In a new "must read" article, a former JW HLC Committee Chairman explains why blood components are the real issue, and the terrible price paid to learn this important lesson.
http://ajwrb.org/components-of-blood-are-the-issue
Lee Elder
JoinedPosts by Lee Elder
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Blood Componenets Are The Issue
by Lee Elder inin a new "must read" article, a former jw hlc committee chairman explains why blood components are the real issue, and the terrible price paid to learn this important lesson.. http://ajwrb.org/components-of-blood-are-the-issue.
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Lee Elder
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Not posted for a year because mum died did not want blood.
by Witness 007 ini posted here weekly until a year ago when my mum died of a mild form of lukemia which is easy to treat with 2 blood tranfusions a month.
you can live to 100 with treatment, but no my mum chose to die a faithful witness after 2 years of chemo and hell for her family and doctors.
her chemo doctor cried when she only had weeks left to live knowing that she could be saved with one bag of blood!
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Lee Elder
I am very sorry for your loss. It is a tragic waste of life that is so precious and brief. We would be interested in publishing you and your mom's story as a cautionary tale for other JW's. It is important for such events not to be lost to time and forgotten. You can see other examples of how we do this at this link:
http://ajwrb.org/experiences
If this is something you would like to consider, please email me:
Much love,
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AJWRB on Twitter
by Lee Elder inyou can now follow ajwrb on twitter for the latest updates on the watchtower society's policy on blood, and how it is impacting the lives of people around the world.. https://twitter.com/ajwrb.
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Lee Elder
You can now follow AJWRB on Twitter for the latest updates on the Watchtower Society's policy on blood, and how it is impacting the lives of people around the world.
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How Blood Saved Evelyn's Life
by Lee Elder inat the 1988 divine justice district convention of jw’s.
i had stopped going to the meetings for six months.
before that i was fading, but it wasn’t deliberate.
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Lee Elder
At the 1988 Divine Justice District Convention of JW’s
I had stopped going to the meetings for six months. Before that I was fading, but it wasn’t deliberate. The stress of being a Jehovah’s Witness and the daily treadmill on Watchtower’s hamster-wheel was too much for my physical and mental health.
In early 1992 I moved out of my parent’s home and did not tell anyone where I was going. There was no easy way for people to track me, no mobile phones, no Internet with social media profiles. I had met someone and moved in with him.
It was an act of desperation, as I had to get away. The Watchtower organisation was suffocating me. However, while only two months into my newfound freedom, I was involved in a serious motorcycle accident.
I was rushed to the hospital and while in the Emergency Room the medical staff were tasked with whether to x-ray my arm first, which they knew was broken, or check on the severity of my internal injuries.
They decided on an ultrasound to check for internal damages, which confirmed extensive injuries and that I needed immediate surgery. By this time, I was very, very cold and shaking uncontrollably.
Suddenly I needed to throw up and warned the nurses, who were now scrambling to get me a bowl. But it was too late. One nurse received the brunt of it and I began apologizing over and over again. I was abruptly interrupted by a doctor, who told me I needed to be operated on immediately. But, I first had to sign a consent form.
In that moment, the feeling of doom I had been burdened with for my entire life was pressing on my chest and suffocating me. This is it, this is where I die.
In a panic, I explained to the doctor that I could not have a blood transfusion. I quickly saw the frustration in the doctor’s expression. He uttered those words that anyone brought up as a Jehovah’s Witness does not want to hear, “You will die if you don’t have a blood transfusion. There is no other way of doing this.”
I’m sure that it is different for everyone that has been in this situation, but in that moment I didn’t question my faith. I didn’t think about the resurrection, or what Jehovah would think, or if having a blood transfusion was right or not. I just remember thinking that this is a doctor, an expert, and he wouldn’t say this unless it was true. And, I didn’t want to die.
Even though at various points in my life I’d struggled with depression and suicidal ideation, it was like a bolt of lightning to suddenly realize that now I had a choice whether or not to die and I didn’t want to die. In fact the idea of dying terrified me.
I told him in no uncertain terms I did not want my parents to know I had received a blood transfusion. I will say this now to anyone who is reading this: no matter what you are told by the Watchtower organisation, they do not have the right to your medical records or to speak to your doctors without your express permission.
After this, everything was a blur. I remember being told not to be concerned if I woke up in intensive care or if there were loads of machines around me. They rushed my trolley in the direction of the operating room. This amazing team of medical staff then proceeded to save my life.
When I woke up, my parents were at my bedside. I was not aware of how long I had been unconscious, I was just glad that I was alive.
1993 Following Evelyn’s Accident
If you were in this situation, what sort of things do you think your parents might say to you? To a child who had nearly died and one they had not spoken to in three months. They were looking at me, their child, albeit a young adult, in a hospital bed, hooked up to numerous machines, with strange tubes and wires attached to me. What would be the first words out of your mouth if your child had nearly died?
