This was contributed to me by someone who wishes to remain anon:
Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Governing Body and Tuna Fish Blood
Since the inception of the Watchtower organization in modern times, the leaders overseeing millions of Jehovah’s Witnesses have claimed to be none other than Jesus’ exclusive spirit appointed leaders known collectively as the faithful and discreet slave class, having received this divine distinction early in the twentieth century. They have assured their faithful rank and file members of supervision and protection just as if they were in a spiritual paradise. No one could do a better job of nourishing Jesus’ sheep like followers and spreading their banquet table with the
spiritual food of wisdom and knowledge as if it emanated directly from the great Jehovah himself. This is based on the claim of Governing body leaders to be directed by the spirit of God himself. How blessed these followers must be to have this type of spiritual guardianship!
Of all their peculiar spiritual nourishment, Jehovah’s Witnesses have come to believe that their spirit directed doctrine of bloodlessness is absolutely next to godliness. This blood doctrine has been officially served on the menu of their spiritual buffet hundreds of times over the years being placed there by the Governing body through their divine approved teachings in the pages of the Watchtower magazine and various booklets. This blood doctrine includes the belief that blood transfusions are God dishonoring medical procedure frowned upon by their Jehovah as nourishing the body through the veins not unlike sucking pints of warm human blood by a modern day vampire. Evidently nothing could upset Jehovah more because the penalty for such deviant behavior as willingly submitting to a blood transfusion will cause the local elders to disfellowship the guilty causing such ones to lose their spiritual approval…not to mention family, friends and God’s approval. If the elders don’t disfellowship the guilty then they are automatically disassociated with the same end result.
The basis and foundation for this blood doctrine comes from God’s biblical directive in Noah’s day not to eat unbled meat. All animals and fowl have to be properly bled for God’s happiness to be insured since he views blood as the source of life. Being properly bled would eliminate any animal, fowl, fish etc. that died of its own volition or was strangled or suffocated since all the blood would still be contained in the dead carcass. So of all the spiritual protective devices placed into the net of blood safety, one would think there would be numerous warnings over the years cautioning each and every JW to be diligent about commercial meat processors. This would surely be prime spiritual directive straight from God’s mind and heart through the “faithful and discreet class” and on to the millions of Jesus’ blood concerned followers. It seems these have been few and far between.
Over the years, theoretically to perfect the light on this blood teaching, Jehovah’s witnesses have been required to study many articles clarifying God’s disdain with unauthorized blood use. Even things so mundane as avoiding treatment with leeches, not using fertilizer containing blood, whether or not to use plywood with blood in the glue and the need to even bleed birds or fowl which would include quail, a part of the diet of Israelites have been discussed. ( Lev 7:26; 17:13)
The Watchtower spiritual leaders have made some fatal mistakes in their reasoning on this blood issue. Through the years they have reiterated over and over the Biblical command not to eat blood. They then extrapolated this to include blood transfusions. The Bible command of bleeding animals of course had no application to this medical procedure since it did not exist at that time. The leaders regurgitate Acts 15 over and over again to abstain from blood …period… again extrapolating this to include medical procedure. It does not matter that the Bible does not mention blood transfusions at all. It does not matter because these leaders interpret the Bible as they see fit. They can wave their spiritual wand of interpretation over the Bible and presto the principle of bleeding dead animals instantly applies to a medical procedure not even thought of until thousands of years after the Biblical directive was penned.
I offer the following quotes from The Wt library:
*** w83 4/15 31 Questions From Readers ***
Thus eating unbled flesh was not a trivial matter; it could even result in death. No true worshiper (Israelite or full proselyte alien) could voluntarily eat unbled flesh, no matter if it was from an animal that died of itself, was killed by another animal or was killed by a human. (Numbers 15:30) The apostolic council confirmed this. Writing to Christians making up the spiritual “Israel of God” it forbade eating that which was strangled, whether the unbled meat was from an animal that died from accidental strangulation or it was from one strangled by a man.—Galatians 6:16; Acts 21:25.
That council also directed God’s servants to ‘abstain from blood.’ If those anointed Christians could not consume blood in meat from a strangled creature, they certainly could not take in blood from a living creature. It is not hard to see that neither the ancient Israelites nor obedient Christians would imitate the African tribesmen who shoot arrows into the jugular vein of live cattle to obtain blood that they mix with milk and drink. Similarly, God’s servants could not accept the medical practice whereby units of human blood are withdrawn and given as transfusions intended to extend life. Such practices violate God’s condemnation of anyone “who eats any sort of blood” and the command that Christians ‘abstain from blood.’—Acts 15:28, 29; Leviticus 17:10.
