Ok, well this is a real mess. Let me briefly summarize it.. it's complicated so I will do my best to shorten it so you can grasp the issue..
The JW org. leaders have been very slowwwlly reversing their ridiculous blood policy over decades.
The reason it is so slow is in order not to shock a JW into reality because they would leave in a flash resulting in a mass exodus. Instead, they were very crafty and slowly allowed certain blood parts called, fractions- while forbidding other parts..
Then later, they allowed all parts (fractions).. which in total equaled all parts of whole blood administered separately,-- while they continued to forbid whole blood.
They misunderstand Acts 15 and kept the JWs under a wrong interpretation of Leviticus by applying it today to us- thereby keeping Jws under a wrong view of their distorted own version of Mosaic law.. .
Now, just today- it was announced that Jws are allowed to store their own blood to be transfused. That has always been strictly forbidden. To untangle this monster- you need to understand a few things-
1. JWs were taught blood must be poured out on the ground and never ever to store it.
2. Accepting a transfusion was equal to EATING blood. This was their big thing-" eating blood"
3. JWs have been disfellowshiped and shunned for disobeying.
4.Many many JWs have died & still do needlessly due to this mockery of the scriptures. ( last count- over 42,000 people)
5. Jws were allowed to take blood fractions made from stored blood of others.- but JWs were forbidden to ever donate -- take but not give--
6. JWs were forbidden to store their own blood in advance of surgery or for any reason.
7. JWs have used this blood policy as a factor to put themselves above Christians - since they obeyed God and we did not..
If you disobey the rules you are disfellowshiped and shunned and told you will not be resurrected- unless you repent and return to the ORG.
Today it was announced that a JW may indeed store their own blood and transfuse it.
I have a copy of a JW blood card which JWs must carry at all times- which states "I refuse to pre donate my blood for later infusion" amongst other things... I suppose new card will be distributed now.
I have many JW family members who I love dearly, and I have personal experience with this ridiculous policy myself.. -You would think that I would be happy by this "new light" for the well being of my JW family members? Let me tell you why I don't feel happy for JWs.
First of all- a JW in an emergency or an accident situation will still die needlessly. The idea of storing one's blood in case of an accident or emergency is not reasonable.
It costs between $1500- 3000 to store your blood and it has a shelf life of only 3-6 weeks. So the idea of storing it for an accident or emergency is absurd not only time-wise but financially. I suppose a wealthy hypochondriac JW could benefit. ?
Secondly, it could help a JW in an elective surgery situation to store their own blood in advance- IS that person's life above a Jw hurt in an accident? Apparently so. ..and What about a Jw who doesn't have the money to pay for storage?
Young JW women do still die after childbirth from hemorrhage- it is totally unnecessary--! How will this help them? Should a pregnant women donate her own blood while pregnant? NO. -- It can compromise their health and the health of the developing baby due to increased iron needs and blood volume changes during pregnancy. It's recommended to wait until at least six weeks after giving birth to donate blood again.--
Also, know that when a baby is nursed mom's white blood cells are in the milk and all blood components pass thru the placenta, but that same baby once born is forbidden by the watchtower to be given their own mom's blood if needed. Yes, even JW babies die needlessly.
A JW hemophiliac - hemophiliac treatments (which are permitted) require the collection and storage of massive quantities of blood (up to 2500 blood donors for a single treatment), all from donations from NON JWs including many Christians of course, whom they call antichrists...
Anemia & Jws- See the tragic story of this young Jw-
"After feeling extremely weak and going to a local hospital, it was discovered that Kalila had a low blood count and required a blood transfusion. The speaker recounted how she adamantly declined the transfusion in accordance with her beliefs, even when her doctor implored her to accept it to regain her health."
You can read her sad story here-
Kalila Danisi – The Heartache and History of the Jehovah’s Witness Blood Doctrine
A JW in a accident who loses a lot of blood and is actively dying is still not helped by this. Neither are those who encounter emergency situations where loss of blood occurs ie- hemorrhages.
Neither are cancer patients who can not donate their own blood. etc....
JW have been absolutely terrorized by their Watchtower leaders to believe that taking a transfusion will give you a disease. It is woefully inaccurate and exaggerated . Has that ever occurred? Yes it has, but it is very rare and all medical procedures have risks. Is dying the better option?
Antibiotics have caused deaths and illnesses. Nothing new here. When there is a choice between life and death we make decisions. There are alternative options to being transfused- do they have risks? Absolutely!
