Hey Randy, no offense taken. I appreciate you taking the time to address that. I'm sorry you didn't get the feedback you were looking for regarding those affected by shunning. I don't recall you making that offer and I wonder if others missed that offer too. That could be interesting if you get some takers. But again, thanks for responding, no offense taken, I'm a man and I can deal with disagreement without holding a grudge. I won't disfellowship you. One point of difference that I feel needs clarification regarding my point of view.
People leaving in droves? Are you kidding? New Witnesses and most older JWS who have never been affected personally by the blood issue are not going to take a stand, they aren't going to leave for the most part, because they are used to Momma being fickle "but she means well," and it will all be in the annals of history. They simply won't give a damn.
One of the things that bothers me occasionally on this forum, and I may be guilty of it too, is Tabloid Apostacy as I like to call it. We've all seen the shock threads and unsubstantiated rumors of dropping pioneer hours, eliminating COs, Kool-Aid threads, etc.. I'm not a fan of those threads because that kind of material gets people's hopes up. I'd rather deal primarily with reality when it comes to this religion and what its done to individuals and families. A favorite rapper of mine said years ago, "I don't like to dream about getting paid." I feel the same way about potential reform withiin this religion. I don't like to dream about leaving this religion and getting well-wishes from those that remain. I don't like to dream about my family one day not being hurt, refusing to have normal relations with me, and thinking I'm toast because I no longer believe in it. This is serious business we're discussing. This is real life and some days its full throttle. So I don't like entertaining rumors when it comes to the matters that are affecting my life. This topic of potential reform on blood is serious, and could have the potential in my opinion to tear this religion apart considering the history behind it, and the availability of information, especially considering the internet.
When the Franz Incident of the 80's occured, the availability of information was limited to say the least. I've posted somewhere on here before that as someone born in in the late 70's, I thought Ray and Freddy Franz were the same person at one point. I would have never heard of 1975 until a former elder mentioned it to me as we were going through some books in the KH library during a spring cleaning and he pointed it out to me. To this day I wonder if he brought that up purposely to wake me up before it was too late. The plethora of information I found on those subjects on the internet was overwhelming. Finding out about all this stuff might be why I'm on Paxil and Xanax occasionally now! Had it not been for this wonderful tool that Al Gore invented however, I may or may not have ever been exposed to the truth about Da Troof. I mentioned this little bit of background for a reason. My generation hasn't had to deal with a major schizm in this religion. Not only that, but many of us have never had to deal with a conflict of conscience that hits too close to home. I know for some of you, "This Generation" was a big deal. When that changed in 95", I was fresh outta high school, and if a householder would have asked me about that doctrine, they would have recieved the deer in the headlights look and the response, "I'll have to research that and get back to you!" Meanwhile I wouldn't have any intention of ever going back to that house. This blood situation is different though. I'll explain.
The blood doctrine is a significant portion of what it means to be a JW. This isn't an issue like "This Generation" which is so convoluted and so confusing that hardly anybody remembers what the previous two teachings on this subject were. "This Generation" just really isn't that sexy when it comes to questionable doctrines. I relayed an experience here before last year at the District Convention, and when the keynote speaker touched on this doctrine, I started examining the audience to see what kind of reaction they would have. For the most part, nobody did anything different, however there was one elderly couple who were paying keen attention. The husband started tapping his wife to get her attention, and they started taking notes. This was important to them for whatever reason. The rest of the audience though, were daydreaming or just lapping it up. The reason why is, it doesn't affect them one way or the other what "this generation" means. They're not concerned as they're in autopilot. These are the people that get their minimum double digit field service hours roughly around 10-13 hours, and show up at most of the meetings throughout the year. They take the speaker out to eat, they make sure they call well enough in advance to get rooms at a hotel near the convention site. You see, they do enough to not be hindered by the WT, and the WT does good in not rocking the boat too much.
However, that would all change if they rescind the blood doctrine. This isn't the same as comparing organ transplants to cannibalism. How many people do you know that had a transplant? I work in health care, and transplant rescipients are part of my job, but not enough where they're part of my conscience. The blood doctrine on the other hand, hits home, and not only that, but its too wrapped up in the fabric of what makes JWs peculiar. It's been too heavily emphasized as important to rescind it. Everything from DVDs, Hospital Liason Committees, special brochures, etc.. Too much has been invested in this doctrine to rescind it, if even slowly and methodically. Rescinding this doctrine would be tantamount to forcing a Jewish holocaust victim to scarf down a pork roast the moment they were released. It would be like culture shock. It'd be like taking a piece of steel that has been heated up to the point of melting and then bending it at a 90 degree angle, and then sticking it into Liquid Nitrogen. It would crack right in half like a potato chip. This blood doctrine isn't something that can be simply changed. Too much has been invested into it. Not only has too much been invested into it, but can you imagine the conversations people would have in their homes about this? In the words of Joe Biden, "this is big f#$in deal!"
