What do you do if your baby is born needing a platelet transfusion? The answer is clear: but the opposite of what you’d expect if you’re a Jehovah’s Witness.
Recently, the Red Cross sent out the following email to platelet donors, along with the photo shown here:
The Morgan family welcomed their seemingly healthy baby boy, Chase, in January 2014. However, one day after his birth, blood work revealed that Chase was born with a rare, genetic blood disorder. The platelets in Chase’s blood were attacking each other and he needed several platelet transfusions to help him survive.
Because of dedicated platelet donors, like you, Chase’s condition was resolved through the transfusions and his family brought him home a few days later. The Morgan family is grateful for you and the other donors who helped their son.
Donating platelets is a great way to help patients of all needs and ages. Platelets have a shelf life of just five days, so they must be replenished constantly. Weekend donations are especially needed.
Now, to a Jehovah’s Witness, trained in the ways of the Watchtower, the above is all wrong. As every Witness knows, platelets are on the Watchtower’s banned list of blood products (unless, of course they’re fractionated first.) According to Watchtower belief, if these parents had “put the Kingdom first” they would’ve refused platelets for Chase and watched him die. Then they could’ve looked forward to the New Order where a new perfect body would be created, which they could call “Chase” — a body infused with Chase’s personality and memories (of which there were none formed as yet.)
The Watchtower’s view would be that these were selfish parents who interfered with Jehovah’s plans! Not to mention the volunteers, doctors, and nurses: all conspiring against Jehovah’s Kingdom.
Of course, donating platelets is also out of the question for a Jehovah’s Witness. Why? Because blood is supposed to be “poured out on the ground” (according to an old biblical law in a set of laws that the Watchtower admits are no longer in effect.) Though how blood poured out on the ground ever comes to be fractionated for their use is a mystery that even the Watchtower does not presume to solve.
To put it succinctly: Jehovah wanted baby Chase to die. This was Jehovah’s will: preferring to see a baby die rather than be saved by a simple medical procedure. Why? Because that procedure involved platelets which are “blood” — even though all the constituent parts of the platelets are not blood according to the Watchtower. So, when it comes to life-or-death decisions about their babies, above all other considerations, Witnesses cling to the precept of “let thy will be done” — a will defined for them by the writers of the Watchtower.
Speaking of blood: if right about now your own is beginning to boil, let me tell you that I’m right there with you. The Watchtower has spouted a lot of stupid things in its short history, and its followers have been duped into believing some incredible nonsense. But this one takes the grand booby prize. It is indefensible, and I’m asking every Jehovah’s Witness in the world to examine this life-and-death belief and to give it up once they see that it is the height of ignorance and immorality. To start you off on your examination (since you will have already heard all of the Watchtower’s arguments in favor of letting babies die for want of transfusions) please see the following articles:
- The Jehovah’s Witness Blood Issue: Resolved!
- Watchtower: A Bloody Mother Thou Art!
- How a Leech Sucked the Lifeblood from the Watchtower
- Layers of Truth (book)