There are risks for EPO (erythropoietin) and since it is a complex hormone, it may not be a better alternative treatment many times. There’s a significant risk for death with a cell-salvage system. etc.. Not to mention the exorbitant costs of EPO drugs- my own JW mother's Medicare went into what they call the "donut hole" due to her needing EPO shots which were $5K a pop and that was 15 years ago. The donut hole means no more coverage until the following year. My mom was by no means poor but this was an awful hardship. I can't imagine how hard that is for those with less. JWs like to tout that they are responsible for the drugs being invented such as EPO's- they sure do make a lot of money for big Pharma. -- EPOs have a a black box warning to boot. SAFE? NO!
"Erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs) like Epoetin alfa (Epogen) have a black box warning. This warning advises that using higher than necessary doses can increase the risk of death, serious cardiovascular events, and tumor progression in certain patients"
EPOs also take quite a while to begin to work- weeks..
A black box warning is the most stringent FDA safety warning—designed to alert health care providers and patients to serious risks associated with a drug's use.
- A transfusion costs MUCH less. --and is more natural and works immediately- and no black box warning. -
" All medical treatments carry some risk, but transfusions are now safer than ever due to stringent screening and testing. Modern testing for HIV, hepatitis B and C, HTLV, and syphilis significantly reduces the risk of transmission. While not zero, these risks are extremely low.
The bloodless surgery movement, which I enthusiastically support is aimed at reducing potential complications from blood transfusions. As a result of the AIDS and hepatitis scare in the 1980’s, physicians have thoroughly revised their thinking about when blood transfusions are appropriate. This fact, coupled with the availability of new tests for blood-borne pathogens puts the benefit-to-risk ratio for blood transfusions at an all-time high. In my opinion, the ratio of lives saved to lives lost from blood transfusions is now likely many thousands to one. "-- Dr. John Doyle, MD, PhD Straight from the Doctor
Ok, I could go on and on, but hopefully this gives you an overview of the hypocrisy that exists in the Watchtower religion via their leaders - it is truly a matter of straining out the gnats as the Pharisees of Jesus' day did. But here- people die.
To be merciful is of God. Donating your blood for another is merciful. To aid someone suffering by giving them what you have is loving and merciful.
The JW org. leaders have been very slowwwlly reversing their ridiculous blood policy over decades.
The reason it is so slow is in order not to shock a JW into reality because they would leave in a flash resulting in a mass exodus. Instead, they were very crafty and slowly allowed certain blood parts called, fractions- while forbidding other parts..
Then later, they allowed all parts (fractions).. which in total equaled all parts of whole blood administered separately,-- while they continued to forbid whole blood.
They misunderstand Acts 15 and kept the JWs under a wrong interpretation of Leviticus by applying it today to us- thereby keeping Jws under a wrong view of their distorted own version of Mosaic law.. .
Now, just today- it was announced that Jws are allowed to store their own blood to be transfused. That has always been strictly forbidden. To untangle this monster- you need to understand a few things-
1. JWs were taught blood must be poured out on the ground and never ever to store it.
2. Accepting a transfusion was equal to EATING blood. This was their big thing-" eating blood"
3. JWs have been disfellowshiped and shunned for disobeying.
4.Many many JWs have died & still do needlessly due to this mockery of the scriptures. ( last count- over 42,000 people)
5. Jws were allowed to take blood fractions made from stored blood of others.- but JWs were forbidden to ever donate -- take but not give--
6. JWs were forbidden to store their own blood in advance of surgery or for any reason.
7. JWs have used this blood policy as a factor to put themselves above Christians - since they obeyed God and we did not..
If you disobey the rules you are disfellowshiped and shunned and told you will not be resurrected- unless you repent and return to the ORG.
Today it was announced that a JW may indeed store their own blood and transfuse it.
I have a copy of a JW blood card which JWs must carry at all times- which states "I refuse to pre donate my blood for later infusion" amongst other things... I suppose new card will be distributed now.
I have many JW family members who I love dearly, and I have personal experience with this ridiculous policy myself.. -You would think that I would be happy by this "new light" for the well being of my JW family members? Let me tell you why I don't feel happy for JWs.
First of all- a JW in an emergency or an accident situation will still die needlessly. The idea of storing one's blood in case of an accident or emergency is not reasonable.
