Doctors recently brought an urgent application to court to grant a blood transfusion for a baby.
The mother refused because she is a Jehovah's Witness.
How could one let your innocent child die because of religion?
Maybe some JW's can explain this and regarding plasma? Surely a baby is her own flesh and blood?? This mother is obeying God rather than men and there are many options open for her and her child. Bloodless surgery is now available for not only Witnesses but for anyone who opts not to take blood.
Many have died even after getting a transfusion, many times because of the transfusion itself.
Our God knows what is best for us and if he tells us to abstain from blood, we obey. We do not desire anyone to be sick or to die, especially our loved ones, and we go to doctors and take medications in order to help ourselves when needed. If death happens, we have the same faith that Abraham had when God asked him to sacrifice his dear son Isaac---we know that Jehovah has given Jesus the power to resurrect all those who die and to give them the breath of life again.
For those who choose bloodless surgery, there are less risks and faster recovery time and of course no chance of contracting AIDS or Hepatitus that can occur from taking a transfusion.
"For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: that you abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well."
Acts 15:28-29 NKJV
What is meant by the word abstain as mentioned in the above verse?
The dictionary explains it as "To refrain; forbear; withhold; deny one's self; give up; relinquish.
JWs believe that it is forbidden to eat blood. They reason that transfusion is equivalent to feeding -- in effect, eating blood. But medically speaking, there is no such thing as intra-venous feeding. Feeding is by assimilation of food by the stomach thru the mouth.Truth is not only a matter of sincerity; it it also a matter of truth. One could also be sincerely wrong; and one could also be insincerely correct. Sincerity and truth -- both are needed in the name of true religion. "How could one let your innocent child die because of religion?"
Oh no no no, you've got that wrong. It's not because of our religion, beliefs, whatever, etc. It's because we value pleasing God rather than holding onto a life that is still promised us in another world that is promised to come. -- Revelation 21:4
The reason why we refuse full blood transfusions is because of the commandment that God gave regarding the intake of someone else's blood. -- Acts 15:28, 29
Some persons in the medical and legal professions have recognized that a competent adult has the right to refuse a blood transfusion. But they have held that if parents refuse permission for their child, a transfusion should be forced by court order. This position, however, lacks fundamental consistency and harmony, as pointed out in the journal Forensic Science:
鈥淎re we then to assume that the courts are willing to assign a different religion to the children than that of their parents, when statistics show that the overwhelming majority of children are reared and indeed follow the same religious denomination as their parents? Would this also not be as much an infringement of religious rights of the children by the courts as those rights which the court is trying to protect for the adults under the First Amendment [of the Constitution] by denying the transfusion over the adult鈥檚 objections? Are the courts not assigning in essence a religion to the children if they deny transfusions on religious grounds for adults and permit them for the children of the same adults?鈥?br>
There is often another gross moral inconsistency in forcing a blood transfusion on a child whose parents have asked that other medical therapies be used. At some hospitals doctors in one room may be forcing a transfusion on an infant. Yet in a nearby room other doctors may be performing legal abortions, ending lives only a few months younger than the child on whom blood is forced 鈥榯o save a life.鈥?This has led thinking persons to wonder if 鈥榩reserving life鈥?is always the real issue behind forced transfusions.
A truly marvelous fluid that circulates in the vascular system of humans & most multicelled animals,
supplying nourishment and oxygen,
carrying away waste products,
and playing a major role in safeguarding the body against infection.
So ultimately is blood involved in the life process that the Bible says
"the soul of the flesh is in the blood." (Lev 17:11)
As the source of life,
Jehovah has provided definite instructions regarding the use to which blood may be put.
Only sacrificial blood is/ was approved for use.
~Heb 9:11-14,22.
"By means of him [ Jesus Christ]
we have the release by ransom
through the blood of that one, yes
the forgiveness of our trespasses,
according to the riches of
his undeserved kindness."
