Posts by OrphanCrow

19

JWs and legalized Marijuana

by jws in

jw
friends

i know this was probably covered before in some post, but i was curious.

what is the jw stance on recreational marijuana use in the states where it has been legalized?.

i would suspect smoking it, like cigarettes, would probably still be against the rules, but there are ways to use it that aren't damaging to your lungs.

OrphanCrow

aintenoughwiskey: Imagine the mass exodus if they banned alcohol?

With a username like that..I can see why you would say that! Lol!

The JWs' use of alcohol is such a paradox.

On one hand, the WT makes a huge deal out of the ways that their brand of medicine can "reduce the need for blood transfusion" yet on the other hand, alcohol use increases the risk of gastrointestinal bleeding.

http://patient.info/doctor/oesophageal-varices

Bleeding from oesophageal varices is responsible for 5-11% of all cases of upper gastrointestinal bleeding
In Western countries, alcoholic and viral cirrhosis are the leading causes of portal hypertension and oesophageal varices

It is no surprise that many JWs experience gastrointestinal bleeding.

Why hasn't the WT banned alcohol use? A step like that would definitely have reduced the number of JWs who would have required a blood transfusion.

19

JWs and legalized Marijuana

by jws in

jw
friends

i know this was probably covered before in some post, but i was curious.

what is the jw stance on recreational marijuana use in the states where it has been legalized?.

i would suspect smoking it, like cigarettes, would probably still be against the rules, but there are ways to use it that aren't damaging to your lungs.

OrphanCrow

An article that reveals the JWs' stance on medical cannabis:

What is cannabis topical oil? And why is this Rancho Cordova couple so good at making it?

Taking the top prize in the Emerald Cup is considered the cannabis equivalent of winning an Oscar, and a key way to establish clout in California’s medical marijuana economy, which is valued as high as $2.7 billion.

Dudgeon has grown cannabis for the past three years, while Taylor has worked for the past 17 years in pest control for the cannabis industry. The couple made their first batch of cannabis-infused topical oil about a year ago for Dudgeon’s grandmother, who suffers from arthritis in the knee. Using cannabis in other ways, such as smoking, wasn’t going to work for her. In addition, Dudgeon comes from a family of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Read full story at link.

And a bit of information about that " medical marijuana economy, which is valued as high as $2.7 billion."

https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/315890005/_post/5446960882384896

75

Poll - Will you accept blood?

by OrphanCrow in

i have made a poll to try to determine the impact of the wt's no blood policy on ex members.. if you are an exjw, please participate.. vote here:.

*oops...hang on here...i have to make a new poll...this one lets you vote more than once.

i will post the new one .

OrphanCrow

dubstepped: ... I even read the wrong one, lol.

The "wrong" one wasn't really wrong - I wanted to post that one but I had posted it twice instead of the one about Shander and Seeber.

I'll check out the new one you posted.

Enjoy! :)

75

Poll - Will you accept blood?

by OrphanCrow in

i have made a poll to try to determine the impact of the wt's no blood policy on ex members.. if you are an exjw, please participate.. vote here:.

*oops...hang on here...i have to make a new poll...this one lets you vote more than once.

i will post the new one .

OrphanCrow

Doubting Bro: One of the more emotional symbolic things I did while waking up was rip up my executed Advance Medical Directive....It was quite therapeutic to destroy that symbol of control over my individual decisions.

That act is probably the most freeing thing a person can do when they leave the JWs faith.

It is more than a symbolic gesture - it is a real, effective way to take action on taking your life back and making it your own. That card is more than a symbol - it is an actuality of the WT's control, not only over your mind, but over your body and your life itself.

What's next? Well...how about blood donor time? Save somebody else's life in a real, tangible way. Not by offering them promises of a life forever in some imaginary, perceived paradise, but in this world here and now. Save a life, please. Save your own life, and save somebody else's too.

75

Poll - Will you accept blood?

by OrphanCrow in

i have made a poll to try to determine the impact of the wt's no blood policy on ex members.. if you are an exjw, please participate.. vote here:.

*oops...hang on here...i have to make a new poll...this one lets you vote more than once.

i will post the new one .

OrphanCrow

Listener: Overall it took a few months to feel 100% and I could have prevented the trauma I faced in those months if I had accepted the transfusion.

This is key, Listener.

The WT likes to boast about how blood isn't necessary, about how the odd patient here and there had such a low blood count and still survived...blah, blah, blah. And about how "patients who don't take blood do better than those who have blood".

What is often overlooked with these seemingly miraculous survivals without blood is the increased morbidity that happens when someone has low blood count. The recovery time on some of these patients is long, hard, and often results in permanent damage of some kind. I have heard accounts of patients who survived without blood but were left with permanent disabilities like limited hand use, etc.

This is something that is not accounted for in those apparently evidence based studies that float around to support the notion that "no blood is better". Those studies have all been conducted on in-hospital patients and people like you, Listener, never make it into the medical literature. Once a patient is discharged, they no longer show up in the data that is used for those studies. So, as a result, the studies will show that no blood is better....but that is just for as long as you are still a patient. There have been no long term effects considered and, as far as I know, there are no studies done on JW patients after they have been discharged as to the long term effects of being oxygen deprived for a period of time.

75

Poll - Will you accept blood?

by OrphanCrow in

i have made a poll to try to determine the impact of the wt's no blood policy on ex members.. if you are an exjw, please participate.. vote here:.

*oops...hang on here...i have to make a new poll...this one lets you vote more than once.

i will post the new one .

