Do "Thousands of JWs die each year" because they refuse blood? I say YES!

by AndersonsInfo 71 Replies latest watchtower medical

• 

  life is to short

  Barbara thank you.

  As you know my main fight is the child molesters in the "truth" but this also hits home.

  While reading this I was thinking of my husband having his heart attacks, the first one happened while he was conducting the school. The attorney elder let me drive him alone to the hospital alone with him having major chest pains. Here my husband had been an elder for about 30 years at the time and no one ever offered to drive me to the hospital let alone call an ambulance for me.

  I was all alone most of the time in the hospital expect when it came to the blood issue. Then the attorney was right there making sure that I had his DPA and blood card etc with me. Looking back it is just sick. This same attorney elder was letting a level 3 sex offender take care of a small child and thought it was great because the child molester was helping out the mom, yet this same elder was also making sure my husband would not take any blood.

  This is just a sick religion and you are right until you are involved with a problem be it the blood issue or child abuse you do not get it. My heart goes on the Peggy with her daughter and the many others who loose their lives over the blood issue.

  Thank you again Barbara.
• 

  nugget

  A very thought provoking blog and very sad. I feel it is extremely likely that many die prematurely because of a failure to accept blood. Their deaths are masked under the heading of serious illness and hidden from the spotlight as a result. My concern is that even if it becomes a conscience matter how many witnesses who have been fully indoctrinated in the blood doctrine for so long will actually feel comfortable accepting blood.

  It will probably be postioned that refusing blood all these years has been of benefit to gods people as the procedure was extremely risky in the early days resulting in many deaths. Haven't we been lovingly protected by the GB. Now that procedures are fully tested and because the command to abstain from blood relates to food not transfusion it is now a conscience matter. I could scream.
• 

  Open mind

  Sorry for taking so long to respond Barbara. I just now noticed your reply.

  "I agree that your suggested title is not as sensational as my title and theme, and at this point in time, your title is too understated for me."

  I guess it gets down to who your primary target audience is. If the idea is to protect non-JWs from ever becoming JWs, then stick with the original title. But if you're MAINLY trying to reach exisiting JWs, most of them will be desperately looking for a sliver of "proof" that your information is twisted and biased so that they can reject it out of hand and cling to their precious psychological teddy bear, The Truth (tm).

  At the end of the day, I think your information will have a great effect on plenty of people JW or not, regardless of how the title gets parsed.

  Thanks again for all your hard work and courage.

  om
• 

  besty

  thought I would re-paste an interesting comment on Barbara's article on Freeminds:

  In France in 2001, the Jw official has given figures concerning the case where there can't find alternative to transfusion in one year. It was 15 cases by year.
  
  Ironically, these numbers has been given to the medical community, and not publicly, but a doctor has revealed them in "Le Monde", (October 21,2001) a national newspaper.
  
  With this number, i have calculated at this epoch, that if we consider that the medical abilities are the same than in France all over the world (even if we know that France is a developed country) we found a number of 750 cases a year, where the JW don't find alternatives to transfusion
  
  See http://tjrecherches.chez.com/lemonde1.htm

  So the comment is saying that because the JW spokesman 'admitted' to 15 unneccessary deaths due to blood alternatives not being viable, he has calculated a worldwide annual number of 750 deaths.

  I think its not too much of a stretch to revise that number significantly upwards based on:

  1 - deaths where the HLC is not involved

  2 - deaths where lack of blood is contributory but not fatal

  3 - France has one of the worlds most effective, advanced, socialized (ie everyone is covered) healthcare systems - how does this reflect reality for millions of bluecollar older JW's in Mexico, Brazil, Nigeria and dare I say it the USA?

  ---

  In any event Jehovah's Witness have their very own Jonestown each and every year.

  We should have an annual 'Jehovah's Jonestown Day' to reflect on the ongoing death of the innocents and raise awareness for the protection of the public.

  ---
• 

  BabaYaga

  'Jehovah's Jonestown Day' to reflect on the ongoing death of the innocents and raise awareness for the protection of the public.

  Wow, I had never thought of this. Besty, I think you're onto something.

