Soon, Beth and
her husband would be in Jehovah’s Witness Hell. If she ever had any desire to
join this church, it would soon be gone forever, after what would happen next.
Beth called me
a few months later, crying; I could barely understand her. I really didn’t know
what she needed or wanted. Maybe she needed a shoulder to cry on. I told her we
could meet for a cup of coffee. I had no words for what she would reveal to me.
We met a few
hours later at a busy restaurant. I wish you could have seen the look of
bewilderment on this poor woman’s face. With tears in her eyes, she sat there.
She told me about what had transpired over the last few months since we first
talked on the phone.
She said her
husband was baptized as he promised. Being re-baptized, he became a zealot once
again in his old faith. He didn’t seem to be as interested in her now that he
had rejoined his old family and friends. He was now spending less and less time
with her, his pregnant wife.
Finally, the
baby came. However, there were major complications at birth. It was life or
death for the child unless the baby received a blood transfusion. Beth was, of
course, in favor of this life-saving option. Her husband was definitely opposed
to it.
There were many
heated arguments about this. The Elders and his parents got involved. His
family informed her husband that he could not waver. There was no way he could
give in on this matter. It was more than just a matter of life and death; it
was a matter of faith and service to god and obeying His rules about no blood transfusions.
Beth and her
family fought her husband to the bitter end. She said he hated her and her
stance against him and his faith. This drove a wedge between them even further.
There was no
time left and a decision had to be made. For whatever reason, he hung his head
in shame and told the doctors to go ahead and give the child a blood
transfusion. The Elders found out he gave the order for the blood transfusion
and were furious. They told him there would be grave repercussions because of
his decision.
Two days later,
the child died.
The Elders
actually told her husband they were not surprised about the child’s death. In a
sense, they implied this was a punishment directly from god Himself. This was because he had actually disobeyed god’s commandments on the issue of blood.
Her husband
told the Elders he was wrong and blamed his worldly wife for the pressure she
had put on him. He begged for Jehovah’s and the Elders for forgiveness.
There was
nothing I could say to comfort Beth after that story.
Are they still
together? I would doubt it.
If you are a
Jehovah’s Witness reading this, there are two things I would wonder. First, did
god kill the baby because it received a blood transfusion to drive home His point
to the disobedient husband? No? Even though the Elders implied that?
Second, Beth
will obviously never become a Jehovah’s Witness. Can you really blame her?
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