by ithinkisee 28 Replies latest watchtower medical
http://www.jwic.com/wt-blood-6-15-04.htm
I see that the chart does not mention "hemoglobin" but "fractions from red cells." It shouldn't be to hard to prove that this means hemoglobin-based products. Just call someone on the local Hospital Liaison Committee if you have access to their names and numbers. That is what I did in 2000 when the information came out and I was told that it was a conscience matter spiritually and to call my doctor regarding its medical safety.
When I was a witness, I was trying to defend the blood transfusion with someone and had to get clarification from a witness. The elders wife told me that
when Jesus said to abstain from blood that people were doing blood transfusions back then. I researched and tried to find evidence of this and all I
found was that possibly there were some that used blood in rituals and drank blood thinking they would inherite that persons spirit. Do some witnesses
actually believe that there were blood transfusions being administered back in the first century?
Moanzy
I looked up our copy of the June 15, 2004 Watchtower, for the chart, and as you probably know, there is no description details of "fractions", just what they are, red, white, platelets, plasma. I think Blondie mentioned Northfield Labs, so I emailed them last nite to find out if they consider their "extractions" to be fractions. The site tells the exact description ofPolyHeme, its characteristics, as well as how it is made, with diagrams. I found it to be very interesting. I will post their answer, if I hear from them. I'm new to posting to your site, but have been watching it for quite some time...Thanks all for your valuable input.
I have been reading about blood on the AJWRB site
Although it states ALL blood fractions are allowed, I would really like to know the WT stance on this, incase I shoot my mouth off and find its wrong information. I worry that if someone sees a chink in the blood doctrine armour they make assumptions of rational thinking, rather than what the WT actually says.
I would like a list of blood fractions you CAN and CANNOT have surely this is only fair if you are making life and death decisions.
If I had the guts Id like to speak to someone in bethel and really pin them down on what is and what isnt allowed. Then you could with full confidence talk to family and friends about the absurdity of the blood issue,
Although many sites in the internet are true ,helpful and informative, we must always check what we read.
I cant find the 2004 WT, I wasnt interested at the time, but I am now
This is going to be as big as the UN debacle. I can feel it now.
Although it states ALL blood fractions are allowed, I would really like to know the WT stance on this
Vitty; you just are not getting it. If the society wanted to forbid hemoglobin, it would say so. It would say some but not all fractions are allowed.
This is what totally sent me out the door; that blood policy changed so quietly. A family member could have died due to the lack of diligence in communicating the huge change here.
Previous to this, the society forbade hemoglobin and said so in a response to a written request. Look at the history of this on AJWRB.
After 2000, most if not all of the rank and file did not get the change; of course the article was written to make a change without making a wave.
Finally in 2004 they had to make a chart!! Here is what we allow; here is what we don't. All the talk of what one christian might accept and what some might think too close to whole blood is just smoke and mirrors; of course some might think it's too close to whole blood, the WT has been forbidding it for decades!!
It has changed; the blood policy has begun it's crumble. Why do you think there are HLC's in the first place?? To explain a criminal policy in print would be suicide, and to allow the rank and file to know what really is allowed would raise too many difficult questions.
So the whole list of what they allow for procedures and products is in the hands of the HLC.
Check it out for yourself, Vitty; I spent hundreds of hours researching it and am convinced it is just as AJWRB presents it.
For the record, here is the complete text of the article as it appears on the 2004 WT CD
*** w04 6/15 pp. 29-31 Questions From Readers ***Questions
From ReadersDo
Jehovah?s Witnesses accept any minor fractions of blood?The following answer is reprinted from the issue of June 15, 2000.
The fundamental answer is that Jehovah?s Witnesses do not accept blood. We firmly believe that God?s law on blood is not open to reform to fit shifting opinions. Still, new issues arise because blood can now be processed into four primary components and fractions of those components. In deciding whether to accept such, a Christian should look beyond possible medical benefits and risks. His concern should be what the Bible says and the potential effect on his relationship with Almighty God.
The key issues are quite simple. As an aid to seeing why that is so, consider some Biblical, historical, and medical background.
