Jehovah's witnesses..blood tranfusions?

Question

Jehovahs witnesses won't accept blood transfusions and would let their kids die rather than let them have one.
But they don't realise that our bodies renew the blood. We don't have the same blood in us all the time. So, a transfusion may be someone elses blood to begin with, but once the body begins renewing it, it becomes the body's blood.
Also, if we're all made from dust, what difference does it make who's blood we have? It's all the same anyway. We're all made of the same.
Explain...

Answer 1

This renewal of the blood cells in the body is worth mentioning. I don't think even one of the JW answers so far has faced up to this biological fact. Neither do JWs face up to the fact that their reasons for refusing whole blood transfusions is entirely theological, and not medical. Yet they go on and on about medical benefits as if that constituted a good reason! They would refuse blood even if there were NO good medical reasons for avoiding it!

Because of a strained interpretation of about 5 verses in the Bible, they took a public stand around 1950 and now they cannot get out of it without losing face. Yet the day is coming - fast - when so many blood fractions will be 'allowed' that there will be no valid difference between a collection of fractions and whole blood. Yet JWs cannot see this. They are utterly blind to the manipulations of their leaders who are more interested in avoiding law suits than in sticking fast to a principle established in 1950. Sorry - this is not a JW explanation. I would say in their defence that they love their kids and move heaven and earth to help them. But when push comes to shove, they have to be seen to be obeying their leaders. It's tragic, isn't it?

Answer 2

Why would anyone get a blood transfusion anyways, The use of someone else's blood is so obsolete and the only doctors pushing it is the one who a making big profits. Look the blood comes to them free from the person, many volunteers and the only ones making money is the hospitals, $500 a ltr. People need to do their homework and write in their drivers license Give No Blood. Besides the religious view, Blood is a gamble, you don't know if the person has any of 100 plus diseases and how do you know the all of these diseases was tested for. besides it is foreign matter in your body and your body will naturally fight it making it hard for you to recover, you stay in the hospital longer for no reason other then to make money for the hospital. That's it. If you need blood for an operation, then you can go in ahead of time and bank your own blood and they can dilute your blood if you have to bleed during the operation and put your whole blood back in you. Are all doctors saints. Do they really only care about getting you well, Do you think they will give up their house and big pay check for you? Hey $500 buck is $500 buck and it only takes a nurse a few minutes to make that kind of money. Be for real!

Answer 3

Their issue with blood transfusions isn't that it's someone else's blood, but that they consider it as being a violation of the Mosaic Law's prohibition on eating blood. For that reason, they cannot have their own blood stored in case they need it in the future. The only thing they may do is allow their own blood to exit and re-enter the body through outside tubes. They consider this method to essentially be an extension of the circulatory system.

I'm just not certain why a transfusion is considered "eating blood" when it goes into the circulatory system and not into the body via the digestive system. That's something I've never been able to get an answer on.

Answer 4

Some articles below for consideration.

The first 3 links are news articles on cases where believers of the religion have refused blood transfusions and subsequently died.

The last one explains a bit about where the refusal of transusions comes from.

I've been a blood donor for 10 years and personally see nothing wrong with it at all. I'm also on the organ donor register. When I was a little girl my grandparents were both seriously ill in hospital together and both received blood without which they probably would not be here today. I can never know whose blood my grandparents received, but I can save someone elses grandmother/grandfather or other family member or friend, by putting my blood back into the system!!

I think the article about the man who went to sue the faith and his ex-wife is absolutely right. His daughter was dying and it's only right that he would have done whatever he could to prolong her life. I am sorry for his loss!

Answer 5

Acts 15:19-21,28 is the Scripture Jehovah's Witnesses typically point to as the reason they refuse to accept blood donations. Acts 15:20 says, "Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood." It is clear from the context that the instructions were against eating / drinking blood, not blood transfusions. Blood transfusions were not even possible in Bible times, so there is no possibility that this Scripture could be referring to blood transfusions. There were many pagan religious practices that involved eating and drinking blood and/or strangling an animal to keep more of its blood in its meat. This is what the Bible speaks against, not blood transfusions.

Answer 6

Actually their children don't die but it is a good point they would do it. The state takes them away or the court when they need blood and later they get custody back.

