Repulsed by the thought (page 2)

Deputy Dog

mouthy

You wouldn't takemy blood if it would save your life for one more trip to Blue Mountain, (even to meet Little Toe there)

MegaDude

Have any of you felt that way? Were you able to overcome the feelings? How?

Yes. Ingrained fear from repeated servings of blood transfusion horror stories from the JWs year after year. It's just old mental tapes playing.

Overcame the feelings with time and information. The person at the WTS who introduced this idiot doctrine is well known for his kooky articles and ideas. He even wanted to stop using the common names for the months and days of the week because they are named after pagan gods. He devised a JW calendar with different names. Rutherford nixed that idea.

Just repeating the obvious and what you already know, but you've been conditioned to have the response you have. It's not based on truth or the Bible or common sense. Just conditioning. Some of this conditioning takes time for it to lessen its hold on you. Reframing the issue purposefully can help.

What is the truth about blood? Can it be the gift of life and love to someone? Sometimes a blood transfusion is the only thing that could save you. Wouldn't you be glad if someone took the time to donate blood if it saved your life or the life of a loved one? Would you donate blood to your child if she needed it? Wouldn't that be a loving thing to do?

There is a very unpleasant story in Ray Franz's book "In Search of Christian Freedom" about a JW who refused a blood transfusion and died unnecessarily. She was in a hospital and on the emergency table. Without enough red blood cells she couldn't get enough oxygen. The doctors were honoring her wishes not to receive a life-saving blood transfusion. She was conscious and breathing faster and faster, but without enough red blood cells she was slowly suffocating her body. She was hooked up to oxygen, JW sisters coaching her at her bedside, until she began the agonizing process of dying from a heart attack caused by lack of oxygen. The means of saving her was seconds away if she hadn't been conditioned to believe a false doctrine. That's what I found repulsive. Like Six of Nine, it was the straw that broke the camel's proverbial back and led to my leaving the JWs.

Gordy

Three years ago my son (29) was diagnosed with severe anaemia. In fact when his local doctor got the results back from his blood test, he call him at home and told him an ambulance was on its way to pick him up to take him to hospital.

As soon as he was in they started to give him blood, in all he had four units over five days. They said that his blood counts was so low that he could have died within the next few days without the blood transfusion. It was the quickest way to get his blood count back up.

My son also an exJW was not troubled that he had to have blood. I on visiting him in hospital was not bothered on seeing him being given blood. The only thing that worried us was how his strong JW mother would act when she came to visit. Turned out she never said a word or made a comment. I did wonder what she may have said to other JW's about it. But I have a feeling she may not have even let on he was in hospital.

Gill

Nothing was said by our JW family when a long standing JW great grand parent started to bleed out during major surgery and was given blood to save his life.

Who is going to complain about having a loved ones life saved?

Only a total idiot!

Blood has been made a very scary thing by the WTBTS! It's hard to lose that feeling! However, it is still better to be alive!

Jobees

My younger sister went into the hospital for a routine operation and there ended up being some complications. She would have died if it had not been for a blood transfusion. I don't know what I would have done if she had died. I asked her later if she felt weird. She said no, but told me she would never tell our mother. My sis and I are both d-effed, but our mom is still an active witness. She'd freak if she knew.

Another point that is interesting to me and helped me be convinced that refusing a blood transfusion is kin to murder is Jesus' healing of a man on the Sabbath:

Luke 6:6-11

"Now it happened on another Sabbath, also, that He entered the synagogue and taught. And a man was there whose right hand was withered. So the scribes and Pharisees watched Him closely, whether He would heal on the Sabbath, that they might find an accusation against Him. But He knew their thoughts, and said to teh man who had the withered hand, "Arise and stand here." and he arose and stood.

Then Jesus said to them, "I will ask you one thing: Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy?" And when He had looked around as them all, He said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." And he did so, and his hand was restored as whole as the other. But they were filler with rage, and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus"

Jw's refusing their members to save their lives with a blood transfusion sounds like the Pharisees being filled with rage over Jesus healing on the Sabbath, doesn't it?

jgnat

Not by blood, but the by the Easter Bunny. My church drilled in to us that it was a pagan custom. I'm left shiftless, unsure how to best mark the holiday. I haven't been able to maintain a family tradition as I have for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I know what I need. A decent replacement.

You can always throw up and go into therapy later at the idea of getting a blood transfusion, but at least you'd still be alive.

LOL, so true. Easter Bunny or no bunny, I'll survive. But the blood policy kills.

Sunspot

You wouldn't takemy blood if it would save your life for one more trip to Blue Mountain, (even to meet Little Toe there)

Wow....I actually got butterflies in my stomach when I read this!!! Funny...I just got off the phone with my grand-daughter in MA, telling her about that convention and how I am already excited about going again next year! And YES, Mouthy----you had BETTER BE THERE!!!!!

But another "funny" thing about he blood business, is that I never received blood but I had undergone three operations as a JW where I requested "no blood". Last June I had an operation that went sour and while unconscious, I was given two pints of it......or I would have died. I never even knew about this until eight days later!....and all I can say about THAT is I am grateful that they were able to give me the blood and that I was able to take it! This "taking somebody else's blood" doesn't bother me in the least!

Narkissos

Fears, guilt or repulsions are mostly irrational -- and they are all the more difficult to deal with. I never had to face the medical aspect of the blood prohibition personally as a JW, but I remember at one time (when I was about 20) I became quite obsessive with blood in food. It all started one day when I caught the word "plasma" in fine print on some cheap can after I had eaten the contents. I felt terribly bad. From that moment on I kept checking everything, avoiding whatever I could not check and feeling bad when I could neither decently check or avoid ("eating with doubts," à la Romans 14). That was an absurd but true nightmare. I completely forgot about it after I went to Bethel (and no longer had to bother about that everyday)... Looking back it sounds really stupid, but hey I was there. Now I hardly ever think about it: blood is an ingredient in a number of traditional French recipes btw...

I wonder how I would have reacted had I needed a transfusion just after leaving the JWs. Although I didn't believe in the WT doctrine any longer, I guess I would have had some scruples and perhaps refused for the sake of my former JW friends, not wanting them to think I took it any easier than they did. But as time went by this didn't make sense anymore.

When she was about 3 my daughter had a sudden hemolysis (not sure about the English term) and the doctors said she might need a BT. In addition to the general anxiety of the situation I can't deny a strange feeling at hearing that (probably due to the overconsciousness any JW and xJW has of the medical risks) but I would not have hesitated about accepting (she eventually didn't need it).

I would not recommend anybody to do violence on his/her conscience -- generally better act on what you believe now, even if you change your mind tomorrow. But an emergency case may change your mind very quickly, and then the blood card may cause a course of events that you wouldn't choose in the circumstances.

DannyHaszard

Lesser of two nastys

Yes it is naturally repulsive that's why many faint at the sight of blood,BUT decomposing in the ground is even more replulsive if a transfusion will save my life.

BTW i am a 6 week interval regular red cross A-neg blood donor have been for 12 years yet have never needed a transfusion in return.-Danny Haszard

confusedjw

I tossed my blood card. Dying is repulsive also. Give it time and those old superstitions will pass.

Repulsed by the thought

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