Why do Jehovah's Witnesses say it's wrong to eat blood, but they eat meat?

Question

They say the animal is bled, but I think that's a cop-out. The red stuff on your raw meat is blood.

Answer 1

They're right, it's wrong to eat blood if you believe and follow what the Scriptures say. See http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%2015:20;&version=31; and http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%209:4;&version=31;

However, it's wiser not to eat meat at all as God intended in the beginning. See http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%201:%2029-30;&version=31; and http://www.all-creatures.org/cva/vegbenefits.htm

Answer 2

The life is in the blood. That is biblical. If the meat is bled right as it is supposed to be, there will be very little if any left to be on the meat. Most meat today is not bled as is prescribed by the bible as it is not as tasty as it is with the blood dripping from it like most like it. It is more bland. Better to go vegetarian than to eat any of it any more but that is a choice for each to make on his own.

Answer 3

The Holy Bible states the life is in the Blood.

Answer 4

I love this. God didn't intend for them to be ate in the beginning? hahahaha

Do Jehovah Witness' wear leather shoes?
Do they wear leather clothes, coats?
Do they have leather furniture?
Do they have leather upholstery in they're cars?
Do any of them take Thyroid Med's? It is made from cows.
Do any wear leather gloves?
Do they're kids have baseball gloves?
Do they're kids play football? It is pigskin.
Do they have Wallets, Purses?


So, they won't eat red meat, but they will use the hide when other sinful people eat'm?

Would this be like......I save your beer cans for money after you drink the beer?

YOU do the sin, but I get the benefits?

.

Answer 5

Some eat kosher meats, which have been drained of all blood.

Answer 6

Ummmm- are you planning on going out and joining a ring of vampires or something?? whats the deal?

Answer 7

I agree Jen, it seems hypocritical and convenient. That religion is mostly made up BS some ego maniac came up with.

Answer 8

Basically because they are hypocrites, just like the followers of every other religion in the world.

Answer 9

God explicitly permits meat-eating. However, Jehovah's Witnesses believe that the scriptures demonstrate a clear pattern indicating the sacredness with which Jehovah God (and thus god-fearing humankind) views all creature blood.


Predates Mosaic Law.
For example, over a thousand years before the birth of Moses, the pre-Israel, pre-Jewish, pre-Hebrew man Noah received what the scriptures record as only the second restrictive command on humans (after Garden of Eden's tree):

"Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you; and as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything. Only you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. For your lifeblood I will surely require a reckoning; of every beast I will require it [that is, lifeblood] and of man" (Genesis 9:3-5)


Jewish Law.
Later, God's feeling regarding blood was codified into the Mosaic Law. This part of the Law dealing with blood was unique in that it applied, not just to Israel, but also to non-Jewish foreigners among them. It's also interesting that besides forbidding the consumption of blood, the Law also mandated that it be 'poured out on the ground', not used for any purpose.

"No person among you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger who sojourns among you eat blood. Any man also of the people of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among them, who takes in hunting any beast or bird that may be eaten shall pour out its blood and cover it with dust." (Lev 17:12,13)

By comparison, it's significant that the Law also forbid the consumption of ceremonial animal fat, but that didn't apply to non-Jewish foreigners and it DID allow the fat to be used for other purposes.

"The LORD said to Moses, "Say to the people of Israel, You shall eat no fat, of ox, or sheep, or goat. The fat of an animal that dies of itself, and the fat of one that is torn by beasts, may be put to any other use" (Lev 7:22-24)


Early Christian era.
The Christian era ended the validity of the Mosaic Law, but remember that the restriction on eating blood preceded the Mosaic Law by over a thousand years. Still, does the New Testament indicate that Jehovah God changed his view of blood's sacredness?

"[God] freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses" (Eph 1:6,7)

"[God's] beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins... and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood" (Colossians 1:13-20)

"we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, but should write to them to abstain from the pollutions of idols and from unchastity and from what is strangled and from blood." (Acts 15:19,20)

"For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled and from unchastity." Acts 15:28,29


Modern times
Some will claim that the bible's command to "abstain" from blood only applies to eating it, and does not apply to the use of blood for other purpose. If that form of respect for blood were common among Christendom, one might wonder then why so many (who ostensibly follow the book of Acts) so happily eat their blood sausage and blood pudding if they truly respect blood according to some limited understanding of Acts 15:20,29. In fact, respect for blood and for Acts and for the Scriptures themselves is too rare among even supposedly god-fearing persons.

An honest review of the Scriptural pattern over the millenia from Noah to the Apostle Paul teaches humans that blood is to be used for a single purpose: acknowledging the Almighty. Otherwise, for centuries the instruction was to simply dispose of it; 'poor it upon the ground'. When Jehovah's Witnesses pursue non-blood medical management, they are working to honor and obey their Creator.


Learn more:
http://watchtower.org/library/hb/index.htm
http://watchtower.org/library/vcnb/article_01.htm