I am writing to alert you that your government has been deceived by
representatives of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society (the primary
legal corporation of the Jehovah's Witnesses) in relation to European
Commission of Human Rights Application No. 28626/95 [1].
The application concerned the re-registration of the Bulgarian branch of the
society KRISTIANSKO SDRUZHENIE "SVIDETELI NA IEHOVA" (Christian
Association
Jehovah's Witnesses). As I understand the situation, concessions were
negotiated between the Bulgarian Government and KRISTIANSKO SDRUZHENIE
"SVIDETELI NA IEHOVA" in relation to alternative military service and
free
choice regarding blood transfusions.
It has recently come to my attention that the Watch Tower Bible and Tract
Society, through its official journal "The Watchtower" and through
announcements to the public media and by internal memos, has modified its
official stance in relation to whether individual Jehovah's Witnesses have
free choice regarding blood transfusions. This directly affects the
agreement negotiated in March 1998 between the government of Bulgaria and
the society KRISTIANSKO SDRUZHENIE "SVIDETELI NA IEHOVA".
The first way in which the Watch Tower Society modified its teaching is in
harmony with this official agreement. An article in the official journal
"The Watchtower" asks the question, "Do Jehovah's Witnesses
accept any
medical products derived from blood?" [2]. The article answers that
"Jehovah's Witnesses hold that accepting whole blood or any of those four
primary components (red cells, white cells, platelets and plasma) violates
God's law." The article goes on to state that only in relation to fractions
of these four major components of blood are Jehovah's Witnesses allowed to
make their own conscientious decision whether to accept such or not. This
represents a positive change from the previous policy that explicitly
disallowed most blood fractions containing hemoglobin.
The second way in which the Watch Tower Society has modified its policy has
to do with the specific agreement finally reached between it and the
government of Bulgaria. As of June 2000, if a Jehovah's Witness accepts a
transfusion of blood or of one or more of its four major components, there
will be one of three outcomes in relation to that individual's standing in
the Jehovah's Witness organisation. If the individual, during formal or
informal counseling sessions by Jehovah's Witness elders, acknowledges that
he has sinned against God and expresses heartfelt repentance, he will be
allowed to remain in good standing. If after counseling he expresses that he
feels that his actions were proper, he will be deemed to have disassociated
himself by accepting the transfusion and will be completely shunned exactly
as if he had been disfellowshipped (excommunicated). If he refuses to meet
with Jehovah's Witness elders, and the elders decide that he has indeed
taken some form of "blood transfusion", the local elders such as those
in
Bulgaria, and the Watch Tower organisation, will deem him to have
disassociated himself.
These new policies are clearly stated in the Watch Tower Society's recent
internal memo to Hospital Liaison Committees [3] as well as in a press
release from the Jehovah's Witnesses Public Affairs Office in Brooklyn, New
York, dated 14 June 2000 [4].
Whilst Jehovah's Witnesses may attempt to distinguish between those who
supposedly choose to leave voluntarily ("he has 'disassociated'
himself")
and those who are forcibly expelled (disfellowshipped by the local elders
and the Watch Tower organisation), in reality there is no difference
whatsoever. The result is that a sanction has been imposed and the person is
shunned by the entire community of Jehovah's Witnesses. The difference is
strictly semantic, a distinction without a difference. In point of fact, the
disassociation contrivance is a speedier expulsion process.
The threat of such action is a powerful deterrent for an individual to make
a free choice in the matter of blood transfusions and, in my view, amounts
to undue coercion and an automatic sanction, in complete violation of the
Watch Tower Society's agreement with the government of Bulgaria in
Application No. 28626/95, Part II, Section 2.1., that "les patients Témoins
de Jéhovah recourent systématiquement aux soins médicaux pour eux-mêmes et
leurs enfants ; il appartient à chacun d'entre eux d'utiliser son libre
arbitre, sans aucun contrôle et sanction de la part de la requérante", or
in
English, "that members should have free choice in the matter for themselves
and their children, without any control or sanction on the part of the
association." The looming threat of sanction robs members of such free
choice.
If a Jehovah's Witness takes a blood transfusion and refuses to meet with
local elders, the Watch Tower Society as of June 2000 authorizes these local
elders to declare that the person has by his actions implicitly pronounced a
sanction upon himself, namely, that he has "disassociated" himself by
explicitly rejecting this tenet of the teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses,
even if the person does not actually and explicitly and formally so declare,
and even if he explicitly and publicly announces that he has not done so.
