OK that old chestnut the blood issue

by moneypenny 3 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  moneypenny

  I know that this topic has been discussed at great length many times before but I would like to share with you my experiences with JWs that knock on my door when I have presented them with this hypothetical situation.

  "Just suppose that you have two children, one has haemophilia and is being treated with factor V111 which is derived from blood and permissable according to the WTBTS as an act of conscience, taken and stored from a worldly person possibly even an apostate, permissable because it is a small fraction even though it takes litres of blood to extract this factor V111. You also have another child that because of an accident is in danger of bleeding to death and needs oxygen carrying red blood cells to buy this child time until the bleeding has been brought under control the blood comes from the same source and also stored, but is not permissable by the WTBTS would your conscience tell you to let this second child die"

  # 1 JW Frantically starts seaching through their little black bag "Oh I am sure I have an answer to this in here, Oh well, maybe I came without it" says to # 2 JW "do you have it by any chance"

  # 2 JW goes through the same procedure and says "No I don't believe I have, but you do have a point I will get back to you".

  Or ......

  # 3 JW "Nobody has put it quite like that before I will get back to you on that one".

  Or......

  # 4 JW " We have an HLC member in our congregation he will be able to answer you I will have a word with him and get back to you". A couple of weeks later they come back and tell me the HLC brother is too busy with all his other duties as an elder and family man to devote his time to this but they have noted my concerns and will get back to me.

  Or......

  # 5 JW "Well I here what you say, but why can't you just put this issue to one side and concentrate on the positive things in the organisation".

  Still waiting for that answer!
• 

  Dizzy Cat

  I would say its a matter of conscience myself. I never felt easy with the blood issue and never will.

  There is good science going into this area now - there have been warnings put out in the UK about the poor state of the medical blood supply and this will no doubt firm the WTS argument. Non-blood alternatives become more desirable (although can prove expensive I believe).

  In reality though, it is an emotive issue and best left with the individual to decide - not the WTS !
• 

  drahcir yarrum

  "There is good science going into this area now - there have been warnings put out in the UK about the poor state of the medical blood supply and this will no doubt firm the WTS argument. Non-blood alternatives become more desirable (although can prove expensive I believe)."

  I often sense that even with ex-JW's there is still a little doubt about whether one should or shouldn't provide a blood transfusion for a child or relative who needs one. With regard to the relative danger or safety of blood transfusions, there is a risk factor involved in everything in medicine. Hospital borne diseases are the biggest cause of post hospital stay death and illness in the United States. Most people aren't aware of just how dangerous a simple hospital stay can be. But if your doctor told you you needed to be there, I doubt you'd ask many questions.

  If a doctor tells me my child needs a blood transfusion or will die, I'm going to set aside the possible risks of blood transfusion to deal with the real risk that my child will die if I don't follow my doctors directions.

  The position that the WTS has taken on blood transfusions is based on IGNORANCE and their need to control and test the allegience of their followers. It is the single clearest issue that should tell a non-JW that Witnesses are kooks and their leaders are irresponsible at best and accessories to man-slaughter at worst. May they rot in a massive shit pit for eternity, the lying bastards.

  The Biblical argument against blood transfusions is so weak as to be laughable.

  Edited by - drahcir yarrum on 3 August 2002 17:13:1
• 

  moneypenny

  Yes, I appreciate that the blood issue is emotive and blood can be a hazardous substance, I would need to be assured that as a matter of life and death no other course of action would be effective.

  But that is not the reason most JWs abstain, after all factor V111 also has its dangers but they accept this component. Although I know that at our local Childrens Hospital at least one JW boy is being treated with synthetic factor V111 while others are still receiving the blood derived product.....the synthetic one is very expensive and it depends which Health Authority will fund this new treatment.

  Edited by - moneypenny on 3 August 2002 17:20:30