But I do like the idea that the bible does say the life is in the blood and even animals blood we are not to eat.
Course I don't think we should eat animals.
But I like the other point:
down through the ages people have died for what they believed in and everyone thought it was real romantic.
4000 young men have died in Iraq for something they believe in. Maybe you just never believed in something so much that you would be willing to die for that belief.
the Romans thru Christians and their familys into the Roman arenas to be torn apart by wild beasts.
Everyone thought that was so brave and loyal to God.

Answer 7

I have a very close friend, who is a Jehovah Witness. he had a triple bypass without blood, and he is here to tell us about it. I know many people who are not Jehovah Witnesses and would never take of blood. we would never let our children or our families die. we trust Jehovah God who knows best. by the way, we are not wackos or a cult. why because we trust Jehovah more then doctors. more people have died from taking of the blood then not taking of blood. also a another friend, just had surgery without blood and she is fine. learn what a cult is. I am tired of people calling us a cult. a cult live together, we live in 236 lands. a cult lives in one state and worships man.

Answer 8

No, Jehovah's Witnesses will never sit idly by and "let their kids die".

Fair-minded healthcare experts admit that the medical technologies exist to treat literally every illness and injury without resorting to the old-fashioned infusion of whole blood, plasma, platelets, or red/white blood cells. Perhaps pro-blood activists (and/or anti-Witness critics) ignore the fact that Jehovah's Witnesses accept all minor blood fractions, so if there is some targeted need then a Witness will accept a targeted treatment (the only objections are to those four components which approximate actual blood).





It is not Jehovah's Witnesses who decide that blood is sacred, or who decide that other body parts are not specifically declared "sacred". It is Almighty God who declares it so, as the Divine Author of the Holy Bible!

As God's spokesman and as Head of the Christian congregation, Jesus Christ made certain that the early congregation reiterated, recorded, and communicated renewed Christian restrictions against the misuse of blood.

Jehovah's Witnesses are not anti-medicine or anti-technology, and they do not have superstitious ideas about some immortal "soul" literally encapsulated in blood. Instead, as Christians, the Witnesses seek to obey the very plain language of the bible regarding blood.

As Christians, they are bound by the bible's words in "the Apostolic Decree". Ironically, this decree was the first official decision communicated to the various congregations by the twelve faithful apostles (and a handful of other "older men" which the apostles had chosen to add to the first century Christian governing body in Jerusalem). God and Christ apparently felt (and feel) that respect for blood is quite important.

Here is what the "Apostolic Decree" said, which few self-described Christians obey or even respect:

(Acts 15:20) Write them [the various Christian congregations] to abstain from things polluted by idols and from fornication and from what is strangled and from blood.

(Acts 15:28-29) For the holy spirit and we ourselves have favored adding no further burden to you, except these necessary things, 29 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.


Quite explicitly, the Apostolic Decree plainly forbids the misuse of blood by Christians (despite the fact that nearly every other provision of former Jewish Mosaic Law was recognized as unnecessary). It seems odd therefore, that literally one Christian religion continues to teach that humans must not use blood for any purpose other than honoring Almighty God.

A better question would ask: How can other self-described Christian religions justify the fact that they don't even care if their adherents drink blood and eat blood products?


Jehovah's Witnesses recognize the repeated bible teaching that blood is specially "owned" by God, and must not be used for any human purpose. Witnesses do not have any superstitious aversion to testing or respectfully handling blood, and Witnesses believe these Scriptures apply to blood and the four primary components which approximate "blood". An individual Jehovah's Witness is likely to accept a targeted treatment for a targeted need, including a treatment which includes a minor fraction derived from plasma, platelets, and/or red/white blood cells.

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

Answer 9

Interesting that you point out ONLY JW's practices. Blood is sacred to Jehovah and IS specific to each person (why do you think there's type a, b, etc)? And trying to pick at the public's emotions by saying we force children to die is quite an unfair and cheap shot. Though its not even true. There are MANY alternatives available and very few ones die from refusal. And parents do not force it....they use their right to medical treatment. We teach children to UNDERSTAND (instead of follow rules blindly as many do) why certain things are wrong. At a certain age of maturity, whenever they're mature enough, they choose many a times to refuse because they KNOW that it is the right thing to do to please God and SHOULD anything happen, Jehovah is ALMIGHTY and WILL undo all bad effects in the near future after Armageddon. You can't judge the Bible by what ONE Christian does nor can you 'sum up' JW's by rumors you hear or ONE bad experience.

Answer 10

it is partly due to JWs that there has been so much research and develoment in blood substitutes. this was in some medical magasine. how many of the kids taken from their parents and given transfusions die anyway? just two things to think about, okay?