Sick article in the WT library!!

by ILoveTTATT 19 Replies latest jw friends

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  ILoveTTATT

  This is one of the saddest articles in the WT library... just two years after the organ transplant ban... a JW decided to NOT donate a perfectly good kidney because of this doctrine... which was changed in 1980

  *** w69 11/15 p. 701 Appreciating Jehovah’s Protection ***
  A DIFFICULT DECISION
  Surgery was indicated as the most promising means of relief. The chief resident urologist offered a choice: He could repair the artery and save half the kidney by help of blood transfusions, or remove the kidney entirely without recourse to blood transfusion. Repair of the artery would involve a high degree of postsurgical hemorrhage. On the other hand, I could survive and do well on one healthy kidney. Removal of the kidney was my choice.
  The day before surgery was due the chairman of the kidney transplant team came in and asked if I would agree to making the kidney I was relinquishing available to a young patient whose kidneys had failed. It appears that though the artery leading to my kidney was not functioning, the kidney itself was in good shape. The doctor was keen to have my kidney, but I explained to him that as one of Jehovah’s witnesses I must abide by what God’s law indicates in such a matter. I told him he would get a frank and thorough answer to his inquiry after we had had a family discussion of God’s Word on the issue.
  Later that day we informed him of our Biblical position with respect to human flesh and its use and quoted the relevant passages of God’s Word. He asked if I could retain a good conscience after denying my kidney to his young patient. In reply I pointed out that my kidney was not mine to give, and must be used in harmony with the will of the One who created it. And he was compelled to admit that even with the kidney he could not guarantee the survival of his patient. I pointed out that future life through the promised resurrection for myself and his young patient depended upon our obedience to God’s principles as set out in the Holy Scriptures.
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  HeyThere

  That is just ridiculous. So sad.
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  HeyThere

  And how the hell is that "appreciating jehovahs protection?" Hopefully that story is just one of their concoctions.
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  blondie

  Definitely a good source regarding the policy regarding organ transplant from 1967 to 1981 when it was no longer a df'ing offense.
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  ILoveTTATT

  It's a recorded-in-writing death because of the policy. The young man whose kidneys (both) failed, unless he found another donor, most certainly died from this... You're talking 1969...
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  blondie

  I guess I must not have been clear, from 1967 to 1981, jws were not allowed to donate or have an organ transplant without facing a JC.

  *** w80 3/15 p. 31 Questions From Readers ***

  ● Should congregation action be taken if a baptized Christian accepts a human organ transplant, such as of a cornea or a kidney?

  Regarding the transplantation of human tissue or bone from one human to another, this is a matter for conscientious decision by each one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Some Christians might feel that taking into their bodies any tissue or body part from another human is cannibalistic. They might hold that the transplanted human material is intended to become part of the recipient’s body to keep him alive and functioning. They might not see it as fundamentally different from consuming flesh through the mouth. Such feelings may arise from considering that God did not make specific provision for man to eat the flesh of his fellowman when he made provision for humans to eat the flesh of animals that had been drained of their life-sustaining blood. They may give consideration also to the way people in Bible times viewed sustaining themselves by taking in human flesh. For example, see the account at 2 Kings 6:24-30; Deuteronomy 28:53-57; Lamentations 2:20 and 4:10. At John 6:48-66, Jesus spoke figuratively of eating his flesh and drinking his blood. On hearing this discussion and not perceiving the spiritual significance of his words, some of his Jewish disciples were shocked and turned from following him. These accounts illustrate how some humans felt about eating human flesh.

  Other sincere Christians today may feel that the Bible does not definitely rule out medical transplants of human organs. They may reason that in some cases the human material is not expected to become a permanent part of the recipient’s body. Body cells are said to be replaced about every seven years, and this would be true of any human body parts that would be transplanted. It may be argued, too, that organ transplants are different from cannibalism since the “donor” is not killed to supply food. In some cases persons nearing death actually have willed body parts to be used for transplants. Of course, if a transplant should require taking in another person’s blood, undeniably that would be contrary to God’s command.—Acts 15:19, 20.

  Clearly, personal views and conscientious feelings vary on this issue of transplantation. It is well known that the use of human materials for human consumption varies all the way from minor items, such as hormones and corneas, to major organs, such as kidneys and hearts. While the Bible specifically forbids consuming blood, there is no Biblical command pointedly forbidding the taking in of other human tissue. For this reason, each individual faced with making a decision on this matter should carefully and prayerfully weigh matters and then decide conscientiously what he or she could or could not do before God. It is a matter for personal decision. (Gal. 6:5) The congregation judicial committee would not take disciplinary action if someone accepted an organ transplant.
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  nicolaou

  marking
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  steve2

  Oh thank you my local congregation, you won't be disciplining me for giving my consent to doctor's to pergorm an organ transplant on my gravely ill child.
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  Heartofaboy

  marked
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  Splash

  I wonder how he felt once the ban on donating organs and the 'cannibalism' stance was changed.

  It would either have messed up his mind knowing that he could have saved a life but didn't, or he would reason that he did what was asked of him so his conscience was clear.

  Splash