Obeying specific commands given by God,
to help ourselves healthy,
is serving Him; doing His will.
As for me and my household, we will serve Jehovah.
I am obeying my God,
and staying healthy.
On a more personal note:
The use of another person's stored = dead blood,
Can and Does have severe adverse reactions.
Blood carries away waste,
I don't want another person's body waste, let alone dead blood, put into me.
Both my dghtr's have a rare blood type,
No Dr., on the earth will give them blood.
Thank God, it becomes a non-issue.
There asre much safer altenatives:
Saline Solution,
Ringer's Solution, and
dextran can be used as blood volume expanders,
and these are available in nearly all modern hospitals.
Actually, the risks that go with the use of blood transfusions
are avoided by using these substances. Oliver has it WRONG. We do not believe in going to heaven at all except for the 144,000 who go to heaven as judges and give up their human life. They become spirit creatures and have no fleshly body or being at all. 1 Corinthians 15:50, Luke 24:39. So none who go to heaven take ANY of their fleshly components with them, only their minds/memory.
For those who have hope of a paradise earth, most receive a resurrection which means they get NONE of their original fleshly body, but a new perfect fleshly body.
For those who live through Armageddon into the righteous new earth, they grow YOUNGER and healthier so their body changes.
The command against blood doesn't just forbid eating it, it forbids ANY sort of use of it including sex during a woman's time of the month. Acts 15:19, 20, 28, 29, Leviticus 18: 19 (NIV)
19 " 'Do not approach a woman to have sexual relations during the uncleanness of her monthly period.
Acts 15
29You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things. Farewell.
The command on Christians does not use the word eating at all, but says simply to abstain from blood (refuse blood) and meat strangled (animals not bled)....
Debbie
Your source is a newspaper, or television.
Not the best source.
There is a growing number of surgeons happy to not use blood.
In the U.S., there are non-blood hospitals.
Newspapers and television never mention the risks of using blood.
Plus, it is not fair to say:
"Let your children die....."
JW's do everything they possibly can to provide their children with medical aid.
Refusing to transfer whole blood is part of that aid. All I can say is that JWs are nuts! I personally would not be alive today
if not for a full blood transfusion that I received when I was 12! I was
hit by a car and lost lots of blood and if not for the kindness of strangers donating their blood, I would not have lived and grown up
and my 2 kids today would not have been born!
So, listen JWs,, blood transfusions are sometimes necessary for the
healing of our loved ones! Jesus gave us doctors and medicine for
our healing! I think you got some really good answers, but i want to give you a couple links that may help you to further appreciate the liaison committee; established by Jehovah's Witnesses to help doctors come up with alternative treatments. Jehovah's Witnesses desire health care, but, we will not compromise God's laws.
https://watch002.securesites.net/e/19931...
http://cultrad.blogspot.com/2007/05/jeho... Oliver is right. I always wonder about it because you can never go out of the world the way you came in. You lose teeth, you can't bring them with you. Fair enough they could say that it's only things that are put into the body but we put things into our bodies every day, food that gets absorbed into our bodies and makes us grow when we're young. I could go on and on about this. I may find a Jehovah's Witness to harass Ain't to sure as to the "exact" reason thier refusal for the transfussion of blood BUT any reasonably sane human being should not place the health of any child , IF as they are as "GOD loving" as they say they are ,And when they Stand in front of thier SUPREME BEING god or any other of his titles . And he asks them the reason for thier unborn child had to perish WHEN education of man would have saved (his/her) LIFE , and if my interpritation of the good book is that if a person commits a sin (and a child being allowed to DIE is possible MANSLAGHTER ) then that person should go straight to ---------H E L L. JW'S believe that if they get blood they won't get to heaven WRONG. They are nothing but a CULT. Jesus gave us these resources to help us. People like that should not have children. JW's should be sectioned under the metal health act. No sane person would allow a child to die. They won't do it.
