SCRIPTURE: “And after this manner did the Holy Ghost manifest the word of God unto me; wherefore, my beloved son, I know that it is solemn mockery before God, that ye should baptize little children. Behold I say unto you that this thing shall ye teach—repentance and baptism unto those who are accountable and capable of committing sin; yea, teach parents that they must repent and be baptized, and humble themselves as their little children, and they shall all be saved with their little children. And their little children need no repentance, neither baptism. Behold, baptism is unto repentance to the fulfilling the commandments unto the remission of sins.” -Moroni 8:9-11. [source]
SCRIPTURE: “And again, inasmuch as parents have children in Zion, or in any of her stakes which are organized, that teach them not to understand the doctrine of repentance, faith in Christ the Son of the living God, and of baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of the hands, when eight years old, the sin be upon the heads of the parents.” -D&C 68:25. [source]
COMMENTARY: If infant baptism is a deplorable practice, how is baptizing 8-year-olds that different? If the sin for failing to baptize children at age 8 is on the heads of the parents, then doesn’t it also stand to reason that the decision to be baptized isn’t really being made by the child? It seems to me that a God who believed in agency and who understood child development would require that baptism wait until a child had reached adulthood. But what do I know? I’m just another apostate.
