Posts by OrphanCrow

17

Sickle Cell Case

by Lee Elder in

the sad reality for jehovah's witness children who must depend upon the courts to get critical medical care their parents reject for them, even when their lives depend upon it.

to support the irrational blood policy of the watchtower society.

https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2018-12-05-three-jehovahs-witness-families-taken-to-court-to-save-childrens-lives/.

OrphanCrow

That is exactly what the WTS has worked so very hard for - and invested lots of $$$$ doing - the right to refuse medical treatment (*note - that right became enshrined by the UN in 2000).

Which, in the WTS' case, extends beyond that - they have created (gave a disorder to) a group of people who have a rare blood disorder. That is critical to understand when looking at how this situation had developed. JWs don't have a rare blood disorder - they have been given it.

The issue on this thread, though, goes beyond that, Simon. The issue is whether or not parents can extend the right to refuse medical treatment to their children. And they can't. Not in most legal systems - most countries will not allow parents to martyr their children. Child sacrifice is seen, by civilized societies, as barbaric.

And the US Supreme Court ruled on that - way back in the 40s. But it didn't stop the WTS from continuing the practice.

17

Sickle Cell Case

by Lee Elder in

the sad reality for jehovah's witness children who must depend upon the courts to get critical medical care their parents reject for them, even when their lives depend upon it.

to support the irrational blood policy of the watchtower society.

https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2018-12-05-three-jehovahs-witness-families-taken-to-court-to-save-childrens-lives/.

OrphanCrow

LeeElder: To counter the work the Watchtower has done in building up a market for their blood policy will require enormous amounts of time and money. Most ex JW's have neither. The children suffer and die, they have no voice, and are largely forgotten. That is the sad reality.

You are right, Lee. The WTS has had a huge head start in establishing a bloodless cult. Fighting against that is formidable. They have been spreading their propaganda for decades.

The enormity of infants/children being used as blood martyrs is mind boggling. Stats on dead babies due to blood refusal by the parents are unavailable. But the WTS has known all along what a hot topic it was and would be in the future - they have prepared well.

The WTS' work "behind the scenes" is staggering - the ordinary JW has no idea what the org has been up to. It was close to ten years ago that I stumbled upon the medical tome that they were distributing to doctors and hospitals back in the 70s.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4oXVPm4nrmfcGVHako0OVZuSUU/view?usp=sharing

The WTS included an essay by Jack Kevorkian in that volume : Our Unforgivable Trespass. I believe that that essay was solicited by the WTS. Kevorkian, at that time, would have had no interest in or knowledge of the JW blood doctrine, he would have had no purpose in writing it. I think he was approached to write it - in the same manner that Smiley and Dixon asked Dr. Cooley to write a report for them.

If you want to have a stomach turning few minutes...just download that book and read what Dr. Kevorkian says about JW parents sacrificing their children (of course, Kevorkian was pro-child sacrifice).

The WTS has invested a LOT of time and money in promoting "alternatives" to using blood for both adults and children. Far more has gone into the promotion of alternative medicine than has gone into explaining their wacky take on an old biblical text about not eating animal blood.

58

Two witness rule: who cares?

by _Morpheus in

i find people railing against the so called “two witness rule” puzzling.

i think its a complete and total non issue.

for those that protest, argue or advocate for change in that rule, why?

OrphanCrow

truthbknwn: All the Two Witness Rule does is prevent pedophiles who are Witnesses from being disfellowshipped.

It actually does far more than that.

The two witness rule negates the victim's experience. It stands in the way of the victim being affirmed.

This isn't just simply something that stands in the way of the sexual crime being reported to police (because, as we know, even that doesn't always end in justice) or something that prevents the predator from being disfellowshipped. In order for a victim to attain healing and regain their self esteem, confirmation of the crime is essential, regardless of the litmus test of banishment.

I don't know why people think that disfellowshipping is the be all and end all of justice. It isn't. It is a kangaroo decision that has nothing at all to do with real justice or real law. Just disfellowshipping somebody is meaningless.

What is essential, though, is that the victim is believed and supported. Without a second witness, the org is telling victims that their experience didn't happen even when it did. The victim never gets a chance to heal.

