Jehovah's Witnesses Status in Germany
posted 1/25/01
The Tageszeitung (Daily Newspaper) of Berlin published several articles on September 20 regarding the Jehovah's Witnesses. This was the day on which a federal court was to rule on whether the sect should be recognized as a religion or not. The lead article in the paper was entitled "For a long time there has been no room for everyone in Paradise." Reporter Christian Rath wrote, among other things:
The Jehovah's Witnesses expect the end of the world, and yet strive to improve their legal status. Critics place them in the area of psycho-sects. They counter this by pointing to their firmly held beliefs during the Third Reich.
Dressed simply and smartly they stand on the street corners and wait for people to speak to them. In their hands they hold their magazines Watchtower and Awake. In the downtown areas of cities the Jehovah's Witnesses are almost an integral part of the scene. Many view the "Witnesses" simply as "harmless story-tellers," who are nevertheless annoying when they knock on the front door on Sunday and ask to speak "about the Faith."
In contrast to other Christian denominations Jehovah's Witnesses, as they call themselves, do not believe all Christians are going to heaven. Rather, they believe the Bible teaches that only 144,000 people will go to heaven. However, there is a promise for the rest. They will find "paradise on earth" when God's kingdom has "destroyed" "those who corrupt the earth."
This waiting for God's destruction crusade sounds somewhat militant to outsiders, but the Witnesses find their faith "refreshingly different." They still expect paradise in the immediate future. Every piece of bad news about environmental and natural catastrophes, wars, and immorality is simultaneously, for them, good news, proof that we are living "in the time of the end." Previous predictions about the actual end of the world, such as in 1914 and 1975, did not come true. The religious community has had to reinterpret its prophecies after the fact.
For about ten years now the Jehovah's Witnesses have been trying to be recognized as a non-profit organization, as other churches are. They would then be exempt from basic earnings and inheritance taxes, could minister better to their members in hospital or prison, or even impose church taxes. The last is completely uninteresting to the society: its 190,000 members [in Germany] are so closely tied to the Witnesses that there is no lack of "voluntary donations."
Up till now these efforts have been futile for the Jehovah's Witnesses. In 1997 the Federal Administrative Court in Berlin denied this recognition on the grounds that members do not participate in political elections, thus undermining the "legitimacy of the state." Today the Federal Constitutional Court [equivalent to the U.S. Supreme Court] in Karlsruhe is considering these questions. The legal conflict, being discussed publicly, is rather counterproductive since the Jehovah's Witnesses have become more visible to the counter-cult fighters. The charges of former "Witnesses" raised a lot of attention, since they were so similar to (other) psycho-cults.
"The Jehovah's Witnesses are a totalitarian organization," says, for example, Hans- Jrgen Twisselmann, "because they dictate even the most personal matters in life." Twisselmann, who left the Witnesses already during the '50s, founded the Brderbund [Brothers Society], an organization that provides help to those who leave the religion. Twisslemann has observed that those who choose to leave the group are those who had a previous life before joining the Witnesses. On the other hand, those who grew up in this environment from birth can hardly conceive of any other life.
"I don't use the word 'brainwashing' because that word implies force," said Norwegian ex-Witness Joseph Wilting. It's more a matter of "a refined art of convincing people not to think for themselves anymore." Even from early childhood the strict rules of the faith act to isolate the children from others of the same age [outside the group]. It is forbidden to attend children's birthday parties, "because the individual is put very much in the center of attention." The only ones who can be regarded as good friends are those who support the young people in their "preaching work," that is, other Jehovah's Witnesses.
Also shocking is the treatment of "apostates," as those who leave are known within the group. They automatically lose all their friends and fall into social "nothing." The Jehovah's Witnesses base even this on the Bible. Besides Twisselmann's Brothers' Society, a "Network of former Jehovah's Witnesses" concerns itself about such ex-members.
Naturally, even Jehovah's Witnesses have noticed that in the meantime the wind is blowing in their faces. Internally that is viewed as the normal result of their proselytism; externally they go on the offensive. The press is constantly pointed to allegedly false information. No, alcohol use is not forbidden to Witnesses, only its abuse. Yes, Jehovah's Witnesses also have free time in which they watch TV, go to movies, or engage in sports -- an average of 14.2 hours a week, while religious activity consumes 17.5. No, the Witnesses are really not a totalitarian sect. "We only baptize those who have made an expressed decision to join Jehovah's Witnesses after a long trial period," Bernd Klar, press speaker for the organization, emphasized. "It is much more difficult to become a Witness than it is to leave." (Translation by LAP)
Companion articles to the above were entitled "How Stephan Erich Wolf makes Trouble for the Jehovah's Witnesses," "Struggle for Recognition," and "The Apostate" (about Stephan Erich Wolf).