Jehovah God told our common ancestor Noah that blood must be treated as something special. (Genesis 9:3, 4) Later, God?s laws to Israel reflected the sacredness of blood: "As for any man of the house of Israel or some alien resident . . . who eats any sort of blood, I shall certainly set my face against the soul that is eating the blood." By rejecting God?s law, an Israelite could contaminate others; thus, God added: "I shall indeed cut him off from among his people." (Leviticus 17:10) Later, at a meeting in Jerusalem, the apostles and older men decreed that we must ?abstain from blood.? Doing so is as vital as abstaining from sexual immorality and idolatry.?Acts 15:28, 29.
What would "abstaining" have meant back then? Christians did not consume blood, whether fresh or coagulated; nor did they eat meat from an unbled animal. Also ruled out would be foods to which blood was added, such as blood sausage. Taking in blood in any of those ways would violate God?s law.?1 Samuel 14:32, 33.
Most people in ancient times would not have been troubled over the consuming of blood, as we can see from the writings of Tertullian (second and third centuries C.E.). Responding to false charges that Christians consumed blood, Tertullian mentioned tribes that sealed treaties by tasting blood. He also noted that "when a show is given in the arena, [some] with greedy thirst have caught the fresh blood of the guilty . . . as a cure for their epilepsy."
Those practices (even if some Romans did them for health reasons) were wrong for Christians: "We do not include even animals? blood in our natural diet," wrote Tertullian. The Romans used food containing blood as a test of the integrity of real Christians. Tertullian added: "Now, I ask you, what sort of a thing is it, that when you are confident [that Christians] will turn with horror from animals? blood, you should suppose them greedy for human blood?"
Today, few people would think that the laws of Almighty God are at issue if a physician suggested their taking blood. While Jehovah?s Witnesses certainly want to keep living, we are committed to obey Jehovah?s law on blood. What does this mean in the light of current medical practice?
As transfusions of whole blood became common after World War II, Jehovah?s Witnesses saw that this was contrary to God?s law?and we still believe that. Yet, medicine has changed over time. Today, most transfusions are not of whole blood but of one of its primary components: (1) red cells; (2) white cells; (3) platelets; (4) plasma (serum), the fluid part. Depending on the condition of the patient, physicians might prescribe red cells, white cells, platelets, or plasma. Transfusing these major components allows a single unit of blood to be divided among more patients. Jehovah?s Witnesses hold that accepting whole blood or any of those four primary components violates God?s law. Significantly, keeping to this Bible-based position has protected them from many risks, including such diseases as hepatitis and AIDS that can be contracted from blood.
However, since blood can be processed beyond those primary components, questions arise about fractions derived from the primary blood components. How are such fractions used, and what should a Christian consider when deciding on them?
Blood is complex. Even the plasma?which is 90 percent water?carries scores of hormones, inorganic salts, enzymes, and nutrients, including minerals and sugar. Plasma also carries such proteins as albumin, clotting factors, and antibodies to fight diseases. Technicians isolate and use many plasma proteins. For example, clotting factor VIII has been given to hemophiliacs, who bleed easily. Or if someone is exposed to certain diseases, doctors might prescribe injections of gamma globulin, extracted from the blood plasma of people who already had immunity. Other plasma proteins are used medically, but the above mentioned illustrate how a primary blood component (plasma) may be processed to obtain fractions.
Just as blood plasma can be a source of various fractions, the other primary components (red cells, white cells, platelets) can be processed to isolate smaller parts. For example, white blood cells may be a source of interferons and interleukins, used to treat some viral infections and cancers. Platelets can be processed to extract a wound-healing factor. And other medicines are coming along that involve (at least initially) extracts from blood components. Such therapies are not transfusions of those primary components; they usually involve parts or fractions thereof. Should Christians accept these fractions in medical treatment? We cannot say. The Bible does not give details, so a Christian must make his own conscientious decision before God.
Some would refuse anything derived from blood (even fractions intended to provide temporary passive immunity). That is how they understand God?s command to ?abstain from blood.? They reason that his law to Israel required that blood removed from a creature be ?poured out on the ground.? (Deuteronomy 12:22-24) Why is that relevant? Well, to prepare gamma globulin, blood-based clotting factors, and so on, requires that blood be collected and processed. Hence, some Christians reject such products, just as they reject transfusions of whole blood or of its four primary components. Their sincere, conscientious stand should be respected.
