Why do Jehovah's Witness not do blood transfusions?

Question

I would just like to kow what their reason is???

Answer 1

Jehovah's Witnesses believe in getting the best medical care available for themselves and their families. Many individuals among Jehovah's Witnesses are themselves physicians and other health care professionals.

It is sad when those who have theological differences with the Witnesses actively work to spread misinformation about their beliefs. The fact is that Jehovah's Witnesses have hundreds of hospital liaison committees around the globe to help advance nonblood medical management technologies and awareness in the medical community.

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/e/hb/
http://watchtower.org/library/vcnb/article_01.htm

Answer 2

This question is getting old, only 10% of those refusing blood are witnesses.

As for people claiming that abstaining (Acts 15:20) only refers to eating, does that mean that only oral sex is bad and that all other forms of fornication are okay?

UCLA now performs bloodless transplants. Google “Bloodless Surgery” and you will find 150 hospitals now offer bloodless options to all their patients.

There is so much in the Bible that they could not have understood the science behind why something should or should not be done. In our modern times, we are learning just how the science fits. A good example was when God instructed his people to no longer allow marriages between close relatives. They didn’t understand what genetics was, or why for 2000 years it was okay, and than it wasn’t. Now, we know why.

There is no safe blood transfusion, even if there is no infectious agent present in it. Every transfusion lowers the body's immunal response in the exact same manner as AIDS does. There may or may not be any connection, but the fact is it leaves you open very RARE, not regular diseases, just like AIDS. It still requires coming into contact with the disease for it to become a problem.

That aside, there is the growing problems with contamination of the blood supply.

I'm a taxi cab driver in Kansas City. Ask most any cab driver or taxi passenger in the area who Papa Bear is and they will tell you.

Last Spring, there was a conference here of reps of Blood Services, from all over the world. They were here to learn a new labeling system. Up until this year, there was no uniform labeling system for blood, causing mismatches and other problems.

I had some passengers from London and I asked them about an article I read that England was importing thousands of pinks of blood a year from the U.S. because of contamination of their local supply by Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (Mad Cow). They said they were, but the practice has been discontinued, as the U.S. supply was no longer considered safe within the parameters they set, in other words, what is an allowable percentage of contamination.

They now get it from Australia. Apparently, Canadian is also not considered safe. She said we are fooling ourselves if we think our supply was anywhere near being safe. There are no tests for Mad Cow that can be done on blood. It can only be confirmed after death. There has also been an increasing rate of viral zoonotic (Rabies).

Answer 3

There are 2 reasons for this. First, the blood does not permit the consumption of blood. When an animal was slaughtered in the Old Testament, during the slaughtering, the blood had to be drained out. The blood is sacred and the command was given to not consume it. JW's went a little further as to not to receive transfusions, since this is also an act of consumption. Due to their beliefs, hospitals have created bloodless operational techniques in order to compensate. They also have saline solutions that can be administered should there be a dangerous drop in blood pressure during an operation.
Scientifically, it's been proven that in some cases, receiving another persons blood can cause a delay in the recovery process of some people. Being that getting a foreign blood, is like getting an organ donated. The body will try to reject this foreign tissue. With blood it's easier for the body to get rid of, but the persons recuperation period will take much longer. The blood types of both people may be the same, but each persons blood is still unique in other ways, so receiving another persons blood may actually be hazardous if ones health is fragile. The blood centers will not tell you these things of course, being that they're in it for the money.

Answer 4

For the same reasons that doctors themselves would not accept just any form of blood and won't find themselves suing the Red Cross, etc, for having contacting any sort of diseases from the blood they once took (as they blood contains any sort of disease for seven years before it can be detected!) they (the doctors themselves know exactly what to do in the case of a witness needing blood and don't show the same sort of laziness they otherwise would unless it is a Witness or a loved one. They then go the extra mile and have a list of options much better than just the blood of another human... My own dad was watching TV in the hospital when they came and gave him a transfusion just to find out that it was totally unnecessary, that he just had a bleeding ulcer and wasn't losing his own blood at all. Now he wonders if it didn't give him AIDS... but I wouldn't put myself in such a predicament as I have done the same homework for myself that most doctors I know have done who wouldn't take blood either! They know better and one has told me that it will soon be a thing of the past! It's just easier and cheaper right now! Come to think of it, why would this become such an issue in these last days when Satan himself is going around like a roaring lion seeking to devour everyone and make God the liar he has been trying to do for the past 6,000 years... Who knows best? I believe it is God and that his word is true and that the bible is the only book claiming divine inspiration and what it says is more important to me than any man-made idea or tradition. Do your homework and see what is best! The very first patient who had a heart transplant with surgeon who chose not to use blood products is still alive and well whereas many who did take blood are dead! or didn't live half as long! The life and personality of another is in the blood. It's unnatural! And there are alternatives which are really better. Check with your surgeon... or ask for a copy of the Blood Brochure from any Witness you meet who'd be glad to pass it on, for your perusal!

Answer 5

There is a passage in the bible that they interpret to mean don't take anything from the body of another...

They feel that the blood of another taken during a transfusion is a sin and against gods will..

There has been a lot of good that has come of it for every though... Research into blood expanders (non blood/biological products that can be used to expand the volume of liquid in the blood...) Human only need a fraction of the blood cells within the blood stream to sustain oxygenation and nutrient transport... A blood expander is a liquid (i.v. solution) that gives the cells fluid to be transported in so the job can be done by the remaining cells.. while the body produces more cells..

Since blood expanders are not perishable like blood they do not need to be refrigerated a plus the battlefield in war and in emergency management situations... With the nations blood supply always in short supply blood expanders help save lives even in non jw's.. A lot of the research into expanders has been conducted by JW Dr's due to their religious beliefs..

Answer 6

The Bible warned against consuming blood (in any form) long before blood transfusions were even the big issue in the medical area.

Acts 15:28,29 state "For the holy spirit and we ourselves have favored adding no further burden to YOU, except these necessary things, to keep abstaining from things sacrificed to idols and from blood and from things strangled and from fornication. If YOU carefully keep yourselves from these things, YOU will prosper. Good health to YOU!”

It's like if your doctor told you that you had a liver problem, and you couldn't consume alcoholic beverages any longer. Does that make it okay for you to intreveineously consume the alcohol? I mean, you're not eating it. No! It's still going in your body. So it still is going against your doctors orders.

How much more do we want to follow the orders of Jehovah?



- I'm a Jehovah's Witness

Answer 7

I think there is a verse in the Old Testament that talks about not eating or drinking blood (something like that) and they interpret receiving blood to be akin in some way. There are some more liberal JW that will donate their own blood for re infusion for some surgical procedures. (at least that's what I've been told) Maybe a JW will answer your question.

Answer 8

For accurate information on why Jehovah's Witnesses do not accept blood transfusions, please visit: http://www.watchtower.org/library/hb/article_02.htm

That will give sound reasons on why anyone shouldn't accept a blood transfusion, not just Jehovah's Witnesses.

Answer 9

Because they consider that "transfusing" blood is the same as "consuming" blood. The commandment forbids especifically "to consume" blood from what have been dedicated to idols.

Answer 10

I believe that they hold the blood sacred in that it contains the life and spirit of a person.