My friend is a former JW. He got kicked out for asking too many questions. I am not a JW , but I still DO NOT want someone else blood in me. I would rather bleed to Life... The Religious Basis
7 Most doctors view the use of blood essentially as a matter of medical judgment, much as their daily decisions about using certain medicines or surgical procedures. Other persons may view the position of Jehovah鈥檚 Witnesses as more of a moral or legal question. They may think in terms of the right to life, authority to make decisions about one鈥檚 own body, or the civil obligations of the government to protect the lives of its citizens. These aspects all bear on the matter. Yet the stand taken by Jehovah鈥檚 Witnesses is above all a religious one; it is a position based on what the Bible says.
8 Many persons may wonder about the validity of the above statement. They are aware that numerous churches support the use of blood, establishing blood-bank programs and encouraging the donation of blood. Accordingly, the question logically arises:
What does the Bible say about humans taking blood into their bodies?
9 Even individuals who do not personally view the Bible to be the inspired word of God must acknowledge that it has much to say about blood. From the first book of the Bible through to the last, 鈥渂lood鈥?is mentioned more than four hundred times. Certain Bible verses are especially pertinent to the question of sustaining life with blood. Let us briefly examine them:
10 The Bible record shows that early in mankind鈥檚 history the Creator and Life-Giver expressed himself on the issue of blood. Right after the global flood, when God first granted humans the right to eat animal flesh, he commanded Noah and his family: 鈥淓very moving animal that is alive may serve as food for you. As in the case of green vegetation, I do give it all to you. Only flesh with its soul鈥攊ts blood鈥攜ou must not eat.鈥濃€擥enesis 9:3, 4.
11 First of all, the Creator was providing a dietary regulation at a time when mankind was making a new start. (Compare Genesis 1:29.) God showed, however, that in killing animals for food more was involved than diet. That was because the blood of a creature represented its life or its soul. Thus, some Bible translations render Genesis 9:4 as: 鈥淥nly you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.鈥濃€擱evised Standard Version; Moffatt.
12 So this divine regulation was not merely a restriction on diet, such as a doctor鈥檚 advising a patient to avoid salt or fat. The Creator attached a highly important moral principle to blood. In pouring out all the blood that reasonably could be drained out, Noah and his descendants would manifest their regard for the fact that life was from and depended upon the Creator. But let us examine this matter further.
13 The above-quoted scripture applies to animal blood. Would the same principle apply to human blood? Yes, with even stronger force. For God went on to say to Noah: 鈥淏esides that, your blood of your souls shall I ask back. .聽.聽. Anyone shedding man鈥檚 blood, by man will his own blood be shed, for in God鈥檚 image he made man.鈥?(Genesis 9:5, 6) Now, if animal blood (representing animal life) was of sacred significance to God, obviously human blood had a sacred significance of even greater value. Persons complying with these divine directions would not be shedding the blood of (killing) humans, nor would they be eating either animal or human blood.
However, was this command to Noah only a limited or temporary restriction? Does it have a bearing on later generations, including ours?
14 Many Bible scholars recognize that God here set out a regulation that applied, not merely to Noah and his immediate family, but to all mankind from that time on鈥攁ctually all those living since the Flood are from Noah鈥檚 family. (Genesis 10:32) Theologian and Reformationist John Calvin, for example, acknowledged about the prohibition on blood that 鈥渢his law had been given to the whole world immediately after the flood.鈥? And Gerhard von Rad, professor at Heidelberg University, refers to Genesis 9:3,聽4, as 鈥渁n ordinance for all mankind,鈥?because all mankind has descended from Noah.3
15 Since the law on blood was linked with God鈥檚 pronouncement that emphasized a high regard for human life, we can appreciate the observations of Rabbi Benno Jacob:
鈥淭hus the two prohibitions belong together. They are the most elementary demands of humanity in the literal sense of the word. .聽.聽. The permission to eat meat, but without its blood, and the prohibition against shedding human blood indicate the place of man within the world of the living .聽.聽. In summary: the reason for the prohibition of blood is of a moral character. .聽.聽. Later Judaism regarded this passage as establishing fundamental ethics for every human being.鈥?(Italics added.)4
In fact, later Jews drew from the early part of Genesis seven 鈥渂asic laws鈥?for mankind, and this command to Noah and his sons about blood was one of them.5 Yes, despite the fact that most nations did not follow it, this was actually a law for all mankind.鈥擜cts 14:16; 17:30, 31.
