Position on blood idolatrous?

by Jehovah lol 7 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  Jehovah lol

  I just had this thought in my other thread.

  Jehovah Witnesses refuse blood transfusions because they believe blood to be the sacred symbol of life. That's the primary reason, the medical justifications are simply ad hoc excuses. Couldn't it be said that their willingness to give their lives for the sanctity of the symbol of life is idolatrous? Putting the symbol ahead of what it represents?

  I'm not religious so I have no bone to pick with idolatry, but I know it's a big deal for the WTS, so as a doctrine it is inconsistent with their own ideals. Do you think that this reasoning could be used to sway witnesses on the issue in times of personal medical crisis?
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  Crazyguy

  I think it best to show what it says in the Bible that Jesus’s taught , mercy not sacrifice Mathew chapter 12 . Nothing entering in to a man can defile him Mathew 15 I believe. Also going back to chapter 12 the whole chapter is about willingness not to let a man or animal die because it would be breaking The sabbath to save him it.

  One can also go back to Leviticus chapter 17 and read towards the end that it was ok to eat a dead animal blood and all of you didn’t kill it. The whole chapter is about respecting the life of the animal you killed by pouring out it’s blood.

  Your point is well stated and others have used the illustration of a married couple putting their wedding rings on the night stand when they go to bed each night. A fire breaks out and the man wakes up to see what’s going on and notices his wife is passed out from the smoke , he doesn’t grab her and carry her out but instead grabs her wedding ring.

  Its also worth mentioning the hypocrisy of the cult in this subject. They teach no blood but then turn around and say that blood fractions are ok. Some of these fractions like hemoglobin are in fact packed red blood cells with only their outer membrane taken off. They also allows for the use of cows blood again bovine hemoglobin with its outer membrane taken off to bypass the need to type the persons blood. This product Hemopure has been used successfully by JWs in the past and the once bankrupt company is now back in business. This is hypocrisy at its highest level!
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  steve2

  Yes, Jehovah lol, this is similar to the angle Ray Franz took in "Crisis of Conscience" in which he argues that blood, as a mere symbol of life, has become more important to JWs than life itself, under direct instruction from their organization.
  
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  Cold Steel

  The argument they put forth is that receiving blood in a medical procedure is the same as drinking it. Blood is the life, and receiving life is immaterial in how it's done. I don't know what the position of the WTBTS is on receiving one's own blood. I know that President Trump gives his own blood so that it can be preserved in the event he needs it in an emergency. (This was started after Reagan was shot.) My guess is that the GB would say that the prohibition on drinking blood would include drinking one's own blood. Thus, no deal.

  Does anyone know if the GB allows medical procedures if one has preserved their own blood in advance? Also, if someone in a moment of weakness okays the use of blood to save a beloved family member, is there forgiveness, or are they DF'ed?
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  steve2

  Cold Steel, "autologous" blood transfusions (i.e., using one's own blood) are forbidden on the grounds that once blood leaves the body it is not to be stored but dispensed with.
  
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  OrphanCrow

  steve2: Cold Steel, "autologous" blood transfusions (i.e., using one's own blood) are forbidden on the grounds that once blood leaves the body it is not to be stored but dispensed with.

  Yeah, but if that blood comes from a cow, it's okay to store it and use it later.

  Cow's blood is fine. Drain blood from a cow (a dead cow), store it, chill it, process it...and that is okay to pump into your veins.

  And so is expired human blood.

  But, the WTS/Org says "no" to storing your own blood and using it.

  Unless you are a cow.
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  smiddy3

  "autologous" blood transfusions (i.e., using one's own blood) are forbidden on the grounds that once blood leaves the body it is not to be stored but dispensed with.

  True steve2 So how can a Jehovah`s Witness use blood fractions in good conscience as a medical procedure since fractions are obtained by a laboratory procedure from donated blood that is given by worldly people who are going to be destroyed at Armageddon and stored in a laboratory and processed into fractions.

  Blood is not poured out on the ground and dispensed with according to JW beliefs.

  Yet it is OK for them to use Blood fractions from non Jehovah`s Witnesses? Worldly people even Atheists ? Christendoms members ? Satanists ? all of who can donate Blood at a blood bank
  
  
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  Drearyweather

  So how can a Jehovah`s Witness use blood fractions in good conscience as a medical procedure since fractions are obtained by a laboratory procedure from donated blood that is given by worldly people who are going to be destroyed at Armageddon and stored in a laboratory and processed into fractions.

  Its more like - a Hindu guy will not eat beef (cow meat) but is fine with wearing leather jackets made from cow skin