by Lee Elder 4 Replies latest watchtower medical
To really understand the Jehovah's Witnesses policy on blood, you have to understand the fundamental mistake Watchtower leaders made when the policy was first developed.
http://ajwrb.org/the-historical-perspective/the-evolution-of-the-watchtower-blood-policy
Thanks for the info. It looks like Freddie Franz was looking for anything he could find that would equate in his mind transfusing blood with eating it. It's not at all unusual for him and other WTS "researchers" to look for support for a notion they already have concluded before they began their "research." That is still the org's mentality. "We have the truth. Let's find anything we can to support it."
Confirmation bias - followed up with a failure to understand the both the science and the context of the relevant Biblical passages. The icing on the cake was the need to find issues where they could distinguish their unique Watchtower "brand".
"After considering the Watchtower Society’s published and often contradictory record of scientific statements and medical advice, one can only wonder why anyone would want to seriously consider them as a source of information and direction on matters of health, science or medicine."
Noteworthy is the following comment:
“A long acquaintance with the literature of the Witnesses leads one to the conclusion that they live in the intellectual `twilight zone.’ … Whenever their literature strays onto the fields of philosophy, academic theology, science or any severe mental discipline their ideas at best mirror popular misconceptions, at worst they are completely nonsensical.” [Alan Rogerson, Millions Now Living Will Never Die: A Study of Jehovah’s Witnesses, p. 116, Constable, London, 1969]
"Is it any wonder the Watchtower Society has long ceased to print its older publications. How would the average person, or even the average Jehovah’s Witness react if he had access to such information? How should knowing that the Watchtower’s policy on blood originated in this atmosphere of scientific ignorance and lunacy effect how we view it? Is it any wonder that Bethel libraries are closed to researchers, and even the vast majority of Jehovah’s Witnesses."
Thanks Lee for that nice written review. I agree that the blood issue as well as many others are just there to create a "brand".
From the beginning the WT seemed hell-bent on distinguishing themselves from ANY other Christian group. It seems like they couldn't stand being classed with others, and so went way out of their way in a number of areas to set themselves apart from the doctrines handed down from the apostles.
It seems that the apostles saw it coming and warned us:
Galatians 1:8-9
But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.
