In a debate I'm having in a forum , I am discussing the subject of fractions of blood and the Watchtower's position with respect to acceptance of some fractions while refusing others .
In that debate I mentioned that hemoglobin accepted by the Watchtower as a matter of conscience is in fact most of the red blood cell ( think about 97 %) and the other 3 % is the membrane lining the red cell .
Am I correct in this view ? It is not true that hemoglobin is the highest percentage of red blood cell ?
If not , discuss how the relationship between the acceptance of this fraction and the red blood cell ?
Hemoglobin and red blood cells
by TJ Curioso 15 Replies latest watchtower medical
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TJ Curioso
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Tuesday
Yes hemoglobin is the entire contents of a mature red blood cell.
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JeffT
Hemoglobin constitutes 33% of a normal red blood cell
http://health.howstuffworks.com/human-body/systems/circulatory/blood1.htm
The Watchtower's position on this subject is scientific and scriptural nonsense. Science does not divide blood into major and minor fractions. Neither does the Bible. Scripturally blood is to be poured out onto the ground. The Bible does no condone processing a zillion gallons of blood to obtain a small amount of something that can be used. It is an all or nothing deal.
I also don't think the Bible condones killing people over the issue.
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pirata
Yes, Hemoglobin is oxygen carrying component of the red blood cell, minus the membrane.
Article on use of HBOC-201 in a JW:
Hemoglobin is currently taken from Cow's blood, and synthesized to stabilize the hemoglobin. It's like peeling an orange, throwing away the peel, and then caremlizing it. You can then proclaim that you abstain from oranges.
I'd be interested in joining in the discussion if you want to PM me the URL.
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TJ Curioso
Pirata the discussion is in portuguese.
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pirata
Pirata the discussion is in portuguese.
In that case,it is of great encouragement to all the JWN brothers that you are reaching out in the foreign-language field!
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ThomasCovenant
Wikipedia [let the reader use discernment] says,
''In mammals, the protein [haemoglobin] makes up about 97% of the red blood cells' dry content,
and around 35% of the total content (including water).
[citation needed]''
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blondie
The fact that it is made out of expired stored blood and based on the WTS comments about not storing our own blood to be transfused later, you can see they hypocrisy connected with allowing jws to use hemoglobin-based products. This has been the one point that I have used to successfully get jws to have an ah-ha moment.
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TD
In that debate I mentioned that hemoglobin accepted by the Watchtower as a matter of conscience is in fact most of the red blood cell (think about 97%) and the other 3% is the membrane lining the red cell.
Like Thomas Covenent pointed out above, it depends on whether you're talking a about dry weight or not. By dry weight, your figures above are correct.
The lower figure for hemoglobin that you sometimes see is when whater is included as a percentage of weight.
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Slidin Fast
The huge hypocrisy is: - Who gives the blood? You will be disfellowshiped if you become a blood donor but taking fractions is a conscience matter.
I was brought up with the slogan "abstain from blood". That was rigorously applied to the point of paranoia. You may or may not accept the rightness of that rule but it was based on scripture and it was intellectually honest. I believe that witnesses in that era genuinely believed the argument.
Now, the stance is indefensible, it sits on the fence, costs lives and is not clear or honest. It does not abstain, it does not recognize the overarching principle of sanctity of life. It is neither hot nor cold and should be spat out of the mouth.