Vol. 6, No. 7, 1989

Articles on Jehovah's Witnesses

John Whaley

In Leviticus 17:10-14 and Genesis 9:4, God forbids His people to eat or drink any manner of blood. Using these verses as prooftexts, Jehovah's Witnesses have developed a doctrine forbidding any Witness from accepting a blood transfusion.

This practice has resulted in the deaths of many Witnesses, including the children of Witnesses. Due to their stand on this issue, they have naturally faced great opposition, especially from the medical profession. However, within the past two years, they have developed a new strategy to deal with the tremendous opposition.

This strategy is outlined in a recent tape distributed to elders in the Kingdom Halls. This tape was made available at the recent "Witnesses Free in Christ" convention in Brandon, Florida, by a Witness who had recently left the organization. In this tape, the speaker discusses the role of a special department established in January, 1988, at the Watchtower headquarters in Brooklyn, New York. Known as Hospital Information Services, this department was established to build a closer working relationship between the Watchtower and the medical profession as well as to provide information and assistance to Witnesses facing difficult medical situations where blood transfusions are recommended.

Since its inception, the department has compiled a list of over 5,000 cooperating doctors from nine major medical specialties and has established 99 hospital committees in the major medical centers throughout the nation. The purpose of the committees is to have Witnesses who are trained in how to approach doctors and hospitals concerning the blood issue. Through the use of the latest research in bloodless surgery and other techniques not requiring the use of blood, these committee members strive to build strong working relationships with doctors.

Whereas this strategy may seem harmless on the surface, it is opening numerous doors for the Witnesses in proselyting those in the medical profession thus making their stand seem much more legitimate. Unfortunately, the real issue is ignored.

While there might be health benefits to bloodless surgery and medical authorities to support their cause, those are not the reasons behind the refusal to accept blood transfusions. The reason is based on a faulty understanding of Scripture given by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society which is blindly accepted by Witnesses. As one studies the Biblical references indepth, one discovers that the verses refer to a dietary law and do not even hint that it is to be applied to transfusions. Besides that, these commands were given thousands of years before transfusions were even invented!

Thus, the Witnesses continue waging "war," fighting for their rights to refuse blood transfusions: a war based on a policy resulting in unnecessary deaths which could be reversed overnight by an elite group of men in Brooklyn known as the Governing Body.