The two witness rule may not matter to some people, but it certainly does matter to children who are desperate to be believed.

17

Sickle Cell Case

by Lee Elder in

the sad reality for jehovah's witness children who must depend upon the courts to get critical medical care their parents reject for them, even when their lives depend upon it.

to support the irrational blood policy of the watchtower society.

https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2018-12-05-three-jehovahs-witness-families-taken-to-court-to-save-childrens-lives/.

OrphanCrow

Another article, by a different journalist, pertaining to the same three children:

https://www.iol.co.za/mercury/news/parents-fight-kids-blood-transfusions-18404847

17

Sickle Cell Case

by Lee Elder in

the sad reality for jehovah's witness children who must depend upon the courts to get critical medical care their parents reject for them, even when their lives depend upon it.

to support the irrational blood policy of the watchtower society.

https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2018-12-05-three-jehovahs-witness-families-taken-to-court-to-save-childrens-lives/.

OrphanCrow

Smiddy, I know that you want to do something about JW children not getting blood transfusions.

Here is a suggestion. See if you can find a way to contact the author of the article in the OP. I did some digging around but only found her twitter account. She has written more than one article about these cases.

https://twitter.com/NivashniNair/status/1070285344367673345

I think it could be beneficial to put the above document "How Parents Can Protect Their Children From Misuse of Blood", into the public eye. From the blurb at the top of the document, it has the appearance of being only internal:

Elders may make a copy of this document for their personal use. However, no copies should be made for anyone else.

The journalist might be interested in seeing how the blood policy is controlled from the top down.

17

Sickle Cell Case

by Lee Elder in

the sad reality for jehovah's witness children who must depend upon the courts to get critical medical care their parents reject for them, even when their lives depend upon it.

to support the irrational blood policy of the watchtower society.

https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2018-12-05-three-jehovahs-witness-families-taken-to-court-to-save-childrens-lives/.

OrphanCrow

smiddy: Isn`t that an indictment on us as ex JW`s that we have become complacent about this issue simply because its not news anymore because its been going on for so long ?

I don't know. I think it is more a statement on the effectiveness of the org's blood propaganda machine.

Seventy years of relentless hammering at the medical profession and the legal profession by an organization that has their own agenda to push has made the JW blood refusal just another part of medical culture. Don't forget that the org has been proselytizing to doctors since the 50s, keeping detailed records on doctors in much the same way that the sheep keep records on their house to house work. The HLC are important special pioneers. And they have done their job well - they have established a bloodless cult that hides behind the skirts of the mama cult. The tentacles run long and deep right around the world.

It is this ruling, Prince vs Massachusetts, that needs to be enforced:

“Parents may be free to become martyrs themselves. But it does not follow that they are free, in identical circumstances, to make martyrs of their children...”

The org has no intention of abiding by that ruling - they never have and they never will. For a sample of how they prepare children for being blood martyrs, this is the document that elders receive - "How Parents Can Protect Their Children From Misuse of Blood":

https://faithleaks.org/wiki/documents/9/97/S-55-E_10.pdf

That document is disgusting. I get ill when I read it. It tells elders how to instruct parents on how to instruct their children about how to turn themselves into an individual with a rare blood disorder. A blood disorder that they weren't born with - they acquire it by following these directions. Directions on how to martyr children. Turn them into subjects with a blood disorder - a blood disorder that is dependent upon what the org tells them is wrong with them and what part of blood they are allowed to take.

This document should be illegal. But it isn't. Cause freedom of religion and patient's rights and...blah, blah, blah... It is a horrible document full of loaded language and persuasive terms rather than reason. They call it "reason" but it is anything but - you know the story of the tuna fish sandwich and the skunk...

The org should have a black box warning attached to it - "joining this cult will require a commitment to die for it" and this one too - "not to be administered to children under 18"

17

Sickle Cell Case

by Lee Elder in

the sad reality for jehovah's witness children who must depend upon the courts to get critical medical care their parents reject for them, even when their lives depend upon it.

to support the irrational blood policy of the watchtower society.

https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2018-12-05-three-jehovahs-witness-families-taken-to-court-to-save-childrens-lives/.