OrphanCrow

Oh dear...I just realized that I posted the wrong link on my last post:

OC, can you elaborate more on the sham that was created through the dub's supposed "bloodless" medicine?

I am not sure where to start!
This thread here might answer some of that question:
https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/5700923452030976/watchtowers-medical-bible-hlc-handbook?page=1&size=10

The link I meant to post was this one:

https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/6214938441809920/basics-blood-management-dr-petra-seeber-dr-aryeh-shander-inaccuracies-myth

75

Poll - Will you accept blood?

by OrphanCrow in

i have made a poll to try to determine the impact of the wt's no blood policy on ex members.. if you are an exjw, please participate.. vote here:.

*oops...hang on here...i have to make a new poll...this one lets you vote more than once.

i will post the new one .

OrphanCrow

IslandMan: So I voted "some". The poll could have had more choices to get a more nuanced input of XJWs' feelings on the matter. I feel like the choice I chose does not fully express my view.

Sorry about that. I guess I could have made the answers reflect your position (and Cofty's and others) better.

I was mostly concerned with trying to find out if there are exJWs who will still take a hard-line stance about blood and refuse it under all circumstances.

If you would accept blood when necessary, I would say that the first response is more correct - that you will accept medical treatment that requires blood...but only in special circumstances. Which is a reasonable position to take and one based on rationality instead of just on belief.

I was thinking that "some" would be more in line with the JW position of blood fractions and artificial blood only - no plasma and no whole blood. No hemoglobin.

75

Poll - Will you accept blood?

by OrphanCrow in

i have made a poll to try to determine the impact of the wt's no blood policy on ex members.. if you are an exjw, please participate.. vote here:.

*oops...hang on here...i have to make a new poll...this one lets you vote more than once.

i will post the new one .

OrphanCrow

dubstepped: can you elaborate on what happened around 2000?

It was in the June 15, 2000 Watchtower that doors seemed to open into the use of more fractionated blood products and artificial blood (made from cow's blood or from expired human blood). The WT had been quietly allowing various fractions of blood for years but it was the 2000 policy change that really opened up the use of blood products for JWs.

You can read more about that here:

http://ajwrb.org/do-jehovahs-witnesses-really-abstain-from-blood

It is important to note, too, that 2000 was also the year that the Society for the Advancement of Blood Management was founded - a coalition of medical doctors and Hospital Liaison Committee members.

The SABM sets standards for PBM and BM around the world - standards for blood usage for all of us have been set by WT's HLC and JW friendly doctors.

The SABM was involved in the Hemopure trials and in STORMACT that was established in response to 9/11.

More about SABM and STORMACT on this thread here:

https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/5700923452030976/watchtowers-medical-bible-hlc-handbook?page=2

OC, can you elaborate more on the sham that was created through the dub's supposed "bloodless" medicine?

I am not sure where to start!

This thread here might answer some of that question:

https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/5700923452030976/watchtowers-medical-bible-hlc-handbook?page=1&size=10

75

Poll - Will you accept blood?

by OrphanCrow in

i have made a poll to try to determine the impact of the wt's no blood policy on ex members.. if you are an exjw, please participate.. vote here:.

*oops...hang on here...i have to make a new poll...this one lets you vote more than once.

i will post the new one .

OrphanCrow

I have said this before but I want to say it again...for emphasis ;)

Bloodless surgery does not mean that no blood is used in the surgery.

"Bloodless" means that the patient is bloodless - the patient's body has less blood in it than it should have. The patient's body is bloodless. Up to 80% of their blood is removed -a bloodless patient.

I think this is one of the greatest deceptions that the Watchtower has pulled off concerning their quasi medical advice. They have taken advantage of a word twist to make it appear that "bloodless surgery" doesn't use blood. When JWs hear "bloodless" they think that it means no blood is necessary when it really means that it is their body that will be bloodless in order to create a bloodless surgical field.

And, when it comes to the WT's "softening" stance on the blood issue - something I have heard many times - back around 2000 - that again was a big deception. The allowance of fractions and artificial blood served the needs of patient blood management and had nothing at all to do with religious doctrine - it had to do with patient blood management requirements.

Religious belief? No. Belief in patient blood management. PBM relies on blood fractions and artificial blood.

75

Poll - Will you accept blood?

by OrphanCrow in

i have made a poll to try to determine the impact of the wt's no blood policy on ex members.. if you are an exjw, please participate.. vote here:.

*oops...hang on here...i have to make a new poll...this one lets you vote more than once.

i will post the new one .

OrphanCrow

Berengaria: Hello OC, here is my own experience from a few years ago...

What an experience to go through. I didn't read all of the thread but this is a critical point:

"So odd, my first reaction to the suggestion of a transfusion was automatically NO."

This is what is problematic for exJWs - the indoctrination runs so so deep that it is important to research and make decisions about the use of blood before it becomes necessary.

I am glad that you took the blood and yes...it sure makes you feel great when it starts running into your veins, doesn't it? When I required blood, I remember looking up at that bag of blood above me and thanking whoever the stranger was that took the time to donate their blood so I could live. It was a profound experience to know that somebody cared and that they cared about me, somebody they didn't even know. I cried as their blood dripped down the tube and into my veins.

The bottom line is this - regardless of all the technology and drugs/products that the WT promotes as the "golden standard of care", there are simply some situations where a blood transfusion is the only option to stay alive. Right, Azor?

Justfine: Drs don't automatically give transfusions, or push them if they aren't needed.

Exactly. That whole thing about doctors forcing blood on people that isn't needed and using blood indiscriminately is just a Watchtower myth.

A myth that is dangerous and should be debunked at every opportunity.