How Jw's will begin to 'accept' blood doctrinally.

by AK - Jeff 24 Replies latest watchtower medical

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  looking_glass

  I have been waiting for them to come out and say that because of the amount of processing that happens when blood is given, that essentially it is not WHOLE BLOOD any more and thus, "true Christians" can partake in it. But that has not come out in print.

  Though, I am wondering .... for those old school JWs, even if the old men who are running the place leave and "new light is shed on the subject", will the old men who run each congo give up their old ways. Think about it. As much as the men behind the curtain make the decisions on what gets printed and what does not, each hall is dictated by its own group of elders and their word is still law in each hall/congo. Not until new blood takes over in all respects will the thinking really change and matter will be forgotten.
• 

  willyloman

  Jeff, I suggest you send this thread to the Society, in case they haven't thought about how they might not lose face.

  Oh, they've already thought about it, believe me. Jeff's forecast is right on the money. Ditto to whoever said the blood issue is pretty much moot nowadays, at least for those dubs who have kept up with the WTS' shifting policy. This is has been largely true for the past decade, and every couple of years they push the boundaries a little further.
• 

  stillajwexelder

  IMHO Very plausible
• 

  Soledad

  This is pretty much what they have been doing for years now. It's incredibly stupid. It's like telling someone "you can't eat cheeseburgers, but it's ok to eat the bun, the meat and the cheese separately." When will these people finally realize that they belong to a CULT??
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  looking_glass

  It's not moot yet though because I know a kid I grew up w/ that had a bleeding ulcer that he did not know about until he had lost so much blood he recently ended up in the hospital and his brother gave permission for a blood transfusion. The two guys are keeping it a secret amongst them JW relatives because they do not want to deal w/ the wrath of it all. They come from a LARGE JW family and I know that most of the adult guys in their family are elders or MS. They said they do not feel like being shunned over their decision. So my guess is that unless the WTBTS comes out in black and white and says clearly "you can take blood now", the JWs will continue to think it is a biblical sin to do so.
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  willyloman

  Looking glass: Exactly my point; the blood issue is only moot for those few dubs who have stayed current with the Society's rapidly changing rules. But for the handful who can and do read, the door was left unlocked a long time ago.

  An elder who spent years on an HLC before he was hired to coordinate a major hospital's "bloodless surgery" program once told me that 99% of the dubs who come into the hospital have absolutely no idea what the WTS's current teachings are on blood use, fractions, cell saving equipment, etc. They always ask him what "mother" will allow and then opt for that treatment, whatever it is.
• 

  looking_glass

  What is interesting is that one of their own mouth pieces Jan Graziani (a registered nurse) and her husband a doc, both of them JWs, do not give this info during their many appearances and lectures. And yes, they give lectures that are permitted by the WTBTS. I think there are many people who actually know about the change in info but are afraid of the backlash and so they stay quiet about it.
• 

  AK - Jeff

  I believe the entire shift could happen within two or three paragraphs like these;

  We recognise that the Bible makes no distinctions regarding 'blood fractions', and Jehovah has been clearly guiding his people to understand that these fraction uses are clearly a matter of individual conscience. Particularly since 2004 has this been understood. In recent discussion with well respected medical professionals, the Governing Body has carefully and prayfully considered the matter. It has become clear [can you say Shekinah Light?] that fractionalized blood components cannot be categorized as 'major' or 'minor' in nature. As example, it would be incorrect to state that Plasma is a 'major component' of blood, while immuno-globulin is considered a 'minor' fraction. Clotting factor, long considered by some witnesses to be a 'minor fraction', is indeed a compilation of hundreds of fractionalized pints of blood to create a single dose used by hemophiliacs to control clotting.

  God's people understand that the use of 'whole blood', in the form that it is originally removed from the body, would be wrong Biblically. Why so? Primarily ours is a matter of Biblical precedent. When the commands given in the Bible were written down, there would have been no idea among those men, at that time, that blood could be used in any other manner. It was recognised that the 'life, was in the blood', in the original form in which it was mentioned. Just as one might recognise that paper, or a desk, was once part of a tree, the use of such items shows no disrespect to trees and nature. The use of fractions might be viewed in much the same way by Christians, whether those 'fractions' are ones that they have always considered 'fractions', or if those fractions are of what has been sometimes incorrectly labeled 'major components'. The use of any fractions would take on the same conscience decisions as any other.
• 

  TheListener

  Nicely written Jeff. I'd love to see something like that come out in a wt or awake.
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  Clam

  Good one Jeff. Now really show your copy skills by writing a future quasi Awake article about how it would be a "christian thing" to donate blood. Then we'll have the full cycle.

  Clam, of the where does the life force go between it being donated and then fractioned class