by Mad Sweeney 18 Replies latest watchtower medical
It's been established that the WT convinced the Bulgarian government that there are "no sanctions" on JWs who accept blood transfusions, in order to obtain legal recognition by that government. My question is this:
Does the WT actually now allow Bulgarian JWs to accept blood transfusions without consequence?
OR
Did the WT simply lie to the Bulgarian government in order to obtain legal recognition?
They did what they do best: They lied.
The WTS now teaches that anyone who accepts blood products have, by their actions, "indicated that they are no longer one of Jehover's Witnesses".
Anyone who "leaves" the WTS is subject to shunning.
Yes -- "No Sanctions" meant no *automatic* sanctions.
In mitigating the amicable settlement, the ECHR did not realize that "Disassociation" and "Disfellowshipment" are simply two different toilets in the same house.
Not really surprising. Pathetic and sad but not surprising.
Typical WT doublespeak.
Instead of saying that Brother Think-for-Himself has been disfellowshipped, they simply announce that Brother Think-for-Himself is no longer one of Jehovah's Witnesses.
Same old crap.
And you can see the WTS smiling as they said this...knowing that they were having their cake and eating it to, and instead of being the ones to bring sanction on the poor JWs who accept blood, they prop the gun up against that door and watch with glee while the JWs walk through it and assassinate themselves.
Its just too bad the same rule of law doesnt apply to those who are PEDOPHILES and WIFE BEATERS that when they do those things they are AUTOMATICALLY DISASSOCIATED.
TD just about nailed it. The WTS added to their agreement that there were be "no automatic sanctions" if a JW member had a blood transfusion. The Bulgarian government fell for it.
Of COURSE there are no "automatic" sanctions. First, they have a Judicial Committee, and THEN they boot you out of their religion, so you see, it isn't now and never was "automatic!"
These are the men who "speak for God" we are talking about.
Farkel
A person who is a jw and accepts a blood transfusion,by his/her own actions has rejected the teachings of jw`s thereby disassociating his/her self from the christian congregation.Treated the same way as a disfellowshiped person.
smiddy
Why does Bulgaria just automatically take the WTS word for it,,don't they investigate? Or follow up, since it was obviously an issue to them (Bulgaria) at some point for some reason.
Gayle,
Basically, this is what happened:
In 1994, the Bulgarian government refused to re-register the Christian Association of Jehovah's Witnesses under a new Bulgarian law requiring religious organizations to register with the government. This in effect, revoked the legal standing of Jehovah's Witnesses in Bulgaria.
There were several issues at stake. The two main ones were refusal of Witnesses to serve compulsory military duty and the policy of enforced refusal of blood.
In 1995, this was appealed before the Bulgarian Supreme Court and the Witnesses' case was dismissed.
Through their lawyers, the JW leadership next complained to the usual entities: Their friend and ally, the United Nations, the European Court of Human Rights, etc.
Both parties eventually agreed to a mediated settlement before the European Court of Human Rights. In reaching this settlement, both parties agreed to make certain concessions.
The Bulgarian government agreed to modify its laws to allow for alternative service for conscientious objectors.
Jehovah's Witnesses agreed to: "...draft a statement for inclusion it its statute providing that member's should have free choice in the matter for themselves and their children without any control or sanction on the part of the association."
The Witness leadership's idea of honoring this agreement was of course, to make a minor procedural change that for all intents and purposes left the sanctions for noncompliance in place.
Was the Bulgarian government fooled? I doubt it. Even if they were, there were plenty of xJW's at the time willing to write letters explaining what had happened. Ditto for the ECHR.
The Witnesses may have won a liar's victory in Bulgaria, but I think ultimately it has hurt them. Ten years later, things are worse for them in Eastern Europe.
