Minor joining religious organization

[johnnyprc]

At 14 I was baptized into a religion that takes the act of baptism as an official joining of their organization. Leaving post baptism is not easy if you want to keep contact with your family. Once I was 18 I never participated in the church like normal members do, and I only got baptized at that age due to the extreme pressure by my parents and friends.

I would like to hold my baptism invalid due to the fact I was a minor. I do not want to be part of their organization. Not being baptized represents a huge difference in standing for those who leave the church.

Thank you for any help.

 

[Silverplum]

At 14 I was baptized into a religion that takes the act of baptism as an official joining of their organization. Leaving post baptism is not easy if you want to keep contact with your family. Once I was 18 I never participated in the church like normal members do, and I only got baptized at that age due to the extreme pressure by my parents and friends.

I would like to hold my baptism invalid due to the fact I was a minor. I do not want to be part of their organization. Not being baptized represents a huge difference in standing for those who leave the church.

Thank you for any help.

Feel free to do so.

 

[cbg]

I'm not sure how you plan to unbaptize yourself, but there are no legal issues here. You don't want to be part of their organization, don't. No one is forcing you to.

 

[CSO286]

Feel free to do so.

Of course, organization is equally free to consider your baptism valid and treat you as a baptized member who has left the church.

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

Consider yourself to never have received a properly executed Baptism. Therefore, you are not Baptized. You never met the proper standard of belief. Here is the short version.You can follow the link for greater enlightenment. May God go with you in your pursuit.

The Bible gives only two conditions for baptism—sincere, heartfelt repentance and belief. Some feel they must wait a long time to become "good enough" to be baptized. But biblical examples show that people can be baptized without being Bible scholars, and you do not have to be perfect before being baptized. Actually, there is no way to be spiritually perfect before receiving God's Holy Spirit, since it is the Spirit that enables us to grow toward spiritual perfection. Baptism marks the end of an old life of sin and the beginning of a new one focused on God.

Should You Be Baptized? > Free Bible Study Guides

 

[johnnyprc]

Difficult

This is a bit more difficult than considering myself "un-baptized". There is a huge difference in this church organization between those who are a baptized member and leave vs those who were never baptized and left.

The difference is if my family and friends can talk to me again. I am more concerned about my family members, and feel my being baptized at 14 should not be held against me. A couple key elements are:
1. Once I moved out on my own at 18 I stopped being an active member of the church (officially).
2. I told people after leaving my parents’ home at 18 I was not a member of the church.

This is a more difficult situation than it seems on the surface. Thank you again for any help.

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

This is a bit more difficult than considering myself "un-baptized". There is a huge difference in this church organization between those who are a baptized member and leave vs those who were never baptized and left.

The difference is if my family and friends can talk to me again.

We do want to help. Please explain what the onus is that determines whether your family and friends can talk to you again. I will explore the issue with relatives more educated on the subject.

 

[Banned_Princess]

Is this a cult?

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

Is this a cult?

I believe it is an extremist church, not a cult. They would hold to tighter principals of behavior. Circumventing their practices requires a reason literally of religious proportion. Are they Mennonite?

 

[cbg]

This is also not a legal matter. If you are looking for a law that says your friends and family MUST be permitted by the church to talk to you (should they choose to) because you were a minor when baptised, you will not find one. The division of church and state cuts both ways - just as the church cannot tell the state what to do, neither can the state tell the church.

 

[CdwJava]

No law can force those people to maintain a relationship with you against church principles. None. In fact, I fear the day the government can tell people how they must worship or believe. Sadly, I see that day coming already.

I know of only a few mainstream churches where denominations might hold such extreme views and those include some LDS church congregations (Mormons), as well as the ordnung of some Amish and Mennonite congregations.