I just finished watching a Discovery Health Channel program called "The Critical Hour," which featured the cases of four trauma patients (9:00 PM, EDT). I missed the beginning of the program, but apparently an elderly JW woman suffered a fall, was critically injured, and her only option for survival was surgery plus blood transfusions. While she was still able to speak, she refused blood; later her JW husband, accompanied by the ever-present liaison committee JW, also refused the transfusion. The woman died.
The most horrible aspect of this case was the smarmy, superior smile with which the husband proclaimed to her doctors that "it isn't that we don't love our [families] ... we love the god of the bible, jehovah, more." Not once during his wife's ordeal nor at her bedside after she died, did he exhibit any distress or grief over his wife's preventable death. Just that smile.
The surgeons did not attempt to change his mind. One thing worth noting was that one surgeon said to the husband that he understood JWs did not accept blood transfusions or BLOOD PRODUCTS--another misinformed doctor! Nor did the husband and his buddy attempt to enlighten him, assuming they understood the WT blood "policy."
The segment was spun to inspire admiration for husband for sticking to his beliefs despite the cost. Made me want to hurl.
"Critical Hour" JW dies from no-blood policy
by parakeet 10 Replies latest jw friends
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parakeet
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zeroday
The segment was spun to inspire admiration for husband for sticking to his beliefs despite the cost. Made me want to hurl.
Why hurl, she wanted to die so she died. Why is that a big deal. Do you really believe there is a "Supreme Being" looking down on all of us and thinking he gives a S*****. Think again......
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uwishufish
They need to do a follow up story, since some time has elapsed, on how the hubby feels now that his mate is gone!!!
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zeroday
They need to do a follow up story, since some time has elapsed, on how the hubby feels now that his mate is gone!!!
Interviewer: Hubby how do you feel now that your mate is gone. Hubby: Are you kidding, I can now go after that little tail I've been eyeing all along. I mean Jehuber said I could chase other tail now that the Ole battle axe, I mean wife has expired.
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parakeet
zeroday:
***Why hurl, she wanted to die so she died. Why is that a big deal. Do you really believe there is a "Supreme Being" looking down on all of us and thinking he gives a S*****. Think again......***
No, she wanted to live, but the WT blood policy killed her. It's always a big deal when someone dies needlessly--she may have had children and grandchildren who will suffer because she is gone. I don't believe there is a supreme being looking out for us; the woman's death was regrettable because human life is valuable--you don't need a belief in God to have respect for life. -
mkr32208
You can hate me for saying so but there are too many humans now... Those that want to kill themselves in insane ritualistic sacrifice to some crazy shepherd god should just go on and drink the kool-aid and make room for those of us who want to ENJOY life...
you don't need a belief in God to have respect for life
I respect those that have a respect for THEIR OWN LIFE! If you see someone jumping of a cliff with a parachute each time getting closer and closer to the ground do you respect that life? WHY? That person OBVIOUSLY does not? So why should YOU?
I'm sorry but all the human machine is when you boil it down is a recording device. A simple input output motor. There is nothing 'devine' about human life! The only thing worthy of respect is someone who respects THEMSELVES!
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JWdaughter
Wow, this is a warm and toasty thread.
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mkr32208
Wow, this is a warm and toasty thread.
No that's the hell thread!
I've always had a big problem with this. I was an EMT, then a Firefighter then a Corrections Officer. In each of these jobs (I can't say careers cause I didn't stick around long enough to consider it a career) I was expected to put MY life on the line for other people... FINE, no problem! Where I DID have a problem was putting my life on the line to stop some jack a$$ from throwing his away! If someone is hurt or in trouble and WANTS to live I say lets charge the flames and get him/her out of there and to the hospital, but if they want to DIE?
Some dingo's kidney climbs to the top of a building and says "I'm gonna jump" peoples response? Send 10 VALUABLE members of society to risk their lives to get him down... MY response? "DO A FLIP!"
Let those who have a burning desire to die, die! It's just that simple to me! -
sass_my_frass
I'm with you MKR; and I agree that your only responsibility as a lifesaver was to those who valued their lives in the first place. There are other people responsible for convincing them that their life is worth something; professionals, their own family and friends, but mostly themselves. I think that my life is valuable, and my hubby, and a few friends, but everybody else's life is their own responsibility. If they don't mind ending it because they think god would be displeased if they didn't make the sacrifice, or if they actually want to end it; yeah nobody else should be at risk. The fireman should let them jump, or at least take the time to harness up and quadruple-check their own ties and ropes before going out on the ledge to bring them in. The doctor should have the clerks give them all the forms required to protect themselves against liability, and move on to the patient who wants to live.
The only JWs I have compassion for are the children; their parents will proudly murder them by denying them the entire spectrum of medical science. I am unconvinced that adult JWs are in any way blinded or deluded as to the consequences of their choices. They are only still JWs because they don't have the moral courage to think outside the square, and they are too lazy to look for answers. JWs are JWs because they like to be given their beliefs in a convenient package. They're not stupid, they just don't have the guts to work things out for themselves. I pity them, but I'm not fighting for them.
No, she wanted to live, but the WT blood policy killed her.
No; she went along with it. Nobody held a gun to her head and forced her to refuse blood. She might have thought it felt like that; that she'd lose all her friends and family. But she spent her entire life willingly believing it, knowing that she might have to make that choice one day, but stupidly thinking that every day she hasn't had to is jehovah protecting her, and now that she does, he is testing her. They love to martyr themselves, they love to feel persecuted, it's what they need to convince themselves that the complex web of lies they believe in is actually true.
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parakeet
I agree that adult JWs must bear a measure of responsibility for their actions, but I tend to view them more as victims of the WTS than as perpetrators. My parents were suckered into this cult, and though it was stupid of them, they don't deserve to die as a result. Death is too severe a punishment for stupidity.
The WTS preys on adults who are under-educated, poor, or have had abusive pasts (my parents qualified on all counts) by offering them an imaginary refuge from a world that has mistreated them. I think many JWs are well-meaning, and they believe (however misguidedly) that they are doing the right thing. The WTS has messed them up beyond belief, and the WTS and GB should be held responsible for their part in tragedies such as this one.