___
In year 1944 the Watchtower organization announced suddenly to Jehovah’s Witnesses that accepting transfusion of blood was sinful.[1] In year 1961 the Watchtower organization began excommunicating members for accepting transfusion of blood.
This was all imposed onto the community of Jehovah’s Witnesses, and despite constant rejection by members. How did the community deal with this set of circumstances prior to powerful laws being enacted to protect patient confidentiality? They went it alone, and they did it for decades[2]:
In year 1944 the Watchtower organization announced suddenly to Jehovah’s Witnesses that accepting transfusion of blood was sinful.[1] In year 1961 the Watchtower organization began excommunicating members for accepting transfusion of blood.
This was all imposed onto the community of Jehovah’s Witnesses, and despite constant rejection by members. How did the community deal with this set of circumstances prior to powerful laws being enacted to protect patient confidentiality? They went it alone, and they did it for decades[2]:
It would be more than 40 years after its initial teaching against blood transfusion that Watchtower would, finally, put into place a structure to help Jehovah’s Witnesses deal with the nightmare it had invented and imposed upon them.[3]
Marvin Shilmer
______________
References
1. Blood — What Happened at Watchtower in 1945?
2. Letter by a City Overseer, dated June 2, 1973.
3. “You will be pleased to know that a new department, Hospital Information Services, is now functioning at Brooklyn. It will try to help you if it has not been possible for you or a nearby hospital committee to find a cooperative doctor or surgical team when needed. This would be when doctors you have contacted have refused to proceed with needed surgery or treatment unless you permit the use of blood transfusions.”—(Our Kingdom Ministry, September 1988, p. 4)
___
0 comments:
Post a Comment