After telling me that they were worried about me, the questions started:
- Did you have a blood transfusion?
- Have you had sex with your boyfriend?
I expected to be questioned, but not immediately upon waking up. I was in terrible pain and my brain was fuzzy due to the morphine. So I denied everything. I looked at my parents and did not believe they had any love for me whatsoever.
They seemed more concerned with whether or not I had broken their religious rules. Their feigned love and acceptance of me in their life was conditional. I now could never go back to being a Jehovah’s Witness.
Shortly after the interrogation, my surgeon visited me and said they had needed six pints of blood and without it I would have died. My spleen was ruptured and in addition to removing it, the surgeon removed part of my pancreas and appendix.
As I recovered in the hospital, I thought about what I’d have to do if I wanted to continue on as a JW. Once I had been released from the hospital I would have had to meet with the elders in the congregation, and I would have had to detail every single sin I had committed, including receiving a life saving blood transfusion.
There was a small chance I might have just received a reproof, but I doubted that. Even if I had sincerely “repented”, I’d done so many things wrong they would have viewed any demonstration of repentance as just words. So I would have been disfellowshipped and shunned by all my friends and family for at least six months to a year, and obligated to attend all their meetings. Only then I might have been considered sufficiently repentant to be reinstated.
Recent Photo of Evelyn
Back then, as crazy as it sounds now, I didn’t doubt that JWs had “the truth”. It never occurred to me that I had been raised in “the lie”. I just felt that I wasn’t worthy of being a JW and that I wasn’t good enough or faithful enough for God to want me in his organization. So I resigned myself to never living forever in the paradise earth. I would never see my grandparents again in the resurrection.
Only now, at almost 50 years of age, do I realize I should not have been put in this position. I realize that my wonderful children are only alive thanks to the hard work and dedication of a small team of medical workers and the blood transfusion that they gave me.
Now, and with the help of my loving children, I am basking in the luxury of healing from the fears and induced phobias imposed upon me as a child while growing up as a Jehovah’s Witness.
Do not go gentle into that good night
Don’t succumb to the peaceful release of death.
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
– Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night, Dylan Thomas 1914-1953
Links for Evelyn De L’Ombre’s blog and YouTube:
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Psychological Conflicts of a Jehovah's Witness Patient
by Lee Elder inbonnie zieman writes about the turmoil and outside pressure experienced by jehovah's witnesses facing the blood issue in this new article from ajwrb.. http://ajwrb.org/psychological-conflicts-of-a-jehovahs-witness-patient.
abstract.
when obtaining informed consent from a jehovah’s witness for treatments involving blood products, incongruent, inconsistent and uninformed behavior may be observed.
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Lee Elder
Bonnie Zieman writes about the turmoil and outside pressure experienced by Jehovah's Witnesses facing the blood issue in this new article from AJWRB.
http://ajwrb.org/psychological-conflicts-of-a-jehovahs-witness-patient
Abstract
When obtaining informed consent from a Jehovah’s Witness for treatments involving blood products, incongruent, inconsistent and uninformed behavior may be observed. This article provides background on why this population may refuse treatment and suggests ways to approach the patient that will optimize outcomes. A licensed psychotherapist and former Jehovah’s Witness weighs in on beliefs, inner turmoil and outside pressures experienced by those refusing blood treatment.
Caring for a Jehovah’s Witness patient, who refuses to allow a blood transfusion presents ethical challenges for medical professionals. However, understanding the refusal of treatment from the patient’s point of view can provide a window of opportunity to reach those who initially refuse treatment.
You may meet a patient who outwardly appears to stubbornly refuse blood products at all costs. But in all likelihood, the person is experiencing a values conflict (conscious or unconscious), which causes considerable emotional turmoil.
Background and Beliefs
The Jehovah’s Witness parent organization, called Watchtower or JW.org, propagates material citing Bible verses to justify their policy that sacredness of blood should influence medical treatment. At the same time, the organization controls members’ access to medical facts, including benefits of blood transfusion therapy and limitations of alternatives. The organization’s policies on blood products shift from time to time. Remarkably, many Jehovah’s Witnesses are oblivious to recent policy shifts that allow administration of 100% of blood in fractionated form, and without spiritual consequence.
It can be safely assumed that any Jehovah’s Witness (JW) patient, who refuses to accept a blood transfusion, has been subjected to a steady routine of calculated indoctrination over a period of years. Most born-and-raised members have assimilated these beliefs, policies and expectations as the organizing principles of their lives.
If a physician’s dominant organizing principle is to preserve life and minimize suffering, a JW devotee’s dominant organizing life principle is strict obedience to God and His organization (JW.org), which demands loyalty, even to the death. Considerable thought-control has been imposed to arrive at this position.