It costs between $1500- 3000 to store your blood and it has a shelf life of only 3-6 weeks. So the idea of storing it for an accident or emergency is absurd not only time-wise but financially. I suppose a wealthy hypochondriac JW could benefit. ?
Secondly, it could help a JW in an elective surgery situation to store their own blood in advance- IS that person's life above a Jw hurt in an accident? Apparently so. ..and What about a Jw who doesn't have the money to pay for storage?
Young JW women do still die after childbirth from hemorrhage- it is totally unnecessary--! How will this help them? Should a pregnant women donate her own blood while pregnant? NO. -- It can compromise their health and the health of the developing baby due to increased iron needs and blood volume changes during pregnancy. It's recommended to wait until at least six weeks after giving birth to donate blood again.--
Also, know that when a baby is nursed mom's white blood cells are in the milk and all blood components pass thru the placenta, but that same baby once born is forbidden by the watchtower to be given their own mom's blood if needed. Yes, even JW babies die needlessly.
A JW hemophiliac - hemophiliac treatments (which are permitted) require the collection and storage of massive quantities of blood (up to 2500 blood donors for a single treatment), all from donations from NON JWs including many Christians of course, whom they call antichrists...
Anemia & Jws- See the tragic story of this young Jw-
"After feeling extremely weak and going to a local hospital, it was discovered that Kalila had a low blood count and required a blood transfusion. The speaker recounted how she adamantly declined the transfusion in accordance with her beliefs, even when her doctor implored her to accept it to regain her health."
You can read her sad story here-
Kalila Danisi – The Heartache and History of the Jehovah’s Witness Blood Doctrine
A JW in a accident who loses a lot of blood and is actively dying is still not helped by this. Neither are those who encounter emergency situations where loss of blood occurs ie- hemorrhages.
Neither are cancer patients who can not donate their own blood. etc....
JW have been absolutely terrorized by their Watchtower leaders to believe that taking a transfusion will give you a disease. It is woefully inaccurate and exaggerated . Has that ever occurred? Yes it has, but it is very rare and all medical procedures have risks. Is dying the better option?
Antibiotics have caused deaths and illnesses. Nothing new here. When there is a choice between life and death we make decisions. There are alternative options to being transfused- do they have risks? Absolutely!
There are risks for EPO (erythropoietin) and since it is a complex hormone, it may not be a better alternative treatment many times. There’s a significant risk for death with a cell-salvage system. etc.. Not to mention the exorbitant costs of EPO drugs- my own JW mother's Medicare went into what they call the "donut hole" due to her needing EPO shots which were $5K a pop and that was 15 years ago. The donut hole means no more coverage until the following year. My mom was by no means poor but this was an awful hardship. I can't imagine how hard that is for those with less. JWs like to tout that they are responsible for the drugs being invented such as EPO's- they sure do make a lot of money for big Pharma. -- EPOs have a a black box warning to boot. SAFE? NO!
"Erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs) like Epoetin alfa (Epogen) have a black box warning. This warning advises that using higher than necessary doses can increase the risk of death, serious cardiovascular events, and tumor progression in certain patients"
EPOs also take quite a while to begin to work- weeks..
A black box warning is the most stringent FDA safety warning—designed to alert health care providers and patients to serious risks associated with a drug's use.
- A transfusion costs MUCH less. --and is more natural and works immediately- and no black box warning. -
" All medical treatments carry some risk, but transfusions are now safer than ever due to stringent screening and testing. Modern testing for HIV, hepatitis B and C, HTLV, and syphilis significantly reduces the risk of transmission. While not zero, these risks are extremely low.
The bloodless surgery movement, which I enthusiastically support is aimed at reducing potential complications from blood transfusions. As a result of the AIDS and hepatitis scare in the 1980’s, physicians have thoroughly revised their thinking about when blood transfusions are appropriate. This fact, coupled with the availability of new tests for blood-borne pathogens puts the benefit-to-risk ratio for blood transfusions at an all-time high. In my opinion, the ratio of lives saved to lives lost from blood transfusions is now likely many thousands to one. "-- Dr. John Doyle, MD, PhD Straight from the Doctor
Ok, I could go on and on, but hopefully this gives you an overview of the hypocrisy that exists in the Watchtower religion via their leaders - it is truly a matter of straining out the gnats as the Pharisees of Jesus' day did. But here- people die.
To be merciful is of God. Donating your blood for another is merciful. To aid someone suffering by giving them what you have is loving and merciful.
