by cruzanheart 21 Replies latest jw friends
hi nina
I had a friend who was the head of the infant treatment center floor at Boston Mass for a number of years.
She told me that several times she had J.W. parents call her into her office on the hospital floor and beg her to go get a court order to take their baby so it could have a blood transfusion.
And she did this on several occassions over the years. This way, the elders could not disfellowship them and it gavethem out of this crazy stupid J.W. "no blood transfusion law".
Special K
Nina, It is hard not to make generalizations, but that was always one of the things that bothered me from a rather young age, the lack of education and training the elders typically had compared to other faiths where their clery often had advanced degrees and training in counseling etc. I understand that advanced education and training is not the be all and end all, but really, would you want a car mechanic or a surgeon working on you if you have to have an operation. When my dad was terminal and on hospice, for whatever reason that just blew me away my mom allowed the hospice chaplin to stop by (he was a catholic priest of all things). I watched him and the edlers when they came by and it was such a stark difference in skill level, the priest had obviously had extensive training in grief counseling and did a good job of talking to my parents and trying to help them work through the emotions they were feeling where the elder (and he really seemed like a nice guy) stumbled around, not really knowing what to say, read some scriptures, sighed alot. Also, as a lawyer it makes my skin crawl to think that this parent is not represented by counsel and is getting info from what in all probability are high school educated people. I have watched some of these cases and they can just be heart breaking for all involved. It breaks my heart to think of those tiny little lives hanging in the balance, I mean what is more precious than a child and what greater responsibility than protecting them?
Same here, Big Dog. I shuddered at the thought that the parents weren't represented by counsel but it does sound as though they were going through the formalities just to get themselves off the hook with the elders. What a travesty! And look at the time that was wasted going through the motions when those babies could have had treatment hours before.
What type of law do you practice, BD? I work for an insurance defense firm now (Office Manager/HR) but spent 10 years immersed in high stakes civil litigation (the $600/hr. type of guys -- VERY high pressure environment).
Nina
Nina,
I'm glad you were able to educate the lawyer/judge on the silly self-imposed rules of JWs. It is about time that we as xjws can speak up and quit hiding the foolish hidden rules that those people have to live under. The more the rest of the world understands about the insidious, mind controlling actions of JWs the more they will stay away and realize it is a cult.
Hope the babies do ok. Very delicate time of life and they still have a long way to go besides just having blood to help them.
Joy
Nina, I'm a tax attorney, accounting, then a joint program where I got a Masters in Tax and my law degree. I do alot of straight tax work, plus asset protection, estate planning, business formation, research. I do a little civil litigation just to keep things interesting. That pressure cooker stuff wasn't for me, though tax work can be stressful depending on the situation (like the IRS wants to put my client in jail, then it can get a little dicey), but not typically like those boys.
I have long suspected that the HLC is not there to help JWs but instead is there to ensure that the JWs do not break any WTS rules.
Big Dog, if you want to branch out a little you might go into asset protection for older ones. We had a fantastic lawyer here in Dallas who helped us get my mother set up on Medicaid and he was absolutely brilliant -- knew the ins and outs of taxes, assets and how to configure them so Medicaid would approve, and the government in general. It's a growing market since us Baby Boomers are getting OLD and there aren't a lot of attorneys who will go into that. He even created a computer program that allowed him to plug in the numbers and calculate whether or not the person could qualify for Medicaid and if not, how long it would take and WHAT it would take.
Yeah, that high pressure stuff trickled down to the staff too -- you can lose your soul in that profession.
Nina
I told him that the HLC is a group of elders, a great many of them uneducated window-washers and janitors
Oh my god Nina.......that is SO true! LMAO!!
When I had a complicated surgery a few years ago, there was the very real possibility that I might need a blood transfusion, so I had my own blood stored beforehand in just case it was needed. I told the doctors my plan and also emphasized that for obvious reasons they couldn't tell my family members and they understood immediately why. The one doctor told me "we're having more and more Jehovah Witnesses do what you're doing and we think it's a smart move." They understand all about disfellowshipping etc., although many of them can't comprehend why you would be deemed an outcast for trying to save your kid's life.....anyway, I guess during my surgery, the HLC showed up "just to see how she's doing"........ya, right.
Cruzan, you're better than Judge Judy
- Preston
Nina, Excellent advice, I have quite a few physician clients and have been doing alot of asset protection for them as they are in the bullseye here in Ohio. But as I have been doing it and with the estate planning I have realized that you are totally correct, medicaid/asset protection planning for the elderly is a huge and to a large extent untapped field. I have been using my continuing ed credits to bone up on the subject and plan on making that a new focus of my practice. You can only lose your soul if you have one to lose, gets into a whole nother discussion topic there. Big Dog
