Questions About the Watchtower's View on Blood Transfusions.

by Pallbearer 40 Replies latest watchtower medical

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  Pallbearer

  I admit to not being very well informed about the Watchtower's view on blood transfusions. I have a couple of questions that I hope someone here is able to answer.

  I understand that the Watchtower now considers it to be okay to receive blood fractions.

  My first question is: Are ALL fractions considered to be permissible? And if not, specifically which fractions are not permissible?

  My second question is: Can a person that has received blood fractions logically claim they have 'abstained from blood'? (Acts 15:19-20)

  Thanks for any help that you can offer.
• 

  TD

  I understand that the Watchtower now considers it to be okay to receive blood fractions.

  Fractions were first allowed in 1958, when serums and antitoxins derived from blood were declared to be, "matters of conscience."
  

  Since then, the scope of acceptable preparations and procedures has steadily increased.

  My first question is: Are ALL fractions considered to be permissible? And if not, specifically which fractions are not permissible?

  JW's forbid what they consider to be the primary components of blood. These are:

  Red Cells

  White Cells

  Platelets

  Whole Plasma

  JW's (Since the year 2000) allow fractions derived from any of these primary components.

  My second question is: Can a person that has received blood fractions logically claim they have 'abstained from blood'? (Acts 15:19-20)

  --Not an easy answer, as you are incorporating JW semantic legerdemein into your question. (Abstinance from a physical object is an ungrammatical concept.)
  

  JW's would claim that fractions are not actually blood, which strikes me as a strained argument.
  
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  Vanderhoven7

  The WTS blood policies are not scriptural and defy logic.
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  Pallbearer

  JW's (Since the year 2000) allow fractions derived from any of these [four] primary components.
  

  Pallbearer's reply: So, I understand you to mean that there are NO prohibited fractions. Then logically it would appear that if a person were to be given fractions of all four primary components he will have received whole blood.

  
  

  JW's would claim that fractions are not actually blood, . . . .

  Pallbearer's reply: Even if that were somehow true, they are still consuming parts of a substance that (according to their way of thinking) was supposed to have been 'poured out and covered with dust'! (Leviticus 17:13,14)
  

  The WTS blood policies are not scriptural and defy logic.

  Pallbearer's reply: Surely the WTS knows that too. It would appear that they have strategically contrived a confusing way to consume life-saving blood and yet say they are complying with the requirement to "abstain from blood".
  
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  JeffT

  The Watchtower's position on blood is also unscientific. Medicine does not recognize "major" vs "minor" components of blood. Transfusions of whole blood are relatively rare these days. Current practice is to give you the component you need.
  
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  Pallbearer

  The Watchtower's position on blood is also unscientific. Medicine does not recognize "major" vs "minor" components of blood. Transfusions of whole blood are relatively rare these days. Current practice is to give you the component you need.

  Thanks for that information, Jeff.
  
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  TD

  Pallbearer,
  

  So, I understand you to mean that there are NO prohibited fractions.

  If you accecpt the self-serving JW definition of primary and secondary components, then yes. However as Jeff has pointed out, it's not a system of categorization used in transfusion medicine.
  

  Then logically it would appear that if a person were to be given fractions of all four primary components he will have received whole blood.

  From a moral perspective, yes. Not from a scientific perspective.
  
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  Vanderhoven7

  Defying logic

  Every component of blood plasma is on the WT acceptable list, yet plasma is outlawed by the org. Raymond Franz likens it to saying you can eat mayo, cheese, lettuce and bread, but you cannot eat a cheese sandwich

  White blood cells are banned, but these are found in the millions in a mother's milk. Also, most white blood cells are found in organ tissue, not in the blood itself. Each organ transplant, permitted by the society since 1980, necessitates the transfer of millions of white blood cells.

  Where is the logic in that?
• 

  Doctor Who

  I was just in the hospital last month and needed a plasma infusion. Long story short, they didn't have my blood type on hand and it was an emergency situation. Because of laziness on my part, I never had my medical records updated on me NOT being a JW. (That is fixed now) I awoke to some judgemental asshole from the hospital liaison committee asking why I was hooked up to plasma. He even came right out and said to me, "You know you are sinning against Jehovah?" Before I had the hospital staff throw his ass out, I told him, "Oh, no you are mistaken! I had the hospital put all the acceptable fractions together in one bag, and that is what they are giving me." Here I am suffering from major blood loss and all he could think was I might be taking something not on the approved list!
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  Diogenesister

  Transfusions of whole blood are relatively rare these days. Current practice is to give you the component you need.

  Not where I work. Theatres we use whole blood all the time in major surgery.