The Jim Jones Jonestown was just on TV. I watched it.
In Jonestown, the people were made to sign all sorts of paperwork. They signed it. Affidavits, everything. Some were lies. They signed. The one woman who left the group had signed away her son. She said, "When there are 122 of your peers in the room, you sign what you are presented with." It reminded me so much of the blood cards.
The Jonestown documentary went on to interview a man who escaped. But, before he escaped, he watched his wife and baby take the kool-aid. There were men with guns behiind them. The wife had tears and terror on her face. She didn't want to do this. He held her while she died. He wanted out. He got out. He lived, but lost his whole family. It was just heart-wrenching.
It was so similar to how the JWs die. They MUST refuse blood. THey must not question or defect. Their peers are there at the blood card signing. Their peers are there in the hospital room. The elders are outside, patrolling. If one takes blood, they live. If they refuse, they stand a good chance of dying. If they take blood and live, they lose their whole family.
The Jonestown then said that when you call it a "CULT" it is a 4 letter word and the rest of the world dismisses the group as fringe. But, there are real people, innocent people, who are caught up in it. Then, an ex-Jonestown person said this and I find it so true. It went like this "Everyone in Jonestown were good people. Some of the best people. People who didn't chase material things, people who were looking for answers of things that mattered. Each American can get sucked into a Jonestown group. It takes a person with the right frailty, given the opportunity at the right time."
The Watchtower is also a death cult.
Deritivites are now allowed. So many derivitives, that if added together they would equal a whole unit of blood from which they are derived. But, this is the misinformation that the WTS does not tell its followers.