Since the mid 1900s Jehovah's Witnesses have had a ban on blood transfusions. They would take biblical commands to "abstain from blood" literally even though the commands were about how to handle blood from something that was dead, not about using blood to save something that was alive. And when they needed a potentially live saving blood transfusion they would deny it. We all carried around "No Blood" cards in our wallets and purses, little legal documents to speak for us if we were unable to do so. No Blood meant NO BLOOD. People died for their stance. Elders (leading men) in congregations were appointed to Hospital Liaison Committees to come in as enforcers when you were in the hospital to make sure that you did what you were told under the penalty of social death (shunning) if you didn't do as you were commanded.
In the year 2000 Jehovah's Witnesses were given permission by their leaders, a small group of men in New York known as the Governing Body, to take minor blood fractions derived from four major blood components. So they were told that if other people gave blood, something that Jehovah's Witnesses would never do to help anyone else, they could take those fractions derived from the generous donations of outsiders. I was 23 years old then and I didn't understand where it ever said in the bible that blood fractions were allowed, but I wanted to live like anyone else would want to, so I gladly checked boxes on my little No Blood but kinda blood if it's fractional card so that I would indeed receive more help. I knew it wasn't biblical because if we were fundamentally going to apply what was written in such a literal way, then I could no more have blood fractions than I could have fornication fractions or adultery fractions or commit some murder fractions, but hey, I wanted to live.
It's now 26 years later. Today in a historic moment that was published in a 16 minute video that focused on other things, the last 5 minutes had an announcement. Right before their annual "Special Talk" that is to be held this Sunday, and just two weeks or so before their annual "Memorial" celebration that is the biggest event on the JW calendar, they snuck in an announcement that autologous blood transfusions, or transfusions of your own stored blood, would now be allowed. Now, they never said the word transfusion because they're manipulative cunts in a death cult, but they gave their members permission to use their own minds to decide how they used their own blood. No, they still can't take blood from anyone else.
So if a JW is in a car wreck and needs blood, they still can't take a blood transfusion from someone else if needed. But if they have some sort of odd preplanned event, they could potentially store some of their own blood, likely at great financial cost, to be used in their own care. Of course, they'd never donate to help anyone else. Help is for me, not for thee.
It took 26 years for them to STILL NOT MAKE THE RIGHT DECISION. They are telling members now that they can take a transfusion, of their own blood. So whereas it was previously stated that transfusions were like "eating blood" by ingesting it intravenously and therefore the transfusing itself was wrong, they are now allowed to essentially eat their own blood, just not someone else's. Yeah, that's a gross way of thinking about it, but that's Jehovah's Witnesses theology. They can now take fractions from outsiders and whole blood from themselves.
I'm sure that they're trying to wait out the old timers and create change over generations to eventually get rid of this policy. They know it's evil. They know that countless people have died. Mom's after or during childbirth. People that need heart surgery. People with cancer that need surgery. Those that are in bad car accidents or other emergent situations.
The Governing Body would therefore be bloodguilty for the lives lost at the hand of their evil policies and their refusal to do the right thing. Instead of making the change that we all know they're going to eventually make, to just allow transfusions, they will drag this out for more decades to put the older folks in a position where due to sunk cost they feel they cannot leave and to throw a bone to younger folks to keep them from leaving due to their insane policies.
But HOW MANY MORE PEOPLE HAVE TO DIE?????
And where was the apology in the announcement for getting it wrong and costing more lives? "We are not embarrassed about 'adjustments' that are made; nor is an apology needed for not getting it 'exactly right' previously. We understand: this is how Jehovah operates." -Jeffrey Winder, annual meeting October 2023
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