Other Christians decide differently. They too refuse transfusions of whole blood, red cells, white cells, platelets, or plasma. Yet, they might allow a physician to treat them with a fraction extracted from the primary components. Even here there may be differences. One Christian may accept a gamma globulin injection, but he may or may not agree to an injection containing something extracted from red or white cells. Overall, though, what might lead some Christians to conclude that they could accept blood fractions?
"Questions From Readers" in The Watchtower of June 1, 1990, noted that plasma proteins (fractions) move from a pregnant woman?s blood to the separate blood system of her fetus. Thus a mother passes immunoglobulins to her child, providing valuable immunity. Separately, as a fetus? red cells complete their normal life span, their oxygen-carrying portion is processed. Some of it becomes bilirubin, which crosses the placenta to the mother and is eliminated with her body wastes. Some Christians may conclude that since blood fractions can pass to another person in this natural setting, they could accept a blood fraction derived from blood plasma or cells.
Does the fact that opinions and conscientious decisions may differ mean that the issue is inconsequential? No. It is serious. Yet, there is a basic simplicity. The above material shows that Jehovah?s Witnesses refuse transfusions of both whole blood and its primary blood components. The Bible directs Christians to ?abstain from things sacrificed to idols and from blood and from fornication.? (Acts 15:29) Beyond that, when it comes to fractions of any of the primary components, each Christian, after careful and prayerful meditation, must conscientiously decide for himself.
Many people would be willing to accept any therapy that seems to offer immediate benefit, even a therapy having known health risks, as is true of blood products. The sincere Christian endeavors to have a broader, more balanced view that involves more than just the physical aspects. Jehovah?s Witnesses appreciate efforts to provide quality medical care, and they weigh the risk/benefit ratio of any treatment. However, when it comes to products derived from blood, they carefully weigh what God says and their personal relationship with our Life-Giver.?Psalm 36:9.
What a blessing for a Christian to have such confidence as the psalmist who wrote: "Jehovah God is a sun and a shield; favor and glory are what he gives. Jehovah himself will not hold back anything good from those walking in faultlessness. O Jehovah . . . , happy is the man that is trusting in you"!?Psalm 84:11, 12.
[Footnote]
See "Questions From Readers" in The Watchtower of June 15, 1978, and October 1, 1994. Pharmaceutical firms have developed recombinant products that are not taken from blood and that may be prescribed in place of some blood fractions used in the past.
[Box
on page 31]SUGGESTED
QUESTIONS FOR THE DOCTORIf you face surgery or a treatment that might involve a blood product, ask:
Do all the medical personnel involved know that, as one of Jehovah?s Witnesses, I direct that no blood transfusions (whole blood, red cells, white cells, platelets, or blood plasma) be given to me under any circumstances?
If any medicine to be prescribed may be made from blood plasma, red or white cells, or platelets, ask:
Has the medicine been made from one of the four primary blood components? If so, would you explain its makeup?
How much of this blood-derived medicine might be administered, and in what way?
If my conscience permits me to accept this fraction, what medical risks are there?
If my conscience moves me to decline this fraction, what other therapy might be used?
After I have considered this matter further, when may I inform you of my decision?
?If God commands to abstain from red blood cells, as the WTS teaches, why does the WTS also teach that accepting 97% of what God prohibits does not violate God's command?? (US spelling)
Ok so the scripture says " abstain from blood... good health to you" How does that equal blood fractions acceptable?
I just don't get it.
I just don't get it.
Loosie, there is nothing to get. The policy is corrupt and is killing people, so they have to change it. They know as well as we that it was always a mistake; the only reason it has not changed is they do not have the votes to change it yet and fear the backlash.
So they are modifying it right out of existence with such vague language that they can review the completely self contradicting articles later and say, see? We never said you couldn't do it, it was always a conscience matter.
It is being driven by lawsuits; every time a child dies and the parent opens the eyes, they sue.
