# PBS: Religion and Ethics

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Posted by Liberal Elder [TheLiberalElder] on October 31, 1999 at 16:47:54 {MDPAlM8llY3RTTYCED4sw1IXqCKa5s}:

Perhaps you are familiar with this program on PBS.
They have a provision on their web site to suggest
potential stories. Here is the address:

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/home.html

Rather than inundate them with suggestions about the
same topic, please post here if you think that they
should do a story about the blood issue. I believe
that they may come to this site and check out just
how much interest there is in such a story.

Here is the post that I sent to them:

It is widely known that Jehovah’s Witnesses do not accept blood transfusions and that many of
them have died as a result of their conscientious stand. What is not widely known is that a significant
number of Jehovah’s Witnesses disagree with the official teaching of the religion and feel that members
should be able to accept blood if needed to save a life.

The Watcthower Society (ruling hierarchy) will permit its members to accept some blood components, namely all of the components that make up blood plasma, but if they accept plasma itself or any of
the forbidden components (red cells, white cells, platelets or plasma) they must appear before a secret
tribunal known as a judicial committee where they face the hierarchy’s harshest sanction – disfellowshipping.

If they are disfellowshipped, Witnesses friends may not even say a greeting to them and all normal family
relationships with other Witnesses are severely restricted with there normally being no contact at all. Any witness who refuses to shun the person will also be disfellowshipped.

Recently, the Watchtower Society has instituted something of a scorched earth policy toward any member
who questions or disagrees with its mandates on blood. One well known case in the U.S. is that of Wayne
Rogers, a Witness ministerial servant from California. While checking their email, his wife came across
an email where he expressed support of the efforts to promote reform of this Watchtower doctrine. The man was promptly disfellowshipped despite his plea for mercy and desire to remain one of Jehovah's Witnesses. During the judicial hearings, it was made certain that there would be no witnesses or recording devices allowed. Shortly thereafter the man's JW wife decided to leave him after meeting with the elders without his presence, and was told not to reveal what counsel was given to her. Her reason for separating was that to remain with an "apostate" posed "absolute spiritual endangerment", even though he in no way hindered her religious activities.

This is the third case this year where the WTS has disfellowshipped a member simply for expressing doubt
or disagreement with their current policy. The issue has attracted the attention of medical ethicists and
has been well covered in the Journal of Medical Ethics and the Western Journal of Medicine.

There are a number of important ethical questions raised by this situation:

1. Are Jehovah’s Witnesses being coerced into supporting a policy that they don’t agree with?

2. Is it ethical for the Watchtower to disfellowship members for simply expressing their conscientious views, sometimes privately as in an email?

3. What is the ethical justification for Jehovah’s Witnesses using huge quantities of blood required to supply the blood components and medicines they do accept, yet never donating to help replenish the blood supply? (Members who donate blood will be disfellowshipped.)

4. When an unconscious member is brought to the emergency room, how can the physician truly know what his wishes are? ( In a recent case a twenty-one year old Witness man was brought to the emergency room following a severe accident. He had one of the Watchtower’s no blood cards and his family told the staff that he would not want blood. But when he became conscious and learned that he would probably die without blood, he asked for the transfusion.) Physicians tell us that this is not unusual, so we must ask what of those Witnesses who weren’t fortunate enough to regain consciousness?

I believe that all of the six million current Witnesses and nearly as many former or inactive Witnesses as well as most physicians would find this an interesting topic for your program. I will post this item at one
of the Witness message boards so that you can see what kind of interest exists. Here is the address:

http://www.hourglass2.org/wwwboard/hourglass2board.alt.html

The title of the post will be: PBS: Religion & Ethics

Those wishing to learn more about this troubling development should visit the web site of the Associated Jehovah’s Witnesses for Reform on Blood at www.ajwrb.org

- AJWRB

Follow Ups:

- *PBS: Religion and Ethics Rational 05:41:10 11/01/99 (0)
- *PBS: Religion and Ethics Lodida 22:35:33 10/31/99 (0)
- *PBS: Religion and Ethics jimmyjames 21:32:36 10/31/99 (0)
- *PBS: Religion and Ethics Snowball 19:45:57 10/31/99 (0)
- *PBS: Religion and Ethics staceyb 18:57:49 10/31/99 (0)
- *PBS: Religion and Ethics Thes 18:00:14 10/31/99 (0)
- *PBS: Religion and Ethics Believer 17:29:39 10/31/99 (0)
- *PBS: Religion and Ethics ExDub 17:26:13 10/31/99 (0)

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