OrphanCrow

Lee: This topic just doesn't seem to get anywhere near the attention you'd think it would.

This topic has been going on for so long that it isn't "news" anymore. Just another kid(s) not getting blood when they need it.

The first court case involving a JW child being denied blood happened in 1951. The number of court cases involving JW children since that time is astronomical - it has never stopped.

There are pages and pages of court cases, involving children and blood, listed on this site: https://jwdivorces.bravehost.com/

And a good article concerning children and blood refusal: https://adc.bmj.com/content/90/7/715#ref-13

It is sad that this ruling, in Prince vs Massachusetts 1944, hasn't been held as a standard by the WTS:

“Parents may be free to become martyrs themselves. But it does not follow that they are free, in identical circumstances, to make martyrs of their children...”

The WTS/org has always just ignored that ruling. They don't care. They don't care about children - they advocate child sacrifice. Barbaric.

I noticed that this article concerns Africa. And sickle cell disease. Africa, where the org is claiming "growth", has a high incidence of sickle cell disease. It is horrifying to think of how many more articles we are going to read about children needing a blood transfusion to alleviate their excruciating pain and the JW parents refusing. This isn't the same as a person maybe requiring blood during a surgical procedure - these children will suffer unbearably without blood - daily. Until they die. In pain. Horrible pain.

Whenever I hear of yet another child not getting a blood transfusion when they need it, I always think of this image - from that old Paradise book

6

Salesmen working on commission (i.e. colporteurs, Pastor Russell's business)

by TerryWalstrom in

"despite the millions of books and magazines sold by charles taze russell and his tower publishing company, and the hundreds of thousands of tracts and other literature distributed free by zwtts between the mid-1870s and 1900, only around 2600 persons bothered attending the watch tower society's local memorial celebrations in 1899. a significant percentage of those 2600 persons were russell's "colporteurs", who earned their livings selling russell's literature for a profit.

charles taze russell was absolutely correct when he proclaimed for decades that zwtts was not a religion -- it was a business.

"_____"zion's watch tower magazine was not owned by zion's watch tower tract society, but rather was a "for-profit" business owned personally by charles taze russell and his tower publishing company, and that the "growing debt" which was "burdening" the work of zwtts was owed to charles taze russell, himself.

OrphanCrow

Well that's strange. Ignore what I said Terry. I have access on a different device

6

Salesmen working on commission (i.e. colporteurs, Pastor Russell's business)

by TerryWalstrom in

"despite the millions of books and magazines sold by charles taze russell and his tower publishing company, and the hundreds of thousands of tracts and other literature distributed free by zwtts between the mid-1870s and 1900, only around 2600 persons bothered attending the watch tower society's local memorial celebrations in 1899. a significant percentage of those 2600 persons were russell's "colporteurs", who earned their livings selling russell's literature for a profit.

charles taze russell was absolutely correct when he proclaimed for decades that zwtts was not a religion -- it was a business.

"_____"zion's watch tower magazine was not owned by zion's watch tower tract society, but rather was a "for-profit" business owned personally by charles taze russell and his tower publishing company, and that the "growing debt" which was "burdening" the work of zwtts was owed to charles taze russell, himself.

OrphanCrow

Does that link work for you, Terry? I haven't been able to access it for some time.

The other bravehost site, though, does work for me:

http://jwemployees.bravehost.com/

32

Do you know who wrote ...

by vienne in

do you know who wrote the 1959 watchtower book jehovah's witnesses in the divine purpose?

anyone?.

OrphanCrow

smiddy: was it Marley Cole or Macmillan in his book that gave the impression he was not a witness when actually he was.?

It was Marley Cole.

Cole was presented simply as a journalist - no mention of him being a JW. His first book Jehovah's Witnesses The New World Society was actually a collaboration between him and Knorr. Cole had moderate success (published by a vanity publisher after no other publisher would take it) with his first book but his second book, Triumphant Kingdom, hardly made a hiccup. Likely because his first book was promoted by the WTS and the second one wasn't.