Declining blood, and martyring themselves, they are taught, assures God’s favor and blessing. JWs believe that even if they die, they are stay alive in God’s memory and will be resurrected to life on a paradise earth soon after the impending holocaust they call Armageddon.
JWs experience information control through isolation from alternate, balancing perspectives. They are dissuaded from associating with non-believers, or viewing material that may contradict JW dogma. Because their friendships and family are limited to those who are practicing JWs, defying this authority could result in a complete loss of their social support network, becoming disapproved, and ultimately being shunned.1
They know that if their church becomes aware they accepted a blood transfusion (usually due to posting “support persons” on location at the hospital), they will either experience a physical death by refusing life-saving treatment or a social death if they accept it. Threats of condemnation, expulsion from their church, shunning and public shame are a certainty if JWs defy expectations for their behaviors and choices.
Due to this pervasive control, and since their identity, worldview and spiritual hopes are woven into all the repetitive indoctrination, any contradictory information that causes discomfort and anxiety may be dismissed from their mind and blocked out. Facts may not be considered due to fear and strict black and white thinking. Many will automatically label what the doctor tells them as misguided, ignorant of Biblical principles, and a temptation from The Devil to abandon their obedience to Jehovah God and His chosen organization.
JW patients may be difficult to connect with in a conversation, appearing resigned to their “fate.” They may be reluctant to discuss options, feeling it is useless to even try and explain to ‘outsiders’ what will happen to them if they disobey their God and accept the blood treatment.
A private consultation With the JW patient is essential.
Inner Turmoil
JW patients are caught in a terrible bind. If they refuse the life-saving treatment offered, they will likely die. If they flout their beliefs and accept the blood transfusion, they will be shamed and shunned by most, if not all, their friends and family. They risk their relationship with Jehovah God and believe that abandoning their beliefs will lead to everlasting destruction. As well, these patients have already sacrificed a normal life to be a member of a strict, high-control group. All this investment makes it much more difficult to abandon beliefs.
At this point, the JW patient is in the middle of a full-blown existential crisis. Most join and remain in the organization to avoid the angst related to normal human fears and insecurities. Belonging to a group that provides all the answers and offers immortality, they may not feel able to make their life meaningful through their own choices and efforts.
The JW patient may be very confused and conflicted
Now, in spite of efforts to hide and protect themselves from having to deal with ultimate concerns of human existence, if they want to prolong their life now, they will have to go against one of their acquired beliefs about how to ensure eternal life.
They cope with this while feeling physically weak and emotionally distraught, and may have difficulty thinking rationally. It is much easier to rely on programmed beliefs and well-rehearsed rationale, rather than facing inner chaos.
Some conflicted JWs may be secretly relieved if they are given a life-saving blood transfusion before the hospital discovers their “no-blood card”. This is a card kept in their wallet as an advance medical directive.2 Since there is disparity in the commitment each individual
JW.org has instituted a policy of sending a 3-elder Hospital Liaison Committee to the hospital when a JW is in medical crisis. JWs who don’t notify their local elders about anticipated or actual medical emergencies for themselves, or other believers, are viewed as spiritually negligent. This committee’s presence and prayers serve to remind the patient of what will happen if they are disobedient. Any patient or family of an unconscious JW will surely feel they are being torn between competing information from the medical community and the JW dogma.
While there are no quick fixes to this dilemma, there are resources such as Advocates for JW’s Reform on Blood (AJWRB.org), tasked with supplying up-to-date references, informational tools and studies online as a life-saving counterpoint to JW doctrines on blood refusal.
Breaking through manipulative mind-control takes time and the ability to reason, reflect and entertain new information; most medical emergencies do not afford the luxury of time, and there is minimal ability to learn something new in a high-stakes situation.
Best Practices for Presenting Informed Consent
The physician’s efforts at this point to provide life-saving information, which outweighs primitive beliefs, may fall on deaf ears. Physicians can only hope that repeated explanations of the risks of refusal to treat may pierce through the religious programming and dread of ensuing punishments. In this case, remember that you are not offering life-saving information and interventions to a typical patient with an open, reasonable mind. You are working urgently to convince people under the effects of mind-control of the seriousness of their situation.
Higher order thinking (analysis, evaluation, organization, synthesis, complex reasoning, critical thinking, problem-solving, applying concepts to novel situations, etc.) may not yet be developed or permitted in people conditioned to receive information from a single source and who unquestioningly obey. JWs may be baptized in youth and held to the same standards as adults prior to any capacity for critical thinking. Moreover, JW culture actively discourages higher learning; the majority of JWs do not have education beyond high school (considered a needless use of resources that can be redirected to volunteering for the organization).
Nevertheless, there are individual differences in the way JWs have absorbed the beliefs of their church. Like cars in separate traffic lanes, the pace of the extremism does vary by individual in the organization. It is to be hoped that there are already doubts in place that may be accessed when a person’s life is threatened.
