Blood transfusions And Jehovah’s Witnesses

by Bangalore 3 Replies latest watchtower medical

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  Bangalore

  Blood transfusions And Jehovah's Witnesses.

  http://www.postzambia.com/post-read_article.php?articleId=7288

  Bangalore
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  teel

  Interresting read, ty.

  Nkandu, JW spokesman says:

  in family law, it is a parental responsibility to choose a name for the child, the religion of the child and unless a child is 16 or over, or he is of sufficient age and understanding to consent to any treatment, decision on the latter is a matter of parental responsibility

  So in effect he's saying if my personal conviction would be that every child born under the full moon should be sacrificed to Satan, and that is in the child's best interrest, then it's ok to sacrifice my child, right? Brother Nkandu would sit around and cheer for me for acting according to my convicions.
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  garyneal

  Human Rights Commission (HRC) director Enock Mulembe says they have held two round table meetings with members of the Jehovah's Witness in the last two years.
  
  Mulembe says their stance as a Commission is that in a case of a child, they look at what is in the best interest of the child.
  
  "If we are faced with a situation of life and death and what will save the child is blood then transfusion is in the best interest of the child and if the parent refuses, other means will be used. My own opinion is that doctors do the right thing if it is the interest of the child to save life. I want to believe that even if the Commission takes a stance, what the Commission will look into is what is in the best interest of the child," he says.
  
  However, he says this does not mean that they disrespect their beliefs but freedom of conscience must be subject to some limitation.
  
  Mulembe says in this case, limitation comes when the life of a child is threatened.
  
  "You can't continue to say that my religion and conscience does not allow, so transfusion cannot take place. The child is an individual separate from parents so as a person, the child is entitled to the right to health. I think what we need to understand is that while we respect what we believe in, it is not to violate another person's life. If denying that child the right to health, we won't support that," he says.
  
  He says the Commission however does not get such complaints.

  Amen

  So let me get this straight...

  Me: If your child was dying and the best chance of saving his life is a blood transfusion, you would let them die?

  Witness: Do you not have faith in God?

  Me: That's beside the point. Your argument is a straw man. This has nothing to do with whether or not one has enough faith. Besides, do Christian Scientist have more faith than Jehovah's Witnesses because they believe that they should refuse all treatments and rely on their faith in God? Even if it means the loss of their children?
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  Heaven

  Me: If your child was dying and the best chance of saving his life is a blood transfusion, you would let them die?

  Witness: Do you not have faith in God?

  Me: That's beside the point. Your argument is a straw man. This has nothing to do with whether or not one has enough faith. Besides, do Christian Scientist have more faith than Jehovah's Witnesses because they believe that they should refuse all treatments and rely on their faith in God? Even if it means the loss of their children?

  Sadly, this was one of the reasons I didn't have children. I didn't want to be faced with this decision nor did I want to be faced with the shunning of me and my children by their grandparents (my parents) should I choose to have the child transfused. Even though I am not a JW and I wouldn't have raised my children that way, I was raised with it and am still related to them. So it still has impact.