{"id":2365,"date":"2016-04-01T19:59:00","date_gmt":"2016-04-02T00:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/smmcroberts.net\/blog\/?p=2365"},"modified":"2016-04-01T19:59:00","modified_gmt":"2016-04-02T00:59:00","slug":"how-a-leech-sucked-the-lifeblood-out-of-the-watchtower","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.watchtowerhelp.club\/blog\/2016\/04\/01\/how-a-leech-sucked-the-lifeblood-out-of-the-watchtower\/","title":{"rendered":"How a Leech Sucked the Lifeblood Out of the Watchtower"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Watchtower<\/a><\/p>\n

“For his invisible qualities are clearly seen from the world\u2019s creation onward, because they are perceived by the things made\u201d
\nRomans 1:20 (NWT, 2013 ed.)<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In the scripture quoted above, the Bible informs us that the creator’s qualities are clearly seen from the \u201cthings made\u201d (i.e. from the reality of the natural world around us.) In fact, this is a favorite quote for Jehovah’s Witnesses to cite when they encounter an atheist. <\/span><\/p>\n

We’ll take this verse as our text, and see if the \u201cthings made\u201d support the qualities that the Watchtower attributes to its god Jehovah.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"leech-1055446_640\"<\/a>We’ll start with the leech: a little critter that lives by sucking blood out of other animals. The leech, formerly used to remove \u201cbad blood\u201d when bloodletting was seen as a virtual panacea, is sill used in the medical field, on occasion, in microsurgery.<\/span><\/p>\n

As you might suspect, the Watchtower has a law regarding this:<\/span><\/p>\n

“\u2026it would not be proper for a Christian to permit leeches to draw his blood.”
\n—Watchtower 1982 June 15 p.31<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Why<\/i><\/span> would it not be proper? The Watchtower’s reasoning is that their god Jehovah holds blood as sacred:<\/span><\/p>\n

God stated… that the life, or soul, of all creatures is represented by the blood. That decree also establishes that Jehovah, the Source of life, will hold to account all humans who disrespect life and blood.
\n—God’s Love (WBTS, 2014) p. 75<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Along these same lines, the Watchtower has declared that it would be wrong for us to allow our pets to eat blood:<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Question:<\/b><\/span><\/span> Would it be a violation of the Scriptures for a Christian to permit a veterinarian to give blood transfusions to a pet? <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Answer:<\/b><\/span><\/span> By all means, to do so would be a violation of the Scriptures\u2026<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Question:<\/b><\/span><\/span> What, then, of animal food? May it be used if there is reason to believe there is blood in it? <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Answer: <\/b><\/span><\/span>As far as a Christian is concerned, the answer is No, on the basis of principles already mentioned.
\n—Watchtower 1964 February 15 p. 127 \u2013 Questions From Readers<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Okay, but what about my pet leech? The poor little guy is going to starve to death without his blood meal! And when I feed my pet lion do I have to shoo him away from his meal when he starts lapping up the blood (as the Bible says he most certainly will: <\/span><\/span><\/span>Nu. 23:24<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/u><\/span><\/span>)? And what shall I do about my pet snake: he devours mice whole, without properly bleeding them first! <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

If the god Jehovah is responsible for the \u201cthings made,\u201d what is \u201cclearly seen\u201d is that Jehovah is not only perfectly okay with animals eating blood, but has in fact created some of them in such a way that they can survive by no other means than by eating blood! These critters are known as being <\/span><\/span><\/span>o<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/u><\/span><\/span>bligatory hematophagous<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/u><\/span><\/span><\/a>, which simply means that they <\/span><\/span><\/span>have to<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span> eat blood in order to live; <\/span><\/span><\/span>it’s the way they were <\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span>made<\/b><\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Some obligatory hematophagous critters you may be familiar with include bedbugs and female mosquitoes. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"mosquitonet3\"<\/a>Now, if Jehovah doesn’t want you to allow a leech to drink your blood, what about a mosquito? Surely, \u201con the basis of principles already mentioned\u201d it would ‘not be proper for a Christian to permit mosquitoes to drink his blood.’ Therefore, in order not to be hypocritical regarding the sacredness of blood, I henceforth expect to see all Jehovah’s Witnesses clad in mosquito-netting at all times and places whenever there is the slightest chance that one of these blood-drinking mosquitoes might be in the neighborhood.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Also, since we are to have all of the animals \u201cin subjection\u201d according to <\/span><\/span><\/span>Ge. 1:26<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/u><\/span><\/span>, I guess it’s up to us to ensure that they show the proper respect for blood. We will need to shoo away <\/span><\/span><\/span>all<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span> lions (not just pet lions) from their blood meals. We’ll have to detach the leeches, and chase away the lampreys,vampire bats, etc. And farmer Joe Witness had better go and drape some mosquito-netting over the cows grazing in his field. Sure, it’s a lot of work. But then, whoever said that the yoke for Christians was light and easy? (<\/span><\/span><\/span>Mt. 11:30<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/u><\/span><\/span>)<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

When an interpretation of a creator-god’s character is at such variance with his creation that we find ourselves fighting against nature to uphold that character, something is <\/span><\/span><\/span>terribly wrong<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span> with that interpretation. Something that overlooks the obvious.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The Obvious<\/h2>\n