Blood transfusions
There were several articles concerning the Jehovah's Witnesses' stance on blood transfusions. Two e-mail messages from Christoph Bussen (cult expert in the Roman Catholic bishopric of Speyer, Germany) addressed this problem. He mentions the recent attempts by the Watchtower Society to present itself to the public in a better light (though not in a "brighter light"). On September 13 he wrote:
Now and then the inhumane doctrine about blood transfusions comes up and smokescreens put in place.
In order to remove all doubt on the stance of the Watchtower on this matter, the latest issue of the Watchtower (October 15, 2000) contains a clarification. Under the heading "Questions from Readers" (p. 30f) a definitive statement is offered regarding blood transfusions of all kinds in which blood has left the circulatory system of the donor. It is still forbidden even to store one's own blood prior to scheduled operations. "Such a procedure contradicts the Law of God." "Therefore we do not donate blood, and neither do we store our own blood, which must be 'shed,' for a later transfusion." (p. 31) (Translation by LAP)
Bussen also refers to the case of a Jehovah's Witness who, in spite of this rule, accepted a blood transfusion, saying, "He is no longer a Jehovah's Witness. Disfellowshiping no longer has to be expressly declared, since the act [of receiving a transfusion] itself constitutes a complete separation from Jehovah."
The next day Bussen followed up with:
In discussions the difficulties of the spiritual anguish of those affected [by the issue of blood transfusions among Jehovah's Witnesses] is hardly ever communicated. A Jehovah's Witness is faced with the paradoxical situation of having to choose between death or death. Refusing blood [transfusions] can cost him his life. However, if he chooses to have a transfusion and doesn't repent of it he must reckon with a horrible death caused by Jehovah in the soon-to-come end time battle. I also can't shake the impression that the Watchtower Society plays fast and loose in public with certain words. Thus they often speak of a "free decision of the con- science" of the Witnesses regarding questions about blood (the same goes for voting). What they mean, though, is "biblically trained conscience," and what that means [is that] a Witness must decide the way the Watchtower Society has decided. Only in this way is he "in the Truth." (Translation by LAP)
Two articles reported on the case of a 15-year-old girl from Northern Ireland who suffers from kidney failure and whose life was in jeopardy as a result. The girl is a Jehovah's Witness, as is her father, and both had refused to authorize a blood transfusion which would likely be needed if she received a kidney transplant. The girl's mother, not a Witness and separated from her husband, was said to have authorized proceeding with the operation. A Belfast judge ruled on September 22 that "it was in the child's best interest to undergo a transplant operation and that the surgical team should be able to administer a blood transfusion if this was necessary," according to the BBC.
In a similar case in Alberta, Canada, a 16-year-old girl suffering from unusually heavy and prolonged menstrual bleeding and in need of a dilatation and curettage to stop the bleeding refused to permit the blood transfusion that such a procedure would require. Her parents, also Witnesses, supported her decision. Intervention by a judge led to the treatment being carried out, and now the girl is physically healthy. However, one of her lawyers, Glen How, said she "is still recovering from bullying, scare tactics and medical arrogance," as the Edmonton Journal paraphrased him. He added, "The thing is, we regard it as just the same as if she had been raped."
Dorsey Griffith, Medical Writer for the Sacramento Bee, wrote about another case on September 24:
Jos, Ordu¤o lay dying. Doctors grumbled about their lack of options. And Ordu¤o's sister, Angelica, wondered how she would tell their frail mother that he had refused life- saving blood transfusions because of his faith.
"You walk around with your arms tied behind your back," said Mercy San Juan Hospital trauma surgeon Leon Owens. "It's torture."
But Ordu¤o didn't die. After two weeks in the hospital, breathing through a tube in his throat, the baby-faced 34-year-old was offered a long shot: an experimental therapy made from the blood of cattle.
Before sunup July 21, Ordu¤o was nearing the end of his 40-minute bike ride to McDonald's on Madison Avenue near Sunrise Boulevard, where he worked making salads, when he was hit by a car. He remembers nothing of the accident, but learned later that he was thrown about 90 feet, and that the driver of the car that hit him fled. Ordu¤o arrived at Mercy San Juan with a gash to the back of his head, bruised lungs and several broken ribs, including the bone under the collar, which is not easy to break. "It's like a wooden doughnut," said Owens. "When it's broken, a little light goes on: This guy has really had a beating."
