This piece is something I wrote up last January and posted it on another board. Some may have seen it before. But after Andee started the tread on K-Mart Witnessing I mentioned this piece and threatened to post it. It is rather long but it is rather telling.
My Trans-Atlantic flight home arrived at the airport 45 minutes early and I cleared immigration, customs and baggage claim in record time. I called my wife to tell her I was early and she said she would leave work immediately and pick me up in 25 minutes. So with bags in hand I wondered down the claims area and saw that there was a JW counter with two ladies sat there. I thought I would spend the waiting time chatting to these two, especially as no one else was. Incidentally, they were underlining their Watchtowers for the Sunday study, and counting time I bet. I didn’t say anything about that. But there were lots of other things I could have said but I bit my lip as I didn’t have time.
This is how the conversation went, as far as I can remember. The transcript is me and the two JW ladies Sis1 and Sis2. It is not entirely word for word but the essential topics and facts are here:
Me: Hi, do you have any magazines to read?
Sis1: Yes, are you interested in our beliefs.
Me: Actually, my parents are Jehovah’s Witnesses and have been for, ooh, more than 20 years (true, but actually longer). I like an occasional read of your magazines.
Sis2: Are you from London?…England?
Me: Not London, but I am English.
Sis1: We have this nice book here (pointing to a paperback “Knowledge” book) It is all about our beliefs.
Me: I know a lot about your beliefs already, all I want are the latest magazines.
(They have several magazines scattered on the lower counter surface of various ages. Sister 2 finds a January 15, Watchtower in her bag while Sister 1 fumbles for some Awakes. After they mentioned something about the divorce rate and a brief conversation where I would loved to have said more I declined an Awake on marriage and asked for the January 22 copy on “Comfort for the Sick”.)
Me: Let me ask you something. I was reading an article in the British Medical Journal recently which I also sent to my parents. Is it right that Jehovah’s Witnesses can take all sorts of component parts of blood?
Sis2: (Looking shocked) No that’s not true we abstain from blood and blood transfusions.
Sis1: It says so in the Bible.
Me: Oh, but this article quoted a Watchtower magazine from June last year. It was a reader question or something like that.
Sis1: “Questions from Readers.”
Me: It said that the Watchtower Society allowed all minor components of blood including albumin from plasma and hemoglobin from red blood cell. Witnesses could take all sorts of things and not be excommunicated or whatever word you use for expelling members. The article also said that Witnesses could now take a blood alternative containing hemoglobin derived from cow’s blood.
Sis2: No, that’s not right. We wouldn’t take anything made from cow’s blood.
Me: The article said (I may be wrong here about the article but the statement is true) you have a support group, called “hospital liaison committees?”…they have apparently approved the use of this product for use on Witnesses.
Sis2: Well, I would not accept anything from blood.
Me: But you agree that other Witnesses could accept these component parts as a matter of personal choice and conscience?
Sis2: Yes.
Me: So is it OK to donate blood?
Sis2: Oh no, we don’t give blood it has to be poured out on the ground.
Sis1: It says so in the Bible.
Me: Isn’t that hypocritical? You can accept parts derived from blood that other people donate but you can’t donate your blood to help others?
Sis2: Err… I wouldn’t give blood or accept any parts from blood and I have faced this decision.
Sis1: There are lots of alternatives that can be used nowadays.
Me: Do you have a copy of any Watchtowers from June?
Sis1: No, I looked already.
Me: Do you have a card you carry that says what you can and can’t have? My parents showed me theirs, ooh, maybe 5 years ago at least.
Sis1: What did your parents say about the article you read?
Me: Not a great deal. They were pretty annoyed that I sent it to them.
(Sister2 finds her card and hands it to me…In my haste and regrettably, I didn’t check the date it was signed. It definitely was not new though.)
Me: (Reading the card and this is from memory) “…refuse all whole blood transfusions, red blood cells, white blood cell, platelets and plasma…” But it doesn’t say you can’t have minor fractions like albumin does it?
Sis2: (Not answering question) Do you know of any cases of Jehovah’s Witnesses who have died because of not taking blood?
Me: Yes, I have personal experience of quite a few cases. (Most Witnesses do, including ex-ones)
Sis2: (Looking worried) Are you a doctor? (I am looking worse-for-wear with 15 hours of beard growth, greasy hair, just off an 8 hour flight, dressed in check shirt, jeans and parka…very doctor like.)
Me: (Smiling) No, I work in Information Technology, but I did take Pre-Med at college. I know a little about the chemistry of blood. In the cases I know of, they may have died even with a blood transfusion…
Sis1: Well…!
Me: …but they weren’t given the chance of something that could have saved them!
Sis1, Sis2: (Silence)
Me: Would it be OK then to use blood scavenging techniques?
Sis2: No not at all. We would allow blood outside our bodies if it were part of a continuous flow as in kidney dialysis.
Me: What about storing your blood for later use in surgery.
Sis2: That wouldn’t be allowed.
Me: So your beliefs are set and rigid and you know what you believe?
Sis2: Yes.
Me: So you never change your beliefs then?
Sis1: Oh no, we change them all the time. (Honestly, she really said that!)
Me: So it is quite possible that the Watchtower Society could say in the future that the medical use of blood it purely a matter of conscience?
Sis2: It’s possible…but I still won’t have blood.
Sis1: We believe blood is sacred and represents life and must not be used…it says so in the Bible.
Me: But why were the Jews instructed to bleed the carcass of an animal?
Sis2: (Blank look)
Me: What is certain if you completely bleed an animal?
Sis2: (Blank look)
Me: Would it still be alive?
Sis2: No, it would be dead.
Me: So you couldn’t butcher an animal that may not be dead if you had bled it first?
Sis2: (Missing the point) But where was blood used?
Me: (I know where this is heading) It wasn’t. It was poured out on the ground.
Sis2: It was used, do you know where?
Me: Blood had a ceremonial use under Jewish law.
Sis2: YES!
Me: But it wasn’t ceremonially used for every animal slaughtered for food. Let me ask you. What could a Jew do who found a dead animal that had not been bled?
Sis1 and 2: Nothing.
Sis1: They couldn’t use it.
Me: If you read the law you’ll find that they could give it or sell it to non-Jews for food.
Sis1: Well, they were people of the nations!
Me: Exactly, and we don’t live under Jewish law. Jesus came to abolish the law.
Sis1: But Jesus said you shouldn’t use blood.
Me: Can you show me in your Bible where Jesus said anything about not using blood?
Sis2: (Looking annoyed) It wasn’t Jesus it was Paul.
Me: I don’t think it was Paul either but it doesn’t matter. Jesus himself said regarding the law when criticized for breaking it, “If you knew what these words meant, ‘I want mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent”. I believe that you make the symbol of life greater than life itself and that you sacrifice your own lives and your children’s lives unnecessarily over a doctrine that is continuing to be changed and may well be abolished…
But I am sorry I have to go. My wife is picking me up in two minutes. I do appreciate your time and thanks for the mags. Do check the Watchtower article in June and you will read up on the law given to the Jews, won’t you? You’ll be surprised what it says about the use of unbled animals. Byeee!
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It was a pity I had to go so quickly. I got to the drop-off/collection area just in time to see Mrs. Thirdson pulling in. She got out to give me a big hug and kiss. I was so glad to be home to my life in the normal world. I hope I said just enough to make a couple of Witnesses think about their own beliefs and research not only what the Bible says but read their own magazines.
Thirdson
Minneapolis, MN – January 20, 2001
'To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing'