Bloodplates... Can it Really be Justified?

mrbunyrabit

I was thinking about something.
Getting a blood transfution.. thats wrong right? Oky and theres allot of scriptures supporting that.
So is giving blood at a bloodbank allowed for witnesses? No, its not allowed...
Oky so HERES MY QUESTION...
Witnesses are allowed to use blood plates... where does those blood plates come from?
Yes some come from plants, but the majority comes from other peoples blood
That means that witnesses are in fact profiting from other peoples sins.. Because those other people are going to lose ever lasting life because they donate blood.. but witnesses can use that blood?
How does that work?
Any answers would be apreciated...

TD

Welcome!

Getting a blood transfution.. thats wrong right?

JW's teach that transfusions of the four 'Primary components' of blood are wrong. Of course, teaching something does not make it so.

Oky and theres allot of scriptures supporting that.

No. There aren't any.

Witnesses are allowed to use blood plates... where does those blood plates come from?

JW's are taught not to accept platelets. JW's teach that these are one of the four 'Primary components' of blood

Yes some come from plants, but the majority comes from other peoples blood

Platelets are irregularly shaped non-nucleated cell fragments. They are not found in plant life.

poopsiecakes

Oky and theres allot of scriptures supporting that.

Can you name one?

Welcome, btw!

mrbunyrabit

=) Thank you!

Agggg not palatelets, i mean fragments. the things you get in anti venom etc

TD

Agggg not palatelets, i mean fragments. the things you get in anti venom etc

Okay. You're talking about plasma proteins like immune globulins and clotting factors. I understand the question now. JW's teach that the acceptance of these is a 'conscience matter' but the reality is that it's impossible to live in a developed country without accepting at least small amounts.

If you accidently receive a puncture injury from a metal object (Like stepping on a rusty nail) you'll need a tetanus booster shot and it will probably contain tetanus immune globulin --a blood fraction.

JW's justify this by viewing blood fractions as not really blood. They've presented four separate rationales over the years for this and every one has been full of holes

(1) In September of 1958 "fractions" such as the diphtheria antitoxin were allowed as conscience permits on the basis that these 'do not nourish the body'. However since no component of blood actually nourishes the body, this rationale if taken to its logical conclusion would have brought the whole doctrine crashing down.

(2) In June of 1982, the 1958 rationale for the allowance of fractions was replaced. The JW's attempted to divide blood into "major" and "minor" components, with the major ones forbidden and the minor ones allowed. There were problems with this rationale also. The worst of these was that the divisions enforced did not consistently follow their own reasoning. In other words the rationale applied only insofar as it supported JW policy. For example, the only basis they ever offered for the major/minor division was raw percentage of blood volume for each respective component. However platelets which comprises roughly 2/10ths of 1 percent of your blood volume were forbidden while albumin which comprises slightly more than 10 times as much (2.2%) was allowed. Not one of the components of plasma was forbidden yet plasma as such (these components suspended in water) was forbidden.

(3) In June of 1990 a third rationale was offered for the allowance of fractions. Blood components were now divided on the basis of transference across the placental barrier. The same divisions remained. Like the other two, this rationale has problems also.

First of all, the argument is not technically sound. In 1992 a female lab tech who had donated a blood specimen for analysis was found to have "Y" DNA circulating in her blood stream. Researchers were baffled until it was disclosed that she was 6 weeks pregnant. The source of the "Y" DNA was her unborn son. Cells in the blood stream including fetal nucleated red blood cells, were crossing the placental barrier. Other studies detected erythroblasts, trophoblasts, granulocytes and lymphocytes. Since then it has been demonstrated that a woman can still have fetal blood cells in her blood stream more than a decade after her last pregnancy.

(4) In October of 2000 JW's divided blood into 'primary' and 'secondary' components. Primary components are forbidden. All Secondary components are allowed. There are consistency problems with this rationale too. Since this rationale allows any fraction of any primary component, it's tantamount to saying that it's okay to eat blood as long as it's cooked first, since the heat of cooking will rupture and fractionate the primary components.

ScenicViewer

Mrbunyrabit said,

"That means that witnesses are in fact profiting from other peoples sins.. Because those other people are going to lose ever lasting life because they donate blood.. but witnesses can use that blood?"

You make a good point here. JWs are allowed to accept blood fractions (it's a conscience matter), and all blood fractions are derived from someone else's whole blood donations. Witnesses can't give blood, but they can accept fractions from other people's blood.

"How does that work?"

It works for no other reason than the Watchtower Society says it works. It is not Bible based. It's one of many contradictions in the Watchtower belief system.

Welcome to the forum. You have noticed an issue that seems to go right over the head of most JWs.

Yan Bibiyan

mrbunyrabit, welcome to the site!

TD (PhD or even MD as far as I am concerned), thank you for your concise and easy to follow explanation.

-Yan

cofty

Hello mrbunyrabit, welcome to the forum

Getting a blood transfution.. thats wrong right? Oky and theres allot of scriptures supporting that.

To understand why there are no scriptures that rule against having a blood trasfusion you may want to read this.

mrbunyrabit

thank you guys, you gave me some mind openers..... I dont want to believe that they are wrong.... butttttt.... im finding it hard not to.....

(after i read the article) Now im finding it harder to believe their teachings.... Damn... And they are such nice people...

wallsofjericho

That means that witnesses are in fact profiting from other peoples sins.. Because those other people are going to lose ever lasting life because they donate blood.. but witnesses can use that blood?

aha! you are seeing past the smoke and mirrors and asking a sound, rational, logical question. You are spot on. How can we accept blood but not donate it? It is either a sin to not "spill blood on the ground" or it isn't, but here it's both!

your journey begins....

Bloodplates... Can it Really be Justified?

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