by kid-A 142 Replies latest social current
The B.C. government has previously used the courts to attempt to force minors to undergo potentially life-saving procedures.
how dare they!
She fled to Ontario and eventually received bloodless treatment in New York after the B.C. government negotiated a deal with her family for her transfer to Schneider Children's Hospital, which specializes in ''blood avoidance'' treatment.
I was born 1957 3rd gen JW to devout pioneer parents watched 4 generations of both sides of my all JW clan deal with blood ban.
I myself contracted bleeding ulcerative colitis 1970 age 13 and have loss gallons of blood took my stand over again prepared to die a watchtower martyr
Left the cult in 1992 I have been reviled for 'not minding my own business over the Jehovah's Witnesses blood doctrine' ~Danny Haszard Bangor Maine
"Even for young children and babies, there are alternatives – no (blood) transfusion doesn't mean you're going to die. ... To have blood is not the superior way, even though the little jingles on TV say blood gives life."
Even if he wasn't lying and non blood substitutes were as good as blood in all situations (they aren't), does this shit-bird piece of genetic trash remember the days when there were no safe blood alternatives - and all of the lives that were needlessly lost because of this insane policy dreamt up by Freddie Franz? Was not having blood the "superior way" to save lives back then asshole?
GBL
#1 WT Apologist Slimboyfat
That is a deeply flawed analysis. It is not simply "life" that JWs believe to be at stake, but an eternal relationship with the creator. Also, since they hold to the doctrine that the fate of children is tied to that of parents, it is not so easy to divide up one from the other in that fashion.
I no longer agree with the JW stance on blood, but I respect their right to their view.
You "respect their right to their view" ? Shit! I can respect almost anybody's belief as long as it's not destructive. Some how you're able to 'look for the greater good' from these idiotic morons in the GB. Hitler had some 'medical experiments' performed on thousands of victims 'for the greater good', too. Including 'bleeding out' men, women & children under various circumstances to determine 'how much' blood loss really killed. Another experiment was 'just how long does it take for hypothermia to set in ? Did you know the experiments results were used later by the Allies ? Does that make it 'OK'?
Do you respect his right to his view ?
Gill, thank you for relating your experience and rebutting SBF's brain-dead ramblings so eloquently. People who have "been there - done that" know this is no spiritual/cerebral game that's being played. It's real life...and real death.
Rabbit
I read the initial statement, and the later one too...
I dunno... I have a feeling that the parents are probably a pair of 'faders' or something like that.
Although not stated by them, it appears that they may have used some form of contraception outside the 'normal' bounds of what their religion allows.
They have 6 babies, and these may need some sort of medical attention - perhaps requiring blood.
The parents have made sure that they identified themselves as being Jehovah's Witnesses.
They apparently have not notified their local congregation - or else the HLC folks would've been there in the spotlight...
It just looks a tad suspicious. Perhaps they are purposely getting the attention of the media to this glaring area of the JW religion.
I don't feel that they will forbid blood transfusions, or any other medical treatments - if they are necessary.
It also sounds as if they are driving the Canadian JW HQ a tad crazy - since they do not know (or so they laim) the identities of these folks.
Only time will tell...
Regards,
Jim TX
Hello Beep-Beep,
Why is it, that it takes someone to be killed in a traffic section for a "STOP!" sign to finally go up?! Is it the people crying for this request to be the ones accused?
We only hope that our indignant cry will be heard. The GB is not listening/caring! People have been killed or have had much personal anguish in this issue. Where will the "STOP!" on this insidious "blood issue" come from? Hopefully, the media will help and we only hope the "voice" of these beautiful 6 babies is crying out to all!!
