to reverse that position would mean that all those people died needlessly, and what's more, that it's the WTS's fault. The WTS will never dare admit that.
I wonder if they could change their position on blood one day, with a quiet little Questions From Readers article that makes it appear to be a conscience matter. The hardliners could still keep there views on blood transfusions, no matter how illogical, and others could receive lifesaving treatment for them and their children, without fear of judgement or shunning.
Remember, people died due to the Watchtowers position on organ transplants.. Yet they went from referring to it as cannibalism, to it being a conscience matter they would not comment on.
Eventually, the subject of transplant was raised by Dads doctor, and mom scrambled to research the subject in the WTBTS publications. She found there, that it was not acceptable for a Jehovahs Witness to have organ transplants, in fact, it was the equivalent of cannibalism and against Gods Law. Not wanting to displease Jehovah, that was all my parents had to hear. It was an agonizing decision, and one based completely on the information they found in the pages of Watchtower literature. My fathers doctor pleaded with them to reconsider, but they didnt waiver.
...Their sole motivation for reaching this decision was to please Jehovah. They believed and trusted the Watchtower when it said that transplants were cannibalism. Two years after Dads death the WTBTS changed their position. I remember reading the change under "questions from the readers". I remember the sick feeling in the pit of my stomach as I read those words and tried to understand.
www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/experiences/coffeeblack.php
Now take a look at the change..
Unacceptable
Watchtower 1967 November 15 pp.702-704
"Sustaining one's life by means of the body or part of the body of another human... would be cannibalism, a practice abhorrent to all civilized people. ... It is not our place to decide whether such operations are advisable from a scientific or medical standpoint. ... Christians who have been enlightened by God's Word do not need to make these decisions based simply on the basis of personal whim or emotion. They can consider the divine principles and use these in making personal decisions as they look to God for direction, trusting him and putting their confidence in the future that he has in store for those who love him."
Watchtower 1975 September 1 p.519
"A peculiar factor sometimes noted is a so-called 'personality transplant.' That is, the recipient in some cases has seemed to adopt certain personality factors of the person from whom the organ came."
Acceptable
Watchtower 1980 March 15 p.31
"There is no Biblical command pointedly forbidding the taking in of other human tissue . It is a matter for personal decision "
www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/quotes/transplants.php
To me, one thing is certain. Without the masses of average JW's (who have very little biblical education outside of the pages of a watchtower) being given the chance to see that the current stance on lifesaving blood transfusions is not the irrefutable, black+white certainty they have been indoctrinated into believing it to be, people are going to continue to die needlessly, without the necessary tools to free themselves from indoctrination.. Before it is too late.
Threads like this one of Cofty's can provide those tools, to help people gain the freedom they need to make a life-or-death decision one day.
All arguments are NOT moot.
If even one person reads these points and reconsiders the Watchtower's current position on blood, maybe even waking up from the critical thinking involved in working through the points raised here.. It was all worthwhile.
Every life is precious.
