an impression on me.
I also 'think' that you are not as far away from Jehovah as you believe that you are. 8)
Thanks for the nice comment. I will admit some of the morals they live did influence me in my life just as the Army did in some other ways, my parents, my community, etc. They were part of my life and as such they shapped me in some form, take care.
I am always confused with them and the LDS people who knock on doors in our neighborhood.
Actually, one of the kid spoke prefect Mandarin Chinese to my wife and she was amazed! hehe
My bestfriend is an LDS..Her husband is an Rastifarian..I think I spelled that wrong..I'm an unbaptized witness...Someday I want to be a baptized witness..
My bestfriend is an LDS..Her husband is an Rastifarian..I think I spelled that wrong..I'm an unbaptized witness...Someday I want to be a baptized witness..
You've got me curious now. What is the process of becoming a baptized Jehovah's Witness? In most religions, baptism is available for the asking with very few steps leading up to it. How does it work with JW's?
You've got me curious now. What is the process of becoming a baptized Jehovah's Witness? In most religions, baptism is available for the asking with very few steps leading up to it. How does it work with JW's?
Hopefully Mr Wilson will come along and explain the details.
I do think that you need to have a fundamental understanding of scripture and 'know' what being baptized actually means.
I do know that it isn't the washing away of sin (Jesus was baptized) and I also believe that the above reasons (knowledge, understanding) are why babies are not baptized.
You've got me curious now. What is the process of becoming a baptized Jehovah's Witness? In most religions, baptism is available for the asking with very few steps leading up to it. How does it work with JW's?
You want to dedicate your life to serving Jehovah. I do things that are wrong now..Like having sex outside of marriage. I do I believe its wrong, and believe sex is only for married persons..I dont look down at anybody because I'm no better than them. Most people don't understand because to them being baptize means being dunked in water..To us its our life, its our committment to Jehovah. I dont have that committment yet..I want to.
Hopefully Mr Wilson will come along and explain the details.
I do think that you need to have a fundamental understanding of scripture and 'know' what being baptized actually means.
I do know that it isn't the washing away of sin (Jesus was baptized) and I also believe that the above reasons (knowledge, understanding) are why babies are not baptized.
Babies aren't able to make the decision to dedicate their lives to serving Jehovah.
You want to dedicate your life to serving Jehovah. I do things that are wrong now..Like having sex outside of marriage. I do I believe its wrong, and believe sex is only for married persons..I dont look down at anybody because I'm no better than them. Most people don't understand because to them being baptize means being dunked in water..To us its our life, its our committment to Jehovah. I dont have that committment yet..I want to.
First off, just bear in mind that I'm not trying to jump down your throat or anything like that.
Having said that, no other Christian religions don't view baptism as just being dunked in water. They view it the same way you view it: A life-long commitment to God (or Jehovah, same thing).
It's a curious thing that I keep seeing in the JW mindset: The notion of the absolute uniqueness of their religion. I haven't heard anything about JW baptism that makes it truly unique. That does not diminish the level of commitment for a JW at baptism -- just saying to please be careful not to downplay how committed other religions are at their own baptism.
It does sound like they expect you to have set your life in order before being baptized, and that seems perfectly reasonable to me.
It's a curious thing that I keep seeing in the JW mindset: The notion of the absolute uniqueness of their religion. I haven't heard anything about JW baptism that makes it truly unique.
Watchtower 1989 January 15 p.15 How Baptism Can Save Us
"Especially now is it vital that we have the "mark" and retain it, for we are deep into "the time of the end." (Daniel 12:4) To be saved we must 'endure to the end' of our present life or of this system. (Matthew 24:13) Only if we thus remain faithful as witnesses of Jehovah will baptism save us."
It is a baptism with allegience to a manmade organization.
Watchtower 1987 April 15 pp.10-15 Gaining Peace With God Through Dedication and Baptism
"By baptism you identify yourself as one of Jehovah's Witnesses in association with God's worldwide congregation. Baptism validates a solemn agreement made with God."
Affirmed by their new questions which changed in 1985:
"At the close of the convention baptism talk, the baptism candidates will be in position to answer with depth of understanding and heartfelt appreciation two simple questions that serve to confirm that they recognize the implications of following Christ's example. The first question is:
On the basis of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, have you repented of your sins and dedicated yourself to Jehovah to do his will?
The second is:
Do you understand that your dedication and baptism identify you as one of Jehovah's Witnesses in association with God's spirit-directed organization?
Having answered yes to these questions, candidates are in a right heart condition to undergo Christian baptism."
So I guess the difference is this is the "only" valid baptism, which is in association with God's "only" spirit directed religion.
Last edited by Driftwood2011; 05-13-2011 at 05:49 PM..
Many of these nice people have no idea of the history and hypocrisy behind their religion. There is a wealth of information on the internet about them.
They have a knack for pointing out the failures in other religions and then omitting their own.
Remember too, if you become one, you cannot actively participate on forums like these with them knowing it. Their cult will label everything which speaks against them as from the devil, and use this "victimization" to justify their position. I suggest you look at The Rick Ross Institute and Steven Hassan's websites about the Jehovah's Witness cult and how they operate.
If it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck....
Well driftwood,i'm not a jw nor do I have any interest in becoming one but at least from the limited things you posted on jw baptism I didn't interpet a lot of it the same way you did.To me it just seemed they were saying by being baptized a jw you were pledging to follow God in a manner consistent with their beliefs.....which is pretty much what every church that baptizes does.Like godofthunder I don't see anything particularly unique about their baptism.While they may view theirs as the only 'valid baptism' I imagine that if a jw left the church and became a baptist the baptists likely wouldnt view the jw baptism as valid either....Many churches baptise differently,a methodist who received infant baptism would need immersion baptism to become baptist.
I will agree with you that people should study the history of any religion/denomination they are interested in . Any church of any size that has existed for a resonable period of time is going to have some embarrassing or contraversial characters/incidents in their history.It pays to find out what you are getting yourself into.
In my experiance most churches have a knack for pointing out the failures in other churches while omitting their own.....the jws wouldn't be unique in that regard.
Many churches regard negativity directed toward them as inspired or directed by the devil......again nothing unique there.
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