Question Box: Should one of Jehovah's witnesses go to a religious hospital
for treatment and care?
"If a hospital is owned by a false religious organization, then it is
operated by a segment of Babylon the Great, the world empire of false religion.
So those of Jehovah's witnesses who live in an area where they have a choice of
hospitals would undoubtedly choose a hospital that is in no way associated with
a false religious organization. However, sometimes persons are unconscious and
cannot make a choice, or there is no other hospital in the vicinity, or the
religious hospital may be the only one equipped to care for the particular
thing needing attention. Under these circumstances one of Jehovah's witnesses
might go to the religious hospital and pay for care he receives, viewing this
simply as paying for services rendered. It would not be the same as making a
contribution for the purpose of supporting the false religious organization.
Thus, Jehovah's witnesses may go to religious hospitals for treatment and care
if circumstances require it and if they choose to do so."
I was
pregnant in 1967 and would have had the baby at the local Catholic
hospital, but instead went to another hospital in the same city. About the same
time, a brother in our congregation was employed at the Catholic Hospital and
his wife convinced him that he should quit even though he didn't want to. They
ended up moving out of state because he couldn't find any other employment in
the area.
It wasn’t long before the thinking changed (I never saw anything more in
print) Within two or three years I noticed that witnesses were again working at
the Catholic hospital or seeking treatment there. I had another baby in 1974
and delivered in the Catholic Hospital.