View Single Post
Old 11-06-2007, 11:42 AM   #20 (permalink)
randygurl
Tilted
 
randygurl's Avatar
 
Location: Vancouver
Speaking as someone who was raised as a Jehovah's Witness, I would like to help clarify the family's position on this matter - if only to help further discussion in this thread.

Alongside their deeply held belief that they should abstain from blood because it is against God's Will, is the belief that all faithful Jehovah's Witnesses will one day be ressurected to a paradise earth. So you can imagine how this mother was feeling - being told that in order to live she would have to violate her faith by receiving a blood transfusion. Would it not be better, in her eyes, to remain faithful and accept whatever the consequences - knowing that she will be rewarded in a paradise earth? She would hold the same beliefs for her children because she as a parent is the one responsible for their life. Both spiritually and physically - until they come of an age to make the decisions themselves.

There have been many many cases in the courts of Jehovah's Witness children as young as 14 who refuse blood transfusion. The doctors and courts argue that they are not old enough to fully understand the situation and therefore cannot make the decision for themselves. And depsite the fact that they are underage, and there legal guardians support this decision, the doctors still try and take it upon themselved to force a blood transfusion because they feel it is in the patients best interest. But the patient believes otherwise. Who is in the right and who is in the wrong? I don't think that's for any of us to decide, unfortunately when these cases go to court, its up to our judicial system to decide. But at the end of the day - both the parents and their children have every right to fight until their dying breath to avoid something they feel so strongly about. Because they feel they will be rewarded for remaining faithful (and who are we to say they're wrong?).

I feel like maybe I may not have explained myself clearly enough - and for the most part it may be because I have left the religion I was raised in - I no longer wanted to follow their 'rules' (most specifically in regards to sex before marriage and dating outside of the religion), but my beliefs on blood and blood transfusions will never waver. Even if I never return to being a Jehovah's Witness - I will always maintain this belief and abide by it. Not because I think that I will be rewarded by being resurrected to a paradise earth (lets face it, I think I'm screwed in that department) - but because I still firmly belive that to knowingly comply to a blood transfusions is one of the gravest sins you can make against God. That may make my a bit of a hypocrite, but so be it...

Here's an interesting article that it actually gleaned from the Watchtower Society's offical website (the Watchtower Society being the equivalent of the Vatican for Jehovah's Witnesses):

http://www.watchtower.org/e/hb/index...article_02.htm

Please...continue discussion...
__________________
Ní féidir leat m'intinn a bhriseadh
randygurl is offline  
 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360