16 Later in his law given to the nation of Israel, Jehovah God prohibited murder, bearing out that the mandate he had given to Noah was still in effect. (Exodus 20:13) Correspondingly, God also forbade consuming blood, saying:
鈥淎s for any man of the house of Israel or some alien resident who is residing as an alien in their midst who eats any sort of blood, I shall certainly set my face against the soul that is eating the blood, and I shall indeed cut him off from among his people.鈥濃€擫eviticus 17:10.
17 The Israelites were allowed to use animal blood only in one way. That was in offering it up as a sacrifice to God, acknowledging him as the Life-Giver to whom they were indebted. He told them: 鈥淭he soul of the flesh is in the blood, and I myself have put it upon the altar for you to make atonement for your souls, because it is the blood that makes atonement by the soul [or life] in it.鈥濃€擫eviticus 17:11.
18 How about the blood of animals killed for food, not for sacrifice? God told his worshipers that a hunter who caught a wild beast or fowl 鈥渕ust in that case pour its blood out and cover it with dust. For the soul of every sort of flesh is its blood by the soul in it. Consequently I said to the sons of Israel: 鈥榊ou must not eat the blood of any sort of flesh, because the soul of every sort of flesh is its blood. Anyone eating it will be cut off.鈥欌€濃€擫eviticus 17:13, 14; Deuteronomy 12:23-25.
The command applies to any product made from blood. I'm sorry Witnesses you are so deeply deceived on this issue it just upsets me.
You misinterpret a script from the bible that is clearly talking about diet to place yourselves separate from a population ( BTW classic cult control behaviour)
The real problem is that when you actually look at the policies you will realize how silly and hypocritical they are;
Simple Example
Deuteronomy 12:16
But you must not eat the blood; pour it out on the ground like water.
Yet you are allowed to take individual blood components (albumin, globulin, clotting factors, fibrin)
All derived from Stored Whole Blood .
If you actually believed what you constantly claim, you must refuse all Blood. Meaning you must refuse the following
All blood parts
All Blood 鈥渞eplacements鈥? all are derived from stored blood
All Transplants: all organs contain significant amount of blood
All non kosher meat
So, its ok for others to donate blood, and for you to consume, but not ok for you to contribute to your fellow man.
Thus you live on the Blood of others as a parasite eating the blood of its hosts
And as for the case of a child dying I firmly believe the parents should be prosecuted with child abuse, as well as the WBTS should be named in criminal charges. Conspiracy to commit murder would be a good one I'm not a Jehovah's witness, but they believe that you can only enter heaven if your body is 'pure' which in this case means with all your own original body. hence no blood transfusions.
The mother would not let the baby have a blood transfusion because she wanted her baby to go to heaven.
:D The Jehovah Witness Watchtower cult is a big money life destroyer. The cult causes children to die due to its bogus blood ban. The cult also causes suicide among the members of the cult. Protect your family and community by warning people about this big money mind control operation. If God didn't want us to give transfusions He wouldn't have made it possible.
JWs teach that if a Witness has a blood transfusion they will certainly lose all hope of salvation, which shows that they have no concept of forgiveness.
I agree! - Some people are crazy. Just like the muslims who fly planes into buildings because of "religion".
This lady doesn't deserve to have children. If God wanted you to have someone else's blood he would have given it to you! |
