ALEMAN.. You need to read, "Blood On The Altar by David A. Reed." The faraway reality of Jehovah's Witnesses dying for lack of blood does not intrude on the average Witnesses.
Blueblades
TRAGEDY ; YOUNG JW MOTHER DIES AFTER GIVING BIRTH
by stay young and beautiful 58 Replies latest jw friends
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horrible life
QUESTIONS
1. If the husband of this young bride, would have said YES, give her the blood transfusion, over the objections of all in the room, what would they have done to him?
I can see this huge crowded room. Her parents, his parents, the liaison committee, all elders from all around the community, witness friends, all saying NO, NO,
This young man, was the one, who had to make the choice. 2. Did he make the choice for her? Because, she would still make it to paradise, because she said no, and he betrayed her. OR 3. Did he make the choice for himself? Because if he said yes, would it impact his attempt to be in paradise?
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skeeter1
Aleman,
Please tell me where the Bible allows blood fractions? What is a blood fraction? How is it made? Isn't it made from thousands of units of donated blood?
What about Society permitted hemoglobin? What is it? What is it's function? Was it not allowed by the Watchtower in the early 1990's, then allowed in 2006? Please look at your Watchtower CD. Why the change? Anything to do with an Associated Press article about a legal journal article that exposed the problems within the Society's own blood policy?
What about "current therapy"? Why does the Society allow it? What is it? Is it not where blood is taken from the body, walked into a lab (i.e. completely separated from the human body), mixed with chemicals, then retransfused? The difference between "current therapy" and storing one's own blood is a matter of: 1) how much is taken and 2) how long it is outside the body. Why does the Society allow one, and not the other?
What does the word "semantics" mean, and how does it apply here?
Skeeter
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katiekitten
I feel so sorry for that young husband. He only made the same choice that many of us here would have made at a different time in our lives (we are after all EX JW's right? We used to be JW;s and believe it all and do the stuff?)
I remember signing the 'No Blood' card for years. I would have refused blood for the first 30 years of my life without blinking. Im just SO LUCKY that the issue never came up when I was a JW. Im due to have a baby in 3 days time, and my baby is so lucky that mummy would now accept blood if she needed it, but my last baby would not have been so lucky, had the issue arisen 10 years ago - I was still steeped in JW'ness.
I cant condemn that poor young man. He has suffered the worst tragedy, and he has to carry on for his babies. I hope he receives enough love and support to see him through. And if I could still pray I would be praying for him right now.
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tijkmo
i am a bit confused at the outrage...
she was a jw and that is what they believe...and so is the family so they were all prepared to make that sacrifice cos its what they believe too.
how is this different from non jws who are prepared to sacrifice their lives for other causes they believe in...like their families or their country.
and if other religious people believe they are going to heaven which is meant to be a better place and the ultimate goal (or nirvana or reincarnation - whatever) then why should we care if they get to go there sooner rather than later.
and if we choose to believe evolution then surely someone dying young only serves to reinforce the concept that he/she wasn't fit to survive.
just a thought.
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M.J.
The only outrage is that in the case of the JWs, the WTS dictates and determines the conscience of the individual. They've set up a world where everyone truly believes that because the WTS says something, it must be true, and must be followed. And defended. To the death. There is no room for individual choice on the matter.
So it truly isn't a case where someone is making an individual decision. -
Gill
Tijkmo - The reason why people are outraged? You can't compare the position of the JWs to other people who die for 'causes'. If a JW goes against WT doctrine and accepts blood they are PUNISHED WITH DISASSOCIATION EXACTLY THE SAME PUNISHMENT AS DISFELLOWSHIPPING!
That is THE DIFFERENCE!
Infact you are less likely to be punished for being a pedophile in the Watchtower cult than you are from saving your life with a medical procedure!
As M.J. says it is not an individual choice it is a forced choice!
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M.J.
Gil, I think it goes beyond the coerciveness of having the threat of disassociation over one's head.
The WTS has conveniently set up this religion so that to the follower, the ultimate litmus test for what is "correct", is, what does the "Faithful Discreet Slave" say?
What we see here is a case where the "Faithful Slave", yielding such complete power over the minds of its subjects, acts so irresponsibly as to force feed the assertion that their standing with their creator is dependent on their willingness to sacrifice their own lives to uphold the "Slave's" interpretation of Acts 15:20,29.
And of course the subjects respond accordingly. -
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tijkmo
yes i understand that..
my question i suppose was this..
why do we care so much?
they are not forcing you and i to not have blood.