cofty: Who is responsible? Knor? Franz?
Both of them.
Knorr and Franz both held the reins to power in 1945 when they added blood transfusions to their restrictions on blood consumption.
The blood taboo could have relaxed in the next few years, and it did somewhat. There were signs that the blood phobia craze could fizzle. JWs didn't always comply and they faced loss after loss in the courts. But what happened?
In 1961, Knorr and Franz, the power duo, came down hard on the JWs and made taking a blood transfusion a disfellowshipping offense. At the exact same time that medical science, using blood transfusion technology, had developed a way to create a bloodless surgical field.
It was Knorr and Franz who fed the flames of Armageddon in the years following that, using the blood prohibition - the ban against sharing blood - as a sign of separateness from "the world". A way of "taking a stand". And more people died.
And then, when the '75 flames died down, what did Knorr/Franz do? They gave authority and birth to the "Hospital Information Services". That is their legacy. The HLC, the blood squad, comes from Knorr and Franz. From both of them.
And more people die. Every day.
Because of Knorr and Franz. And their bloodless legacy.
*good thread, cofty. It makes people think.