In 1978 Jim Jones caused the death of over 900 people, most of them his trusting followers. It was all over the news and we were shocked that such a horrendous thing had happened.
Again, in 1993 when David Koresh caused the death of about 75 of his followers, it was an awful thing to actually see on television the building burning, knowing people were trapped inside.
The Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Brooklyn New York, in 1945 banded blood transfusions for any of their members, Jehovah’s Witnesses. Why? They say that a transfusion is the same as eating blood which is against God’s law and anyone who receives a blood transfusion is guilty of disobedience to God and worthy of death.
How many thousands of people have died because of this Watch Tower teaching, and it seems that most of the media couldn’t care less. Why is that? Are these lives not important? Maybe there’s no media attention because when only one person dies at a time, and just laying in a hospital bed it is not sensational enough to sell. I hope that this is not the case.
There have been weekend Jehovah’s Witness conventions at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium and this past Saturday as well as the Saturday before, I decided to go with protest signs to bring some attention to this unnecessary loss of life that continues to happen.
We stood across the street from the Auditorium grounds where the majority of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, who were close enough to read the signs, averted their eyes but I could see that still a large number of Witnesses did stand and read the signs mostly from across the street. The first Saturday, no Jehovah’s Witnesses spoke with me at all. This past Saturday Grace Gough, a former Jehovah’s Witness of twenty five years was with me and a few Witnesses did come over with questions regarding some statements on the signs.
My heart went out to these Jehovah’s Witnesses as I stood observing the crowds that included a lot of small children with their young parents. It saddened me to think that any one of these children could someday be dying in a hospital bed because the Watch Tower’s governing body, about a dozen elderly men in Brooklyn N.Y., have convinced the grieving parents that their child must die rather than have a live saving blood transfusion.
Yes, I have heard the argument from Witnesses that there are bloodless medical procedures that can be even more effective at saving lives than transfusions. I believe that and think that in some cases there are wonderful alternatives, but that does not change the fact that in thousands of cases a transfusion was the only option to save a life and the life was lost because a transfusion was rejected.
Jehovah’s Witnesses need to keep in mind that this same organization, The Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society also taught that vaccinations were against God’s law and that organ transplants were the same as cannibalism before they decided that both were ok after all.
Just two years before banning blood transfusions the Watch Tower stated in their 1943 book entitled ‘The Truth Shall Make You Free’ on page #285, “Man on earth can no more get rid of these demonic “heavens” than man can by airplane or rockets or other means get above the air envelope which is about our earthly globe and in which man breathes.”
If you are a Jehovah’s Witness are you willing to allow yourself or perhaps your child to die refusing a blood transfusion because an organization that said man can’t get into orbit also said blood transfusions are against God’s law?
Edward Brown
Grace Gough, a former Jehovah’s Witness of 25 years, with our protest signs across Sherbourne Avenue from the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium On Saturday July 9th.