Ordu¤o was losing blood, which was filling his chest cavity. That led to dangerously low levels of hemoglobin, the protein molecule that carries oxygen in the red blood cells to the heart, brain, kidneys and other vital organs. Without oxygen, tissue dies.
Owens ordered a blood transfusion.
After Ordu¤o had received two units of a donor's blood, he awoke to tell the doctors and nurses surrounding him that he didn't want any more.
The transfusion was halted.
Although Ordu¤o never officially has been baptized a Jehovah's Witness, he would explain later that he subscribes to the denomination's doctrine and is well-versed in its practices. "I know in the text where it mentions that we should not receive blood by mouth or by transfusion," he said.
His belief is based on several Biblical passages, including Leviticus 17:12-14: "No soul of you shall eat blood whosoever eateth it shall be cut off."
The faith's prohibition against transfusions has inspired debates within the medical and religious communities: Should a person's freedom to worship overrule a doctor's oath to do everything possible to save that person's life?
Even among Jehovah's Witnesses, the blood policy is controversial. A group calling itself the Associated Jehovah's Witnesses for Reform on Blood maintains a Web site dedicated to analyzing the no-blood doctrine.
Owens said he had to respect Ordu¤o's wishes. But he did so grudgingly. "You have a lot of margin of error with blood," he said. "With this guy, every drop you lose is lost." A local representative from the Jehovah's Witnesses Hospital Liaison Committee was summoned. Owens told him that Ordu¤o would die without more blood. Already, the patient's hemoglobin levels measured just 3 grams per 100 ccs of blood; a normal level is 12 grams. Owens had never seen anyone live with less than 2 grams.
"We discussed his vital signs, his fluid output, his hemoglobin, his respiration," said Gregory Brown, the representative. Brown suggested ways to manage the patient without more blood, but would not yield on the transfusion.
Owens couldn't perform surgery to stanch the bleeding without further blood loss. So he tried other innovative procedures.
He gave Ordu¤o nitric oxide for more than a week, using the treatment as part of a clinical trial. Researchers have found that the gas helps the blood vessels pull oxygen across membranes that have bruised and swelled, as had happened in Ordu¤o's case. At the same time, Owens tried to stimulate Ordu¤o's bone marrow to generate more hemoglobin using a drug called Epogen. But Epogen takes weeks to work, time that Ordu¤o likely didn't have.
Meanwhile, Ordu¤o's sister Angelica had arrived from her home in Guanajuato, Mexico. Doctors told her of his decision and, not being a Jehovah's Witness, it deeply disturbed her.
She spent days at his bedside. When the nurses kicked her out at 4:30 a.m., she slept in a lobby chair. She couldn't talk to Jos,, who was heavily medicated and hooked up to a ventilator.
"I was scared," she said, turning to shield her eyes as they filled with tears. "I couldn't do anything."
Angelica stayed in touch with their sisters and brothers back home, but kept the news from their ailing mother, who, she said, wouldn't be able to cope if she knew of her son's impending death.
Ordu¤o was barely hanging on, already showing signs of heart failure and vulnerability to deadly infection. "Every day we thought, this is the day," said Robynn Gough-Smith, the trauma program manager.
About two weeks into the ordeal, Dr. Roy Semlacher, a plastic surgeon, overheard another doctor discussing the case. "I know exactly what to use," he told them.
Semlacher knew of a Cambridge, Mass., company called Biopure that had developed an alternative therapy for situations in which patients can't -- or won't -- accept blood transfusions.
A case in which the drug had been used had been published in the June 1 edition of the New England Journal of Medicine. The article described how the therapy had saved the life of a young woman whose own immune system was destroying her red blood cells.
Semlacher called Biopure. Dr. Edward Jacobs, senior vice president of medical affairs for the company, said Ordu¤o sounded like a good candidate for their drug Hemopure. Jacobs quickly got approval from the Food and Drug Administration to provide the drug on a compassionate-use basis.
The hospital called Brown to discuss whether Hemopure would be an acceptable alternative to whole blood. Brown agreed that the substance did not constitute a major blood component, as would plasma or red blood cells, which would be prohibited.
"Medicine has found ways of breaking down the components into many tiny pieces," he said. "We are saying, that becomes a matter of conscience because the Bible doesn't really address that."
Hemopure is made from cattle red blood cells that have been ultra-purified, processed and mixed with a salt solution. It can be given to anyone, regardless of blood type, said Jacobs. The drug is being tested in several clinical trials, and the company hopes to apply for permission to market it next year.
