Disproportionate attention or an obsession?

by Marilyn 3 Replies latest jw friends

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  Marilyn

  Two things come to mind. The Memorial and the Blood Doctrine. With the Memorial the Witnesses seem to place disproportionate attention and energy on getting people to attend it. I don't quite get it. These are the people who teach that accurate knowledge and the right heart condition and 100% dub activity is what saves, so what is it in particular about the Memorial that sets off this frenzie of invites to anyone and everyone that might be susceptible to attending? My mother got to hear the Memorial via the telephone last night because she is too sick to attend. Isn't that just a little bit over the top?

  Same goes for the blood issue. The elders might not have bothered with you for months, but the minute they sniff a looming blood problem they are like rats up a drain pipe to your bed side. They will not leave the scene of the possible crime until the danger has passed. Again, I don't get it. Is having a blood transfusion worse than committing adultery? Yet they don't personally supervise every person who might do the deed 24/7.

  Marilyn
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  Scully

  If you think about the Memorial and the blood issue long enough, it's possible to see that the two things are closely related.

  With the Memorial, JWs are "honouring" Jesus' sacrifice. In fact, in the brochure How Can Blood Save Your Life, there is a chapter entitled "The Blood that Really Saves", referring, of course, to Jesus' blood.

  http://www.watchtower.org/library/hb/article_05.htm

  However, at the Memorial only certain ones - "the anointed remnant" - are permitted to partake of the wine which symbolizes Jesus' blood that "really saves".

  What about the rest of the probably 8-10 million people who will attend the Memorial, but not partake?? They do not receive "God's free gift" of spirit. So they must, by rejecting the wine, reject that Jesus' sacrifice was made on their behalf. Their "salvation" is not guaranteed. They are required to prove themselves by works 'befitting salvation'. These are defined by the WTS as sharing in the door-to-door work, meeting attendance, and literature placements. True Christian works of love and charity are not even considered worthy of their time.

  So the Memorial serves as a huge reminder of the average JWs unworthiness for salvation. The act of not partaking reinforces that feeling of unworthiness.

  When the blood issue comes up, there are even further psychological messages that reinforce the person's unworthiness. To partake of blood by receiving a transfusion in order to save one's life is a statement that the life one has here in this "system" has worth and value. Yet, when someone rejects blood from another person, the unworthiness of the person's life is reinforced, they feel their best chance is to die "faithful" and be released from their worthless life here and now, thinking that it will somehow sanctify them and make them worthy of a resurrection. The keeping someone from accepting a blood transfusion by reminding them of the possibility of a resurrection, also reinforces the lack of value that JWs place on their lives in the here-and-now.

  The message is quite clear: if you get sick and need blood, you are better off dead. The message from the Memorial is: Your salvation is precarious, there are no guarantees and your only relief comes with death. You're better off dead.

  It would be interesting to study this in terms of subliminal messages and subconscious thoughts.

  Oh yeah, I forgot. The WTS doesn't want JWs talking to "shrinks" about their religion. I wonder why?

  Love, Scully
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  Marilyn

  Scully, I think the thing that gets me about the sudden elder involvement in anything vaguely smelling of a blood issue, is that basically the WTS has already done its job and most dubs don't need supervision to say no to blood. It's not just the religious side but the health side that the Society has systematically shoved down the followers throats. They are going to say no to blood on a number of levels. BUT when the blood issue comes up, elders literally rush to the bed side of the patient and take shifts to stay at the hospital to make sure that the dub is complient. I understand that some elders feel that the hospital system may over power the average witness, but generally I feel if a person says no then a hospital will respect it. I know my mother has faced this issue recently and she didn't tell any dubs coz as humble as she is, she felt she wanted to handle it on her own without bringing in the big guns who would have totally over reacted. I guess that's where my post from yesterday came from.

  Marilyn
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  Nathan Natas

  The message is quite clear: if you get sick and need blood, you are better off dead. The message from the Memorial is: Your salvation is precarious, there are no guarantees and your only relief comes with death. You're better off dead.

  Well said, Scully!