  At the very least, I am going to decide on such a day for myself personally, to burn a candle and say a prayer for all of those who were sacrificed. I agree... it should be an annual memorial. Speaking of sensational titles, I'm not sure "JJD" is what we should "dub" it (no pun intended) but I do think a day to call them to mind is in order.
• 

  Rabbit

  Even tho' my JW mom DIED over this issue...my JW daughter refuses - proudly - ANY BLOOD PRODUCTS !

  Why? How? I feverishly explained how, today, The Truth has changed. Today, as of 5pm, Current Truth allows many life-saving fractions like hemoglobin. Yay ~ Watchtower !

  She said, (paraphrased) "Yeah, well, a lot of us have been discussing those changes and we think it's all just a TEST. Since the WT did not actually say we SHOULD take those fractions -- only that we COULD, according to our own conscience. So, we think (no they don't) that here -- in the last days -- that TESTING is separating the weak witnesses, from the true believers." Then she said, "The WT's ORIGINAL teaching on blood is the correct one!"

  * sigh * Even that 'original' teaching -- wasn't the original.

  I don't want another JW relative to die - in a perfectly good hospital - when it was preventable.

  A Test. Just another damn TEST...
• 

  Open mind

  Besty:

  "In any event Jehovah's Witness have their very own Jonestown each and every year."

  On a couple of occasions I have very carefully made this point with still-believing JWs.

  What "The World" views as drinking the Kool-Aid, JWs (or members of the People's Temple) view as maintaining their integrity in the face of death.

  om
• 

  AndersonsInfo

  Open mind, I agree with you, JWs who won't take blood think by this stand they are maintaining their integrity in the face of death.

  Then there are all those JWs who don't want to "maintain their integrity" in this manner and secretly accept blood transfusions. Three weeks ago, I was personally told by a retired cardiovascular surgeon that every JW in need of his expertise told him and his associate physicians secretly that they didn't want blood transfusions or any of the four forbidden blood components unless there was nothing else medically that could be done. So, when push came to shove, so to speak, this doctor said his JW patients gave the okay to administer blood transfusions which he did if blood was called for. I wish I could have gotten that testimony in writing and maybe one day I will.

  In light of this information, things are not always what they seem. If this is happening in many other places in similar situations, one would have to suppose many more JWs would be dead if they didn't take blood and the numbers dying would be even higher than I thought.
• 

  Gayle

  So, when push came to shove, so to speak, this doctor said his JW patients gave the okay to administer blood transfusions which he did if blood was called for.

  Wow . . . this really makes me wonder. On another JW issue, was about 1975, many sincerely believed that WT as giving "truth" about this push. After the fact, years later, especially on one social occasion, an elder haughtily expressed in a roomful of JWs that he wasn't disappointed as he never was concerned about the 1975 disappointment as he never believed it was going to end then anyway. I was so stunned and blurted out, "well, no one ever talked like that then!" (He did look 'daggers' at me at that point, but I was so stunned at his remark and there was no response from the others in this roomful). Now, I wonder how many 'ever' believed it totally anyway, didn't take it seriously anyway. No wonder, so many stayed in the organization after and weren't bothered. Many were not sacrificing that much anyway, not moving to where the need was greater anyway, were not selling their homes, nor giving up their good jobs. Of course, many did sacrifice, etc etc. and remained anyway, of which I don't understand totally either, their remaining.

  Now, with this blood issue, so many are near dying, or dying over the blood issue or already have. Obviously, many have taken it seriously, too seriously. But, how many are taking blood and not telling or would take if it got down to near death? If the blood doctrine changes totally to being a conscience issue, maybe most would accept that without a wince as that is what they are doing already or would do anyway?

  The two classes of Jehovah's Witnesses is not an issue of who is of the "heavenly class" or who is of the "earthly class," it's actually who is of the sincere "conscious" class (though so misled) and who is of the "hypocritical" class.

  The Governing Body are so selfishly flippant in their power of people lives all around the globe. Many, I guess not all, JWs suffer, and sacrifice overmuch for this "spirit/life-devouring" organization.
• 

  besty

  I wonder about the ongoing guilt of those that secretly take blood or banned fractions - do they feel indefinitely condemned? Or do they confess at a later date for a private dispensation from the clergy elders?