The biblical rules about blood were never about <\/span><\/span><\/span>us<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span>. They were about <\/span><\/span><\/span>them:<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span> the animals killed for our food. Pouring out the blood of a slaughtered animal was a ritualistic way of symbolically acknowledging that the animal’s life did not belong to us. That is what is meant when the Bible says \u201cthe life is [represented] in the blood.\u201d <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

It is a ritual that has long since passed away. But it’s obvious that it never meant that the creator of the leech, mosquito, and bedbug was upset by any creature taking the blood of another in order to survive. If we believe there was a purposeful creator, then it’s obvious that he created many species to live by exactly this procedure. Evidently this creator even saw fit to equip such creatures with the ability to apply anti-coagulant and\/or anesthetic to their victims prior to extracting their blood, to ensure they could drink their fill before being detected! So, we should have no qualms about receiving blood from another individual in order to sustain our lives.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

To argue that \u201cthe Bible says blood transfusions are wrong\u201d is to argue against what the Bible says in our text: that we can derive the creator’s qualities from the creation. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The advice James came up with about \u201cabstaining from blood\u201d (<\/span><\/span><\/span>Acts 15:13-21<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/u><\/span><\/span>) must therefore have been a temporary constraint imposed upon Christians in a certain time and within a certain set of circumstances peculiar to them. This is, in fact, how all other Christian denominations interpret the \u201cabstain from blood\u201d advice: they take the <\/span><\/span><\/span>context<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span> into account.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

It is, in fact, something that the Watchtower also figured out long ago, but later forgot:<\/span><\/span><\/span>
\n\"C.T.<\/a><\/p>\n

Then they briefly summed up, not as Law, but as \u201cnecessary things,\u201d the following:\u2013<\/p>\n

(1) Abstain from sacrifices to idols;
\n(2) And from blood;
\n(3) And from things strangled;
\n(4) And from harlotry.<\/p>\n

..The things here recommended were necessary to a preservation of the fellowship of the \u201cBody\u201d composed of Jews and Gentiles of their different education and sentiments\u2026 the advice was that these be abstained from, because Jews certainly would consider the eating of such meats as participations in the heathen idolatry\u2026<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, it was advisable that the Gentile Christians abstain from the use of their liberty in this direction, out of deference to the weaker brethren, Jews and Gentiles, who could not so deeply philosophize and whose consciences might be injured.<\/p>\n

A similar thought attaches to the prohibition of the use of blood. To the Jew it was forbidden, and under his covenant it was made a symbol of life\u2013to partake of it would imply responsibility for the life taken\u2026 These prohibitions had never come to the Gentiles, because they had never been under the Law Covenant; but so deeply rooted were the Jewish ideas on this subject that it was necessary to the peace of the Church that the Gentiles should observe this matter also.<\/p>\n

\u2026If they did not wish to be contentious and cause divisions in the Church, the Gentile brethren would surely be willing to restrain or sacrifice their liberty respecting these matters.
\nThe Watch Tower 1909 April 15, p. 117<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Since there are no Jews today whose \u201cconsciences might be injured\u201d by our accepting blood transfusions, the advice of James regarding blood is not applicable.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Straining the Gnat and Swallowing the Camel<\/h2>\n

In their false assumption that \u201cabstain from blood\u201d was a law for all Christians to observe for all time, the Watchtower has fallen into the same trap as that in which first century Pharisees found themselves. According to the Bible, Jesus accused the Pharisees of \u201cstraining the gnat and swallowing the camel.\u201d (<\/span><\/span><\/span>Mt. 23:24<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/u><\/span><\/span>) In other words, they were expending their energy on making ever more ridiculous rules regarding ever smaller minutia of what they considered their god’s law to be. While, at the same time, <\/span><\/span><\/span>by these very rules<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span>, they were violating the one and only law that mattered: the law of love.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

The commandments, \u201cYou shall not commit adultery,\u201d \u201cYou shall not murder,\u201d \u201cYou shall not steal,\u201d \u201cYou shall not covet,\u201d <\/span><\/span><\/span>and whatever other command there may be<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>, are summed up in this one command: \u201cLove your neighbor as yourself.\u201d
\n—<\/span><\/span><\/span>Romans 13:9<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/u><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

In the Watchtower’s case, since it does not advocate vegetarianism (or even kosher products), it has rightly been said that they have <\/span><\/span><\/span>strained the fraction and swallowed the steak<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span>. (Since meat always contains a small amount of blood.)<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"blood<\/a>
Straining the fraction and swallowing the steak.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cListen, Obey, and be Dead\u201d<\/h2>\n

The loving bond between parent and child is one of the strongest forces in the universe. For a parent to willingly let their child die for want of a blood-transfusion indicates that their minds have been <\/span><\/span><\/span>seriously<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span> messed with. When the Watchtower creates rules such as these, and parents follow them \u2013 in spite of it going against nature (including their <\/span><\/span><\/span>own<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span> nature) \u2013 it clearly shows that they are the victims of a mind-controlling cult; nothing else could so subvert the love between parent and child.<\/span><\/span><\/span>
\nListen in at a recent Watchtower convention as Governing Body member Anthony Morris III praises a child\u00a0who lost his life in obedience to the Watchtower’s erroneous blood policy. Then listen in utter amazement as the audience actually applauds\u00a0<\/em>this tragedy!
\n