Posts by OrphanCrow

50

A JW explains Blood Fractions

by OrphanCrow in

i was looking around from some information on the wt's stance concerning the use of stem cells, and i came across this article on a defending jehovah's witnesses blog.. rather than informing the reader all that much about stem cells, the author diverts the conversation into a discussion of "blood fractions" (*note: the term "blood fractions" appears to be another one of those wt bloodspeak terms coined by the wt.

"blood components" or "blood products" are the terms used more frequently by the medical world.

"fractions" implies tiny amounts).

OrphanCrow

Splash: It's a blind faith...WT logic is anything but logical.
konceptual: Unfortunately gymnastics implies skill, dexterity and artistry. Trying to make this whole thing logical is is actually more like a game of Twister on a board covered in turds.
It's nothing more than blind obedience to whatever the current "thinking" of the GB is.

I know. I don't even know where to start to try to unravel that ball of string!
The current thinking of the GB, incidentally, matches the current interests of those who Wonder mentions:

The future belongs therefore to those clever JW who professionally "destroy" blood to be no-blood.
The best professions and well paid will be the "Blood destroyers" and those who put together the destroyed components and sell "sausages of destroyed blood fractions"

The shifting WT "blood doctrine" has always shifted and matched the needs of those "blood destroyers".
Jehovah's Witnesses have been using "destroyed blood" for over 5 decades. Even at the time that the 1981 "Question from Readers" addressed the blood policy and came up with ridiculously tight guidelines for the use of blood, including the use of blood in fertilizer:

How should a Christian view using blood as fertilizer, as animal food or in some other way that does not involve his eating it?

"Questions From Readers," The Watchtower, October 15, 1981, pp. 30-1.

At the same time that the 1981 WT was tightening the parameters of the blood prohibition, the WT had already approved a vital "blood fraction" for JW's to use. Factor viii for hemophiliacs was already used by JWs - and they got infected the same way the rest of the population did when the Aids crisis hit the blood supply.

And, at that same time, Dr. Dixon and Gene Smalley released the WT's stand on blood to the medical community in this treatise published in 1981:

Jehovah's Witnesses. The surgical/ethical challenge.

And all that happened right after the WTS officially took over the JW hospital network (in the year the fluosol trials started - on JW patients).

Blood Destroyers, indeed.

The WT has taken an ideological view of blood, they have searched diligently inside the pages of a religious book (that they liberally change when it suits their purpose), and found a way to justify their blood phobia. And they have called it a "religious belief". When that doctrinal (flexible) belief simply is a device to satisfy the demands and needs of the "blood destroyers".

Maybe this is what they mean when, in the 1981 WT article, they said that blood could be "put on the altar"...or...poured on the ground. The "altar" must be the blood destroyer industry.

Jehovah's Altar, indeed. Covered in destroyed blood and destroyed lives of JW believers, ready to obey the commands of.....who?

50

A JW explains Blood Fractions

by OrphanCrow in

i was looking around from some information on the wt's stance concerning the use of stem cells, and i came across this article on a defending jehovah's witnesses blog.. rather than informing the reader all that much about stem cells, the author diverts the conversation into a discussion of "blood fractions" (*note: the term "blood fractions" appears to be another one of those wt bloodspeak terms coined by the wt.

"blood components" or "blood products" are the terms used more frequently by the medical world.

"fractions" implies tiny amounts).

OrphanCrow

I was looking around from some information on the WT's stance concerning the use of stem cells, and I came across this article on a Defending Jehovah's Witnesses blog.

Rather than informing the reader all that much about stem cells, the author diverts the conversation into a discussion of "blood fractions" (*note: the term "blood fractions" appears to be another one of those WT bloodspeak terms coined by the WT. "Blood components" or "blood products" are the terms used more frequently by the medical world. "Fractions" implies tiny amounts)

Do Jehovah's Witnesses Accept Stem Cells?
Since stem cells are not blood, Witnesses leave their use up to the individuals’ conscience. Witnesses would have a problem if the stem cells were obtained by killing a fetus:

*** g02 11/22 p. 4 Why the Controversy? ***
*** g02 11/22 p. 9 Wisdom for Life in a Complex World ***

The *doctrinal* position for all Christians is explicit in the Bible: We must abstain from blood just as we avoid fornication and idolatry (Ac.15:20; 21:25).

The Bible's requirements regarding blood and what parts are acceptable for Christians is NOT complicated. We only have to ask ourselves the two questions: Is it "blood" and is it still part of my circulatory system? Christians must use explicit biblical principles as well as implied indications from God's own actions in order to determine if fractions derived from blood are included in the blood prohibition.

The reason most JWs accept fractions is because they can morally and logically be viewed as no longer "blood." That this view is logical and scientific has been supported by several secular courts and medical experts who have legally defined "blood" as the four primary components and NOT any product below those.

For example, Gray's Anatomy says: "Blood consists of a fluid medium called the plasma in which are suspended minute structures called the formed elements of the blood. The formed elements include (1) the red blood corpuscles (RBC), (2) the white blood cells (WBC), and (3) the platelets."-pg 727

"Dailey's Notes on Blood" says that red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets, and plasma, "are referred to as whole blood."–John E Dailey; 4th edition.

So, "blood" is naturally and logically differentiated by its four primary components. Therefore the Witnesses' distinction is not unreasonable.

Logically, as blood is broken down, at some point the components logically cease to be blood. If this logic was not correct then EVERY molecule which had ever been part of blood would still be considered blood and could not be ingested to eternity. Such a view would be unreasonable and completely illogical.

We can illustrate this with someone who used blood products to fertilize their fruit trees. Now, would it be hypocritical to buy and eat the fruit just because it contains some of the molecules from the blood? That would be unreasonable and completely illogical.

