Taking alcohol into the veins (WBT$ illo) - can someone deconstruct this for me?

by punkofnice 30 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  punkofnice

  OK. So I've heard that the WBT$ say that having alcohol into the body intraveniously (how do you spell it?), when the Doctor says you shouldn't have alcohol is baaaadddd! So you wouldn't have a blood transfusion because invisible sky friend Jar Hoover says it's baaaaaddddddd.

  No doubt the illustration is beyond crazy but how is the best way to deconstruct it?

  I'm not so much looking for input about the scriptural validity - I'm after deconstructing the argument itself.....if that makes sense.

  Thanks for your input.
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  isaacaustin

  punkofnice,

  If a person was a vegetarian, abstaining from meat, would receiving an organ transplant be breaking that?

  Alcohol into the veins is actually a terrible example used by the JWs, as alcohol is digested and broken down by the body, regardless of how it enters the system. Blood does not break down nor is it digested.
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  rather be in hades

  wine = ethanol + water +sugars and flavors from the grapes/fruit

  it's the ethanol that you shouldn't take by iv. or by butt chugging but that's a hole 'nother matter. pun totally intended.

  the bible does say that a little wine(ethanol) is good for the stomach doesn't it?

  so is drinking a little blood good for the stomach? even though it's not a smart thing to do by iv?

  jesus turned water into wine(ethanol)

  the very ethanol that we know is not something we should take by iv. what does that say about jesus?
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  TD

  It is a classic false analogy

  Alcohol is a simple compound that goes straight through epithelial membranes unchanged. The effects of alcohol are actually studied with animals by having them inhale the vapor instead of trying to force them to drink it. On that note, I once dropped an entire liter of vodka on the kitchen floor. I was tipsy before I had finished cleaning up the mess.

  Blood is not a simple compound. Blood is human tissue. When it is eaten, it is broken down and destroyed by the digestive system. When it is transfused, it retains its form and resumes its function in the body of the recipient.

  It is the same difference between "taking in" a human kidney via transplant to continue functioning as a human kidney in your body versus "taking in" a human kidney by cooking and eating it for Sunday dinner. The former is a form of tissue transplant and the latter is an act of cannibalism
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  truth_b_known

  I believe the analogy provided by the evil empire goes as follows:

  YWHW prohibited the eating of blood because, symbolically, the blood represents life. Therefore, to sustain one's own life by blood, whether eating it or by a blood transfusion.

  This of course is just plain stupid.

  You take the life of an animal to eat its flesh. It's dead. So, you sustained your life by taking the life of an animal.

  A human donates his blood, but still lives. You take his blood into your veins to sustain your life without taking his. However, that is supposed to be a violation of YHWH's law?

  In addition, the analogy is poor because, as I remember, the doctor prohibits his patient from consuming alcohol for health reasons. In other words; if the patient drinks alcohol he dies and if the patient ingests alcohol by IV he still dies. The doctor's orders are not symbolic as YHWH's law is.

  In addition, David and his men ate the sacriment bread offered to YHWH at the temple when they were on the lamb from King Saul, which was against YHWH's law. A capital offense. However, David was allowed to eat it as he was starving and needed to sustain his life.
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  JeffT

  A blood transfusion is a medical procedure ordered by a doctor. Drinking alcohol is not.
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  DATA-DOG

  What they said. You would have to prove that blood is used as a food when injected. Even if that were true, it would still be stupid. Being respectful of blood or misusing it or spilling it by murder is what the Bible is contrasting. I guess you need to know what blood is. Is it considered a tissue or organ-like? It is hard to try to understand a dumb view just to prove how dumb it is....
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  Christ Alone

  or by butt chugging but that's a hole 'nother matter. pun totally intended.

  Cheered up my day a bit with that!
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  EntirelyPossible

  If taking something orally and intravenously are the same, they should agree that it's the same thing to eat a 22 oz bone-in owboy ribeye as it is to have it injected directly into their veins.
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  rather be in hades

  if i could inject brocolli instead of eating it, i'd have a healthier diet.