Ex-Jehovah’s Witness want ban on baptism of children: ‘You lose everything if you decide differently later’

ARNHEM, Netherlands – The baptism of minors at the Jehovah’s Witnesses must come to an end. A Gelderland foundation of ex-Jehovah’s witnesses argues for this in a letter to the House of Representatives and the Ministry of Legal Protection. The foundation points out the major consequences of baptism: social exclusion if you leave the group after baptism.

Originally published in Dutch on Omroep Gelderland and written by Jenda Terpstra on September 13, 2022.

Henri Dahlem (50) from Aalten is an ex-Jehovah witness and initiator of the foundation Against Watchtower Shunning . In doing so, he fights against the social exclusion that follows when a Jehovah’s Witness turns his back on religion. Due to the old environment, an ex-Jehovah’s witness is ‘declared socially dead’. “Friends and family: no one is allowed to talk to you anymore. That has major emotional consequences,” Dahlem emphasizes.

The danger of exclusion begins with baptism, he says. “Baptism is a pledge of allegiance to the organization.” Jehovah’s Witnesses are familiar with adult baptism, but children and teenagers are sometimes baptized as well.

According to ex-Jehovah’s witnesses, minors do not realize the major consequences of baptism. Dahlem: “Compare it with buying a house or getting married. That is also only allowed when you are 18 years old, because it is such a large choice.” In a letter to the House of Representatives and the Minister of Legal Protection, his foundation calls on politicians to take action against this.

Promise for life

Ex-Jehovah’s witness Frances Peters also knows the major consequences of baptism. “It’s a promise for life. Some children are 9 years old when they are baptized, others are 10 to 12 years old. I was 15 myself. As a teenager you feel connected to the group and you do what others do. You can often form your own opinion only later. For example, you can fall in love with a non-Jehovah’s Witness.”

The impact of baptism is so huge, she says. “Because if you decide otherwise, you lose everything. A year before I was officially disfellowshipped, I was no longer welcome with certain relatives who were still active Jehovah’s Witnesses. I was even told that I was responsible for tearing up the family ties and all the misery that followed our departure.”

Exclusion of a baptized member leads to so much grief and even suicides – Wim de Goeij, ex-Jehovah’s witness

That is also what ex-Jehovah’s witness Wim de Goeij says. He thinks politicians should do more. “The government must start to see the urgency. They have one job: to protect civilians. At the moment they are leaving people to their own devices.” Religious freedom is often the argument not to intervene. Unjustly, he thinks. “There is something else going on here. This is a form of knowingly driving people into misery. The exclusion of a baptized member leads to so much grief and even suicides. You cannot hide that under the heading of religious freedom.”

‘Holy Tradition’

However, such a baptismal ban will not come about anytime soon, says theologian and church historian Peter Nissen. “In the Netherlands, religious freedom is almost a sacred tradition.” Due to the separation of church and state, the government does not easily intervene in religious matters, he says.

“Compare it to circumcision: it is a radical ritual, and it puts religious freedom at odds with the right to the integrity of the body. Yet it is allowed.” As long as public order is not at stake, the government will not intervene quickly, he says. “These kinds of issues only stand a chance in the public debate.”

Lawsuit

In Belgium, Jehovah’s Witnesses were convicted last year for the consequences of social exclusion for former members, and for inciting discrimination, hatred and violence. But recently the Court of Appeal reversed this ruling.

Henri Dahlem’s foundation is now preparing a similar lawsuit in the Netherlands. Dahlem especially wants politicians to consider curbing social exclusion. “It starts with baptism. It is not without obligation,” he says. “It is very different from being a member of a football club. You can no longer switch. That’s the whole point.”

Response of Jehovah’s witnesses in the Netherlands:

In a response, a spokesperson for the Jehovah’s witnesses in the Netherlands writes:

“Jehovah’s witnesses do not have infant baptism and children who grow up in families of Jehovah’s witnesses are not by definition baptized.” Baptism is a personal choice of each individual that is not done under duress.

“Although Jehovah’s Witnesses are very sorry if their child does not share their faith, they still love him or her. They will not cut ties with their child just because the child does not want to become one of Jehovah’s witnesses.”

The organization also points out that the opinions of ‘disgruntled former members’ should not be taken as representative or true.

Editor’s Notes by Lester Somrah

Jehovah’s Witnesses are a 20th century doomsday millenarian religion. Having meet the criteria of Dr. Steven Hassan’s BITE model, they are also classified as an extreme dangerous cult.

The BITE Model describes the specific methods that cults use to recruit and maintain control over people. “BITE” stands for Behavior, Information, Thought, and Emotional Control. Further details can be found on the website Freedom of Mind Resource Center.

As for Information Control, this is clearly evident in the above response of Jehovah’s Witnesses. The leadership of Jehovah’s Witnesses do not want their members and non-members to speak with former members or do personal research outside their theocratic library. Jehovah’s Witnesses are known to withhold, conceal and distort information regarding their religious beliefs to give a public impression that they are a harmless, kind, loving and caring religion.

As a result Jehovah’s Witnesses provide public statements that amount to misinformation. Their response above is another example of such misinformation and their continuous efforts to malign former Jehovah’s Witnesses.

There are many, many Jehovah’s Witnesses who have not spoken to their family members who are either disfellowshipped or disassociated for many years, sometimes decades. This perverted religious practice is known as shunning. Getting recruited and subsequently joining Jehovah’s Witnesses by baptism puts the individual at great risk of being shunned. This is explained in detail in my article Jehovah’s Witnesses Resume In-Person House-to-House Ministry on September 1st 2022 – Seven Reasons Why You Should Listen to Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Joining Jehovah’s Witnesses by baptism can have detrimental effects later on, especially if one wants to leave. Most countries have laws that prevent the consumption of alcohol, cigarettes and illegal drugs by minors; that have an age limit for consumption of alcohol and cigarettes so as to protect minors from the dangers of these substances. In a similar way, there must be legislation that regulates the age someone can join a dangerous, extremist religion and protects minors from its dangers.

Lester Somrah

Lester Somrah writes about the beliefs and practices of Jehovah’s Witnesses on his social media platforms and was baptized as a member in 1998.