JW.org frequently changes the guidelines for what blood products and derivatives are allowed and not allowed. So, the patient may not have a clear understanding of what they are accepting or rejecting, and the lack of good alternatives. They may overestimate the effectiveness of blood transfusion alternatives, or lack clarity on logistical and spiritual permissibility of advance donation of their own blood, or blood fractions. There may be earnest or paternalistic clouding of this information by the JW Hospital Liaison Committee (HLC).
All one can do is present the case for life-saving care and hope that some measure of reason prevails. Most hospitals have policies and procedures in place to advocate legally for children under the control of this undue influence.
Regardless of whether the JW patient maintains their refusal or accepts a blood transfusion, the patient will suffer considerable emotional pain. They will ultimately need to debrief with a professional. This must take place out of earshot of the controlling HLC or other visiting JWs – tasked with ensuring compliance and reporting variances. Talking (if they are able) will allow them to benefit from the cognitive reorganization that takes place when one can tell their story of crisis and inner conflict.
A medical professional who cares for a patient who expires due to their refusal of blood, should be offered therapeutic support or counseling.
Efforts to engage JWs in productive informed consent conversations (several may be required) is worthwhile. The more the JW patient knows their options, the more likely they are to exercise them, or at least find some peace in their decision-making process.
Bonnie Zieman, M.Ed.
Licensed Psychotherapist (retired)
Board Member of Open Minds Foundation
Author of:
Exiting the JW Cult: A Healing Handbook
Cracking the Cult Code for Therapists
Shunned: A Survival Guide
1. Kerry Louderback-Wood, Journal of Church and State. http://ajwrb.org/jehovahs-witnesses-blood-transfusions-and-the-tort-of-misreprersentation
2. These “no blood” cards are often signed during group meetings where it is not difficult to imagine that some sign under “duress”, especially as they know their cards will probably be inspected by JW elders at the meeting.
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Three Simple Reasons Why an Assault-Weapons Ban Is Bad Policy
by freemindfade ini keep saying this is a bad place/policy to put all the time, energy and resources if you really do in fact care, or if you are just riding the agenda bandwagon: .
an assault-weapons ban is irrelevant to suicide deaths.
the large majority of gun deaths are suicides, and there is no credible argument that an assault-weapons ban will have the slightest effect on suicide.
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Lee Elder
And this is a burning issue for JWs and Ex-JW's because....?
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Good-bye Jehovah (poem)
by SunnyOne026 init has been several months now, since i learned ttat and the shock and grief is slowly lifting, although some days are harder than others.
after 40 years a devout believer i guess i should not be surprised that the transition has been challenging and the losses immense, and i am sure very many of you can relate to my struggles.
i frequently read the posts on here and my heart goes out to all of you, who grieve and struggle each in your own way, and i wish all of you continued courage and peace.
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Lee Elder
Well said.
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Blood Issue.......something for thought, where is the logic.
by CovertsadJW ini have yet to read about the contradictions in the jw teachings on blood, but i have personally witnessed one.
i am a medical professional and have seen hemopure administered for an active jw who did refuse a blood transfusion.
its not fda approved here, but given in special life saving circumstances.
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Lee Elder
By any logic, even the handful of blood components the Watchtower continues to ban,
namely red cells, white cells, platelets and plasma, are all less than whole blood, and
can be viewed as fractions.
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New Article on Bloodless Medicine
by Lee Elder inhere is a good article on bloodless medicine.
i have weighed in with my thoughts, and encourage others to do the same:.
https://sciencetrends.com/rise-bloodless-medicine-treat-cannot-receive-blood-products-religious-reasons/.
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Lee Elder
Here is a good article on bloodless medicine. I have weighed in with my thoughts, and encourage others to do the same:
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do you tell doc ur father doesn't want blood
by cobweb inhere's a hypothetical: you find your elderly jw father - a lifelong witness, unconscious in his home - you are alone with him.
you ring an ambulance.
at the hospital the doc says they need to give him a blood transfusion straight away or he'll die.
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Lee Elder
Very difficult situation which I may have to face myself at some point with my very elderly JW father. I would be inclined to speak frankly with your JW relative if you think this could come up. It is their responsibility to complete the advance directive, and speak with their doctor about their wishes. If they fail to do these things, I don't think its your responsibility to do it for them if you are conscientiously opposed to whatever the current WT policy might be. If they are unconscious, and have not cared for these things in advance, I would assume they privately have serious reservations that they have not expressed.
You are left with two choices in my view:
1. Say nothing other than "please provide the highest level of care for my.....(relative).
2. My (relative) is a JW. However, they may have had serious reservations about supporting the policy since they did not complete the Watchtower's advance directive, and make necessary arrangements through their primary care doctor and/or specialist.