This declaration by local elders is by definition an automatic "sanction on
the part of the association" and a stratagem of speedy expulsion.
The Jehovah's Witnesses Public Affairs Office on 15 June, 2000 issued
another news release titled "Jehovah's Witnesses reaffirm religious
doctrine
on blood transfusions" [5]. This news release is a good example of how the
Watch Tower Society covers up and confuses issues, because it touches on
none of the important issues I've considered so far in this letter.
The Watch Tower Society's Public Affairs Office maintains a media website to
answer general questions [6]. In the section "Beliefs—Frequently Asked
Questions" it answers the question "Do you shun former members?"
[7]. The
answer given is: "Those who simply cease to be involved in the faith are
not
shunned..."
The answer given is not true. Those who "simply cease to be involved in
the
faith" by deliberately taking a blood transfusion will be automatically
sanctioned by being labeled by the Watch Tower Society as
"disassociated".
As discussed above, this implies complete shunning by non-family members and
virtually complete shunning by even intimate family members. The Watch Tower
Society makes this policy explicit in the 14 June 2000 press release:
"If a baptized member of the faith willfully and without regret accepts
blood transfusions, he indicates by his own actions that he no longer wishes
to be one of Jehovah's Witnesses. The individual revokes his own membership
by his own actions, rather than the congregation initiating this step. This
represents a procedural change instituted in April 2000 in which the
congregation no longer initiates the action to revoke membership in such
cases. However, the end result is the same: the individual is no longer
viewed as one of Jehovah's Witnesses because he no longer accepts and
follows a core tenet of the faith."
Clearly, and despite the claim made in the press release, the act of "no
longer viewing the person as one of Jehovah's Witnesses" with consequent
shunning is a step taken, not by the person who took a blood transfusion,
but by a local body of elders of Jehovah's Witnesses who are instructed to
act by the Watch Tower Society. This constitutes an automatic sanction and
directly violates the agreement supposedly reached between the Watch Tower
Society and the Bulgarian government.
No doubt the Jehovah's Witnesses you meet appear to be honest, pleasant,
unassuming people. But beware, they will not be truthful if it suits their
purpose. They rationalise such untruthfulness by claiming that their first
allegiance is to God, who solely has the right to demand complete
truthfulness.
In European Commission of Human Rights Application No. 28626/95, "In
respect
of the refusal of blood transfusion, the applicant association submits that
there are no religious sanctions for a Jehovah's Witness who chooses to
accept blood transfusion" [8] but as stated in the letter to Hospital
Liaison Committees: "The individual is no longer viewed as a member of the
Christian Congregation because he no longer accepts and follows the Biblical
prohibition to abstain from blood." [9]. Again, the Watch Tower Society's
publicly stated policy directly violates the application made to the
European Commission of Human Rights.
I must now ask, "Do Jehovah's Witnesses practice their faith differently
in
Bulgaria from the rest of the world, or just profess to practice it
differently in Bulgaria to suit their present political goals in this
country?" The answer is self evident.
[1] INFORMATION NOTE No. 148 on the 276th Session of the European Commission
of Human Rights; http://194.250.50.201/eng/E276INFO.148.html and
http://194.250.50.201/eng/28626.28.html
[2] "The Watchtower", 15 June 2000, page 29;
http://www.stormloader.com/shaun/blood-WT6-15-00.htm
[3] http://ajwrb.org/basics/wtletter6-16-00.jpg
[4] http://www.orthodoxstudies.org/cults/jwpressrelease6-14-00.jpg and
http://www.watchman.org/jwpressrelease6-14-00.jpg
[5] http://www.jw-media.org/releases/default.htm?content=000615.htm
[6] http://www.jw-media.org
[7] http://www.jw-media.org/beliefs/beliefsfaq.htm
[8] http://www.dhcommhr.coe.fr/eng/28626CP.E.html
[9] http://ajwrb.org/basics/wtletter6-16-00.jpg
Regards
Kent Steinhaug
Watchtower Observer
Tlf: (+47)35 59 49 00 - Fax: (+47)35 59 00 80
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