I know a witness gentlemen born in the 1960's. Although very intelligent in every way, he was born stone deaf. His mother somewhat blamed herself because she had refused a measles vaccination. I'm almost certain she was a witness at the time of the birth. Does anyone know whether the measles vaccinations back then contained blood fractions? Back in the 1960's we weren't allowed to take even a tiny fraction, and parents were instructed to check with their doctors about whether their children's vaccinations contained any blood.
Measles (Rubella?) vaccinations in the 1960's
by Bonnie_Clyde 12 Replies latest watchtower medical
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Quotes
Fractions or not, Vaccinations in general were forbidden for much of the 1900s. According to http://quotes.watchtower.ca/vaccination.htm, all vaccinations were banned. It is unclear when this ban was lifted, but the earliest "Vaccinations OK" quote is from 1965. Assuming that is the earliest, then the Vaccination ban would have been in effect when this man was born in early 1960s.
~Quotes, of the "germ-laden pus" class -
Scully
Fortunately for my siblings and me, my parents weren't JWs when we were small, so we all got our routine vaccinations. And even when they became JWs in the 70s, I believe the WTS made allowances for routine vaccination that prevented devastating illness like polio, German measles, smallpox and measles. (Although part of me wonders whether someone on the GB ended up with an adult case of the mumps and the painful testicles that go with it, in deciding that it might not be such a bad idea to vaccinate children.... )
MMR vaccine (measles, mumps and rubella) is usually given at 12 months of age. This fellow's mom probably had rubella (aka German measles) during her pregnancy. It's known to cause hearing loss in unborn infants.
Honestly, it wouldn't have been the mom's fault that she didn't have the vaccines. It would have been her parents' decision to not have her vaccinated as a baby. She may not even have known that she didn't have any immunity to rubella until she became sick with it during the pregnancy.
Love, Scully
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El Kabong
The sad part about that is most witnesses today don't even know that there ever was a vaccination ban. I didn't know about it until I got out. And most who were witnesses back then I'm sure have completely "forgotten" (like they forgot 1975) that there ever was a ban.
It just sounds so ridiculous. Like the blood ban of today.
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Gordy
The ban on vaccinations was lifted in 1952, I think.
But many JW's still carried on regarding vaccinations with suspicion, and some still do. Not because of side effects, but because they still mistakenly believe they are made using blood. Vaccines haven't been made using blood since the days of Pasteur in the 1890's, and the WT knew it.
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TheOldHippie
I remember reading a newspaper article from around 1985, that hundreds of Mexican children had died in a measles outburst, and they died because their parents had refused vaccinations as these were said to be produced of blood products - and that was taking place in the mid80s. I remember the debate about it in my country around 1980.
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Farkel
Quotes,
: It is unclear when this ban was lifted, but the earliest "Vaccinations OK" quote is from 1965.
No, it was in the early 1950's and I'm also pretty sure it was 1952. I was in first grade in 1954 and the Salk Polio vaccine had just been introduced. My mother wouldn't let me take it even though the WT had lifted its ban. She wouldn't let me take the Sabin Oral vaccine in 1961 and told me that even though the Society no longer forbade vaccinations, she still didn't "trust" them.
Farkel -
Farkel
Here's the relevant quote from the Dec 15, 1952 WT (Questions from Readers):
Is vaccination a violation of God's law forbidding the taking of blood into the system?-G. C., North Carolina.
The matter of vaccination is one for the individual that has to face it to decide for himself. Each individual has to take the consequences for whatever position and action he takes toward a case of compulsory vaccination, doing so according to his own conscience and his appreciation of what is for good health and the interests of advancing God's work. And our Society cannot afford to be drawn into the affair legally or take the responsibility for the way the case turns out.
After consideration of the matter, it does not appear to us to be in violation of the everlasting covenant made with Noah, as set down in Genesis 9:4, nor contrary to God's related commandment at Leviticus 17:10-14. Most certainly it cannot reasonably or Scripturally be argued and proved that, by being vaccinated, the inoculated person is either eating or drinking blood and consuming it as food or receiving a blood transfusion. Vaccination does not bear any relationship to or any likeness to the intermarriage of angelic "sons of God" with the daughters of men, as described in Genesis 6:1-4. Neither can it be put in the same class as described at Leviticus 18:23, 24, which forbids the mingling of humans with animals. It has nothing to do with sex relations.
Hence all objection to vaccination on Scriptural grounds seems to be lacking. The only proper objection that some persons could raise to it would be on the matter of the health risks involved or of keeping their blood stream clean from diseased matter coming from a foreign source, whether from an animal sore or from a human sore. Medical science, in fact, claims that vaccination actually results in building up the vitality of the blood to resist the disease against which the person is inoculated. But, of course, that is a question for each individual concerned to decide for himself and as he sees it to be Jehovah's will for him. -
RunningMan
It was in the Dec 15, 1952 Watchtower where the Society abandoned the vaccination ban. They didn't actually say it was OK, they just said that for legal reasons they could no longer comment on it.
?The matter of vaccination is one for the individual that has to face it to decide for himself ... our Society cannot afford to be drawn into the affair legally or take the responsibility for the way the case turns out ... all objection to vaccination on scriptural grounds seems to be lacking.? - WT 12/15/52 p764
I actually have the volume for this year.
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Farkel
Running Man,
: It was in the Dec 15, 1952 Watchtower where the Society abandoned the vaccination ban.
Didn't you read this thread before you posted this? :)
Farkel, of the "I already stated that CLASS"