Just a thought - what if the couple had been either reproved, DFed or worse the object of a congregation Gossip Mill Directive and left on their own during this pregnancy ...due to the IVF. I can see a BOE elders behave in this fashion- perhaps local needs talk, perhaps encouragment to mark these ones....HMMMM - it would explain why the parents want nothing to do with the "Church Leaders", why old whats his name is claiming not to know who they are and ALSO why they are identifying themselves as JW.... what if they are older, simply got tired of waiting for their family in paradise....stopped full time service..... Now that would be a story
No matter the circumstances, I wish nothing but health and happiness to these parents (and I just enjoyed two "snow days" which means no school, blizzard conditions, and seven kids mostly in the house for most of those two days (of course, only three are mine, and they range in age from 9 - 3)
http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/story.html?id=b20c454e-0380-42c1-bfd6-6ddadeb852aa
  | Friday » January 12 » 2007 | |||||
B.C. will step in if sextuplets at risk Jehovah's Witnesses
VANCOUVER - The British Columbia government says it's ready to step in to protect the health rights of premature sextuplets born in Vancouver. While the parents of the six babies have remained anonymous in the midst of increasing public scrutiny, they have acknowledged they are Jehovah's Witnesses. The sect's well known belief that God forbids blood transfusions could lead to a courtroom clash over medical and religious rights. The babies, born at 25 weeks gestation, are about the size of a hand and weigh only 700 to 800 grams. It's common for premature babies to require transfusions due to the number of tests they undergo leading to blood loss. An official with the Ministry of Children and Family Development said the government is prepared to take temporary custody of any children whose lives are at risk. He would not comment on whether the government has contacted the parents. Health care workers have a legal duty to report to the ministry cases in which parents have refused a doctor's recommended treatment that puts a child's life at risk. "We would then assess and ensure appropriate steps have been taken to ensure the child's safety. In other words, we'd confer with medical experts involved and in cases where they deem treatment is necessary to preserve a child's life, then it'd be necessary for us to seek a court order -- and that's what we'd do," said the official. Such a court order was sought in 2005 for a Jehovah's Witness teenager, who was ordered by the B.C. Supreme Court to undergo a blood transfusion as part of her cancer treatment. She later received bloodless treatment in New York after negotiating with the B.C. government. The national spokesman for Jehovah's Witnesses in Canada would not comment on what the church would do if the government intervened. Mark Ruge, church spokesman, says the choice of treatment remains a private matter between the parents and the medical team. "It is important for the media and others to avoid making stereotypical assumptions regarding Jehovah's Witnesses," Mr. Ruge said. He emphasized doctors have treated premature babies without blood transfusions by "careful attention to minimal blood sampling, clinical acceptance of lower hemoglobin levels, use of erythropoietin and iron to stimulate natural production of red blood cells and other recognized medical procedures." But clarifications over the years have only made things more confusing for many followers. In 2000, the official Watchtower church magazine stated due to ambiguity in the Bible, followers may now take certain components of blood for medical treatment. While the ban on blood transfusion remains, the new directive opened the door for use of such compounds as hemoglobin, obtained from fractioning red blood cells. But a schism within the tightly disciplined sect has led some followers to go as far as campaigning for a stop to the blood ban. The Associated Jehovah's Witnesses for Reform on Blood, founded in 1997 by dissenting elders, promotes reform of the "irrational aspects" of the blood policy. The group protects its members' identities, and asks those looking to join its e-mail list to avoid using their real names. Its Web site lists Jehovah's Witnesses who have died for refusing blood transfusions. © National Post 2007 | ||||||
Dear Friends,
Is it appropriate - or, at the very least, meaningful - to make the public aware of the blood ban's origin? The above article stated that there is a schism within the ranks of JWs. Does it truly matter in the court of puplic opinion that FWF et al did not come up with a sincerely wrought [though profoundly mistaken] Biblically-founded doctrine, but were attempting to stir up the public, thereby garnering much sought-after publicity? This is important to me, surely too, to many of you.
Compound-Complex
CoCo - Getting the media to 'care' is another problem altogether.
The sextuplets will get blood and whatever other treatment they need, and that will be fine, whatever happens.
But, when it comes to adults and older minors, people in general would like to think that a person's wishes in medical matters is to always be respected no matter what.
To actually get the media to be interested in digging into WHY the blood transfusion ban occured in the first place would be difficult. Once they got past the original statements that it was set up to garner publicity, they may well lose interest in the falseness of the translations, and the fact that the WTBTS has no REAL scholars that it can name.
Only when a parent does a runner with a child does the press really get its teeth into these stories and I suspect that the parents of these six babies will allow whatever treatment is necessary anyway, so prevention of treatment is not an issue.
The sheer foolishness of the new evolutions in No Blood Policy might catch the attention of a few enquiring minds, but in the end, R and F JWs will only see this as new persection and sign that Armageddon is coming sooooooon! Unfortunately then, all that is achieved is that we have come full circle again.
Very sad! How do you make people look? And then.....how do you make them see?