Despite pressures to water down God’s requirements, true Christians know that life is a gift from Jehovah God and must be used as he directs. They obey God whether it seems physically practical now or not---------------------
Consequently, true worshipers today will not eat unbled meat, whether from an animal that some man killed or from a creature that died in another way. Nor will they sustain their lives by taking in blood from living creatures, animal or human. They recognize Jehovah as their Life-Giver and are determined to obey him in all respects.
*** w78 6/15 31 Questions from Readers ***
True Christians ought not to be indifferent about blood. They should do what they can to avoid a clear violation of God’s law. A deep respect for that law is of central importance. By doing all that they reasonably can to “keep themselves . . . from blood,” God’s people manifest appreciation for the sanctity of life and of the blood representing it.—Acts 21:25.
Do you see how the serious the Watchtower is about this matter? They say: It probably resulted in deaths in the past. You can’t eat unbled meat killed by another human. Did you notice that “strangulation” is forbidden. The end result of stangulation and suffocation are one and the same. Did you notice the quote above about anyone “who eats any sort of blood.” That means anything that bleeds.
What about extrapolating the idea that bleeding a dead animal or bird would apply in equal measure to draining the blood of say… a fish? Would this be difficult for such an outstanding and scholarly group of spiritual leaders? Would “any sort of blood”apply to aquatic creatures and would they fall within the Biblical realm of needing to be bled? Is fish blood “any sort of blood”?
Notice the following comments from FAO Corporate Document Repository of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Website. The document or study is entitled Quality and quality changes in fresh fish. The quote is from
3. Biological Aspects, in part says:
Blood Circulation in fish
Notes:
The heart pumps blood toward the gills.
The blood is aerated in the gills.
Arterial blood is dispersed into the capillaries where the transfer of oxygen and nutrients to the surrounding tissue takes place.
The nutrients from ingested food are absorbed from the intestines, then transported to the liver and later dispersed in the blood throughout the body.
In the kidneys the blood is "purified" and waste products are excreted via the urine.
After being aerated in the gills, the arterial blood is collected in the dorsal aorta running just beneath the vertebral column and from here it is dispersed into the different tissues via the capillaries. The venous blood returns to the heart, flowing in veins of increasingly larger size (the biggest is the dorsal vein which is also located beneath the vertebral column). The veins all gather into one blood vessel before entering the heart. The total volume of the blood in fish ranges from 1.5 to 3.0 % of the body weight. Most of it is located in the internal organs while the muscular tissues, constituting two- thirds of the body weight, contain only 20 % of the blood volume. This distribution is not changed during exercise since the light muscle in particular is not very vascularized.
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In fish, the heart does not play an important role in the transportation of blood from the capillaries back to the heart. This has been confirmed in an experiment where the impact of different bleeding procedures on the colour of cod fillets was examined. No difference could be found regardless of whether the fish had been bled by means of cutting the throat in front of or behind the heart before gutting, or had not been cut at all before slaughter.
In some fisheries, bleeding of the fish is very important as a uniform white fillet is desirable. In order to obtain this, a number of countries have recommended that fish are bled for a period (15-20 min) prior to being gutted. This means that throat cutting and gutting must be carried out in two separate operations and that special arrangements (bleeding tanks) must be provided on deck. This complicates the working process (two operations instead of one), time-consuming for the fishermen and increases the time-lag before the fish is chilled. Furthermore it requires extra space on an otherwise crowded working deck.
Several researchers have questioned the necessity of handling the fish in a two-step procedure involving a special bleeding period (Botta et al., 1986; Huss and Asenjo, 1977 a; Valdimarsson et al. 1984). There seems to be general agreement about the following:
· bleeding is more affected by time onboard prior to bleeding/gutting than by the actual bleeding/gutting procedure.
· best bleeding is obtained if live fish are handled, but it is of major importance to cut the fish before it enters rigor mortis since it is the muscle contractions that force the blood out of the tissues.
Why bring up all this information on fish?
To make the following points:
1. Fish have a significant amount of blood .
2. Some types of fish need to be bled to improve the quality of the finished product.
3. Commercial fisheries would not bleed these fish if it were not necessary to the product quality as will be shown later.