One reason most Witnesses accept blood fractions is because most of them are the product of destroying blood. The Bible's command is to destroy or "pour onto the ground" blood which has been removed from the body. In the case of most fractions the blood is essentially destroyed and will never be blood again. Therefore the Bible's mandate is carried out. Fractions are not blood when they are a product of destroying blood.

In the case of some larger fractions such as Cryosupernatant or Cryoprecipitate where the process does not necessarily completely destroy blood and may allow reconstitution other facts are considered. Since God has allowed proteins such as found in Cryo to be transferred from the blood stream of mother to the fetus some individual JWs view this as an indication that Cryo is not included in the prohibition of blood. But, other Witnesses may refuse for various reasons such as the fact that some fractions "may be so similar to the function of the whole component and carry on such a life-sustaining role in the body."--w6/15/04; 23-24

Because the issue is a *moral* issue involving obedience to God, Witnesses make every reasonable effort to avoid disobeying. So they follow the well known *moral* principle described as abiding by the "spirit of the Law" which is universally recognized as being logical. This principle applies a specific law to other unspecified circumstances.

As an organization JWs have determined that the four primary components can still be viewed as "blood" on a *moral* and *representational* level. Each primary component individually can still represent basically what blood as a whole symbolizes: the life of the creature." They definitely act and function so much like blood that they must be *morally* included in the prohibition. This demarcation is not unreasonable but is supported by logic, scientific, medical, and legal definitions. More importantly their view keeps them *morally* clean in God's sight.

Because the Scriptures are absolutely clear regarding abstaining from blood our doctrine prohibiting it is Scriptural. Similarly, since the Scriptures are silent regarding such fractions the Witnesses leave this up to one's personal choice and so our position on fractions is also completely Scriptural

The mental gymnastics required to follow this JW thought process that lays out the "logic" of the blood doctrine and how taking parts of blood is scriptural (the best parts, by the way...skimming the vital components) is making my head hurt.

First there was the ridiculous blood and alcohol analogy and now there is this. Twisted and convoluted "logic" in order to bend and break the so-called religious injunction against blood.

Are these views familiar to anyone? Are these the arguments that the HLC and elders have been trained to use when challenged on the JW's use of blood components and blood products?

82

How Far Up The Ladder Did You Go In JW Land?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i pretty much did it all.

vacation pioneered as a youngster and became a regular pioneer out of school.

i became a ms then an elder.....the organization pushes you to be somebody within the confines of their realm.

OrphanCrow

jesscd: As a female I was only allowed to hold the ladder, oh and maybe clean it...

Image result for woman's ladder versus man's ladder

13

compensation for the abused.

by zeb in

'jehovah's witness (1 per cent) did not attend but will be involved in round two of negotiations — one-on-one meetings with the minister's department.

on the abuse compensation scheme reported on the abc.

so they will go into the ministers office with their slickest new lawyers and hope to bullshit the minsters staff.

OrphanCrow

smiddy: How in the world do they get away with that con on a Government.,any Government.?
You would think someone would wake up to them.

April 20, 2017

Moscow

9

Topic Preview - unable to select

by sir82 in

using firefox / windows 7.. can't select the size of the topic preview.

i click on the "none" (or any other choice) but nothing changes..

OrphanCrow

This is a test, Simon.

Just checking to see if that edit option works yet...

thank you for all your help.

Much appreciated

:) :) :)

Ha! It works! Finally!!!!!

56

Southern California USA Congregations of Jehovah's Witnesses On High Alert

by JW GoneBad in

circuit overseers, elders, ministerial servants, pioneers and rank & file are stressed out over an ex-jw (kevin) who has visited nearly 20 congregations (orange county) and has high-jacked the opening prayers and done some effective witnessing before he is escorted to the back door.

and everything is caught on video!.

kevin is also visiting numerous jw cart locations from the los angeles area to orange county and giving a most effective wiitness at each location and they're all on video.

OrphanCrow

"What's your name?"

"Kevin. Kevin Bunker"

Lol!

12

What Is Brain Washing?

by Brokeback Watchtower in

i don't think this applies to the watchtower corporation as the beginning this is talking about the more extreme forms.

but interesting just the same.

i'm sure we see some of the wt's depictions of death and and destruction(verbal and in pictures) that awaits those not in corporate "jehovah's" favor, a clear uses of inducing maximum fear and stress to make the mind more suggestable to corporate directives.

OrphanCrow

The politics and history of "brainwashing":

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/true-story-brainwashing-and-how-it-shaped-america-180963400/

44

Lot's Wife - Connect the dots - JW.org

by Funchback in

yay!

now kids can help draw lot's wife getting destroyed.. .

OrphanCrow

And let's not forget the King Solomon story. Every JW child needs to visualize a baby being threatened by a sword.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvBBo3tZVXg

44

Lot's Wife - Connect the dots - JW.org

by Funchback in

yay!

now kids can help draw lot's wife getting destroyed.. .

OrphanCrow

WasanElderonce: It's interesting that Mrs. Lot is turning into salt before she even leaves the city. She is turning around so soon. Most illustrations have her on a mountainside looking back.

What is interesting is that the story of Lot's wife is a mythic interpretation of a natural occurrence.

http://www.people.virginia.edu/~pm9k/Writings/sodom.html

The natural salt formation, that the Lot's wife myth developed from, does stand on the mountainside:

Image result for the pillar on Mount Sodom lot's wife

44

Lot's Wife - Connect the dots - JW.org

by Funchback in

yay!

now kids can help draw lot's wife getting destroyed.. .

OrphanCrow

Tallon: Is this for real ?

Yes, it is.

From 4 years ago:

https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/246586/jw-org-kids-connect-dots-coloring-page-lots-wife-turning-into-salt