Packets of Hemopure arrived within two days of Semlacher's call. After getting the drug intravenously over three or four days, Ordu¤o's hemoglobin level shot up, reviving his body's ability to produce new oxygen-carrying red blood cells.
When Ordu¤o woke up from his drug-induced slumber, about a month after the ordeal began, Angelica was there. Seeing her face, he didn't know if he was in Mexico or the United States, where he has lived since 1997.
His sister told him about the accident and how he almost died, and about the drug made from cow blood that had saved his life.
He told his sister he didn't remember refusing the transfusion and never knew his life was in danger. But he said he agreed with his own dazed decision.
The doctors and nurses, the drug maker, the Jehovah's Witnesses -- everyone involved -- were elated at Ordu¤o's recovery.
Ordu¤o left the hospital on Sept. 10. His breathing is still labored and his right arm difficult to move after six weeks motionless and tethered to a hospital bed. But he is eager to work again in his adopted homeland. Angelica, meanwhile, plans to return home to Mexico where she can deliver the good news to their mother.
Finally, on September 28 Associated Jehovah's Witnesses for Reform on Blood issued a press release, which read, in part:
Jehovah's Witnesses have long been known for their rejection of blood and blood- component transfusion, even when it is necessary to save life. In a remarkable change in policy, the Witnesses' governing body announced in the June 15, 2000 issue of its official church publication The Watchtower, that members may now accept "fractions of any of the primary components" of blood. (Italics added) Previously, Witnesses who accepted a transfusion of blood fractions other than those found in plasma faced possible expulsion and enforced shunning by church members.
This change in policy was particularly timely for one man. According to a September 24, 2000 article in the Sacramento Bee, a patient was recently transfused with Hemopure , a highly purified oxygen-carrying hemoglobin solution made from fractionated bovine (cow) blood and manufactured by Biopure Corporation.
That approval of the use of hemoglobin marks a notable change in the WatchTower Society's policy is readily seen from its own published statements:
"Is it wrong to sustain life by administering a transfusion of blood or plasma or red cells or others of the component parts of the blood? Yes! The prohibition includes "any blood at all." (Leviticus 3:17) -- Blood, Medicine and the Law of God, 1961, pp. 13, 14
".various tonics and tablets sold by druggists show on their labels that they contain blood fractions such as hemoglobin. So it is necessary for one to be alert. if they are to keep themselves 'without spot from the world.'-Jas. 1:27." The Watchtower, 9/15/61, p. 557.
"Early in man's history, our Creator ruled that humans should not eat blood. (Genesis 9:3, 4) He stated that blood represents life, which is a gift from him. Blood removed from a creature could be used only in sacrifice, such as on the altar. Otherwise, blood from a creature was to be poured on the ground, in a sense giving it back to God It would be right, of course, to avoid products that listed things such as blood, blood plasma, plasma, globin (or globulin) protein, or hemoglobin (or globin) iron." The Watchtower, 10/15/92 -- Questions From Readers. (Italics added)
As recently as 1998 two officials from the Watchtower Society's "Hospital Information Services" wrote that Jehovah's Witnesses "do not accept hemoglobin which is a major part of red blood cells Jehovah's Witnesses do not accept a blood substitute which uses hemoglobin taken from a human or animal source." Bailey R, Ariga T. The view of Jehovah's Witnesses on blood substitutes. Artif Cells Blood Substit Immobil Biotechnol 1998; 26:571-576.
The policy on hemoglobin and other blood fractions was changed in the June 15, 2000 issue of The Watchtower. This latest change may in fact cause further confusion for many Witnesses since products like Hemopure are derived from large quantities of stored animal blood. Numerous witnesses have questioned the logic of such an internally inconsistent dogma. Some believe that the governing body of Jehovah's Witnesses is simply changing its long-standing doctrine gradually to avoid legal problems anticipated with an overt change to a policy that has resulted in so many deaths over the years.
The "compassionate use" program makes Hemopure available where a life- threatening situation exists and compatible red blood cell transfusion is 1) not available, 2) not effective, or 3) not acceptable to the patient. Requests for "compassionate use" availability of Hemopure may come from the family or doctor of the patient; thereafter the patient, the patient's medical institution, and Biopure must approve the request, which is then forwarded along with details of the case for final approval by the FDA. Approval is made on a case-by-case basis, and in those cases where it has been approved, it has been made available within a few days.
from:
Lawrence A. (Larry) Pile
Wellspring Retreat & Resource Center
PO Box 67
Albany OH 45710
740-698-6277
740-698-2053 (fax)
freemind@wellspringretreat.org
lapile@frognet.net
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