4. Fish blood would definitely fall under the heading “any sort of blood.”
5. Blood in a 30 or 40lb fish would be 1.5% to 3.0% of the body weight. This indeed would be equal to double, triple or even hundreds of times more than a fowl such as a chicken or a quail, both needing to be bled according to the Wt. interpretation of the Biblical directive on blood.
Notice the following quotes from Wt. spiritual leaders on fish and fishing:
*** w54 5/1 286-7 Questions from Readers ***
ó Some think it is wrong to hunt and fish, while others see no wrong in such pursuits. Some who think hunting permissible do contend, however, that the game should be thoroughly bled immediately after it is shot to avoid violating the prohibition of eating blood. This bleeding is not generally done. What is the Scriptural view concerning these matters?—A. A., United States.
Animals may also be used for food, with the exception of the blood: “Every creeping animal that is alive may serve as food for you. As in the case of green vegetation, I do give it all to you. Only flesh with its soul—its blood—you must not eat disposed of. (Gen. 9:3, 4; Lev. 17:3-6; Deut. 12:15, 16, 20-24, NW)
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Hunting for food was permitted, but the hunter was warned to bleed his game: “As for any man of the sons of Israel or some temporary resident who is residing for a while in your midst who in hunting catches a wild beast or a fowl that may be eaten, he must in that case pour its blood out and cover it with dust. For the soul of every sort of flesh is its blood by the soul in it. Consequently I said to the sons of Israel, ‘You must not eat the blood of any sort of flesh, because the soul of every sort of flesh is its blood. Anyone eating it will be cut off.’”—Lev. 17:13, 14, NW.
If the hunter failed to bleed his game properly he was put to death, or “cut off.” To eat unbled game not only was prohibited to Israelites under the Law, but also is forbidden for Christians: “Keep yourselves free from things sacrificed to idols and from blood and from things killed without draining their blood and from fornication.” (Acts 15:29; 21:25, NW) Immediately following the instruction to hunters to bleed their game and that to eat blood will mean their death-----------
Basing our position on the Bible, we shall have a balanced view, neither fanatically opposing all killing of animals, nor wantonly hunting them for sport. Jesus ate meat, both fish and lamb. He directed a successful fishing operation using a net, and also instructed that a fish be caught with a hook. (Luke 24:42, 43; Ex. 12:3, 8; Matt. 26:17-21; Luke 5:4-6; Matt. 17:27) Apparently fish required no special attention in bleeding, since there is no instruction concerning them; but the requirements relative to game birds and animals are specific and must be followed by theocratic hunters seeking to vary their meat diet with some wild game. Bullet wounds of today, like arrow wounds or fang-and-claw wounds from beasts of prey during the time of application of the Mosaic law, seldom effect adequate drainage of blood. Hence the hunter must make it complete by using his knife, whether it spoils a trophy or not.
*** w61 11/1 670 Questions from Readers ***
ó In view of the Bible command on abstinence from blood, how are fish and insects to be prepared in order to be acceptable for food?—B. F., U.S.A.
Fish was a common food among the Jews. Jesus himself ate it, and on different occasions he directed successful fishing operations, both with a net and with a hook. (Num. 11:5; Matt. 14:17; 17:27; Luke 5:1-11; 24:42, 43) Some insects, too, were used for food. (Lev. 11:21; Mark 1:6) Of course, the amount of blood contained in these creatures may be very small, so that it is impossible to pour out their blood; yet that is what was required to make the meat of a creature acceptable for food. (Lev. 17:13) It was not required that the meat be squeezed or that it be soaked; simply that the blood be poured out. If there is not enough blood to pour it out, Christians are not under obligation to take extreme measures to be sure that some blood is extracted. Of course, if, on cutting the creature open, an accumulation of blood is clearly in evidence, this can easily be removed, and it would be proper to do so
The Watchtower leaders seem to think that fish do not have to be bled since they do not have enough blood to pour out and there are no special instructions in the Bible on how to process them. Jesus ate fish so it is ok today to eat fish with no concern at all how they are processed? Maybe Jesus immediately bled his fish since no refrigeration was available. The bible does not say how they were processed.
No extreme measures need to be taken to bleed fish but hunters who fail to bleed out their animals are put to death? Bullet holes don’t bleed game out properly but fish that are full of blood do not need bleeding or cutting or blood-letting?
Game birds however have to be bled according to instructions.
The following questions need to be asked:
Does this make sense to any intelligent person capable of reasonable thinking?
Fish such as a 250 lb. tuna do not have enough blood to be poured out but a quail or a dove or a pheasant absolutely has to be bled according to Biblical instructions?
Hunters have to slit a dove’s throat but a fisherman who might catch 50 or more white bass or crappie or a 35lb grouper only has to throw them on ice, suffocating their life away and God’s doesn’t care since He left no instructions on
”How to Bleed a Fish”? I thought the governing body was spirit directed?
Couldn’t they simply ask for new light on fish?
The bible gave no instructions on blood transfusions either, but this did not stop the Wt leaders from extrapolating “don’t eat blood to don’t take a transfusion.” What would take a bigger leap …no blood transfusions or no fish blood… from the original biblical command? As we have already seen many commercial fish processors bleed out certain types of fish to “whiten” the fillets. Doesn’t this indicate fish have an amazing amount of blood?
If commercial fish processors properly bleed their fish, why even discuss this subject?
Please note the following e-mail received from a consultant in the tuna fishing industry with some 27 years of experience.
Quote:
“The majority of caught tuna or I would say all tuna that is canned is not bled. Large boats (purse seiners) with a large net scoop up schools of tuna, up to 50 tons per net. The tuna is then transferred to the well for freezing. The fish are untouched for months until received at the plant for canning. They are then thawed, butchered, cooked and canned. These tuna are more or less all suffocated. Premium grade tuna for sashimi and restaurants are caught by line and bait. They are normally bled when brought aboard the boat. Some are bled and eviscerated with the gills removed. There is no special way of bleeding fish other than cutting a main vessel in the head area.
This large violation of unbled meat has actually been around for many years. It is simple to research, well known and well documented. The Watchtower governing body has known about this huge infraction of their blood doctrine for many years, probably the last 30 or 40 years. They would like to continue ignoring it and instead focusing the blood doctrine on blood transfusions… which have caused the unnecessary and untimely death of many of their devotees including many innocent children. Many Jehovah’s Witnesses have refused blood transfusions as treatment even for their children but now may have a choice to ignore this dangerous doctrine.
This type of processing is not limited to tuna. Other types of commercially harvested fish are frozen or iced on board and processed in port or inland later. If any Jw’s have been fishing privately or have gone sport fishing they know and realize that the accepted way of processing caught fish is the same as tuna. Fish are immediately put on ice thus suffocating the fish. They are processed at the docks or at home at a later time. It cannot be overemphasized that this suffocation process breaks the Biblical principles of properly bled animals. It is amazing that this has never even entered the realm of conscience of Jehovah’s Witnesses. They are determined never to break God’s law when it comes to blood transfusions even allowing children to die, but they overlook or care less that they actually break God’s law in their diet which probably includes some type of fish on a weekly basis. Keep in mind too that we are talking about thousands of tons of fish processed commercially all over the world.
If Jw’s think this is an unimportant issue and fish blood is of no consequence then perhaps we should all invite some of them over and offer a glass of fresh fish blood or some tasty hors d’oeuvres with fish blood dip just to see their reaction. Fish blood is real blood.
Jehovah’s Witnesses are implored to think about the following:
If life is in the blood, and blood can save a life this then becomes a proper use for blood. Draining a dead animal’s blood and saving a human life with blood are not one and the same. Since God respects life, he fully understands that blood does sustain life and replacing some of it temporarily (as the old transfused blood is eventually replaced with new blood cells) can save lives. A life saved makes God heart happy!
Why would He be upset if someone uses blood for the exact purpose it was designed? Life is in the blood=blood saves lives! Does God want children to die if a medical procedure exists to save their life?
Besides, Jehovah’s Witnesses are blood guilty from years of tuna fish consumption!
Using blood soaked tuna to sustain their lives for decades! This totally negates the entire blood doctrine! If Jehovah’s Witnesses have not faithfully adhered to their own teachings then does the blood doctrine even exist?
In all probability, 95% of all Jw’s have eaten canned tuna on a regular basis.
Thus 95% of all Jehovah’s Witnesses have obviously lost favor with Jehovah and deserve the same punishment that their spiritual elders have meted out to those who have broken God’s law on blood.
What would happen if 95% of all Jehovah’s Witnesses were immediately disfellowshipped?
What would happen if their spiritual leaders were disfellowshipped for not warning Jesus’ sheep to watch out for the dangers of the commercial fishing industry?
Are the spiritual shepherds of Jw’s really faithful and discreet?