Other Christians decide differently. They too refuse transfusions of whole blood, red cells, white cells, platelets, or plasma. Yet, they might allow a physician to treat them with a fraction extracted from the primary components.

So then, it’s well known that the Watchtower, Bible and Tract Society completely and utterly forbids the transfusion of white blood cells. Fair enough. What’s the issue with that, you might ask? Well, only that organ transplants contain more white blood cells than any other blood cell! [1] A Jehovah’s Witness who accepts an organ transplant takes in more leukocytes than he/she would through a conventional blood transfusion.

I was even more shocked to read that mother’s milk contains 5-12 times more leukocytes than the same amount of blood. In fact, just a drop of breast milk contains around 1 million white blood cells [2]. Oh, did I mention that this also applies to cow milk, which I know is a drink the Circuit Overseer in Cyprus loves to drink, as well as a lot of standard drone Jehovah’s Witnesses. So next time you’ve got a white moustache, just think of all those prohibited leukocytes you’ve consumed.

Why not use this the next time your parents, spouse or friends bring up the blood conversation. Before you start the debate, ask them if they would care for a nice refreshing glass of milk.

Sources
[1] Transplant surgery injury recruits recipient MHC class II-positive leukocytes into the kidney
[2] How Human Milk Protects Babies From Illness

Many Jehovah’s Witnesses do not understand what evolution is. I have heard comments such as “If we evolved from monkeys, why are there still monkeys?” and “I believe that animals can change, but not that a fish can become a human,” and “Evolution is only a theory!”

So, I want to take a moment here to answer those three points clearly and simply. If you have asked yourselves these questions or have only heard the Jehovah’s Witness explanation of evolution, I hope you’ll find this post very interesting. To me, it is one of the most fascinating subjects on Earth.

What is Evolution?

I am not going to go into lots of detail because there is no need. The beauty of evolution is its simplicity. Anyone can understand it. Evolution, simply put, is that animals can change over time. That’s it. Of course, there are lots of details such as genetics, sexual and natural selection and more but the important thing to keep in mind is that evolution is a fact.

I’m not throwing the word ‘fact’ out there willy-nilly. We really do have tons of evidence at our disposal that proves evolution. The only thing that scientists might debate over are the methods by which evolution occurs. Evolution – that life changes over time – is fact. It is the basis of biology and medical treatments only work because it is true.

Take, for example, antibiotics. When you get sick and your Doctor prescribes you antibiotics, he or she will tell you to make sure that you finish the entire course or you might get sick again. This is because the antibiotics fight the intrusive bacteria and ‘kill’ it off. The bacteria that are least resistant will die off pretty quickly, but the most resistant ones will survive a little longer. If you stop the antibiotics, the bacteria that is left is only going to be the resistant strain who will then multiply – you’ll get sick again and the next time you’ll need stronger antibiotics. The bacteria evolved. Now do this again and again and you’ll get super resistant bacteria (like NDM-1 in India, which is making headlines today).

Monkey Business

So, “if we evolved from monkeys, why are there still monkeys” is a question that instantly lets me know when someone has misunderstood the subject. First, we didn’t evolve from monkeys. We are more closely related to apes, but we didn’t evolve from apes either. What do I mean?

Humans share a common ancestor with modern African apes, like chimpanzees. This common ancestor most likely existed 5 to 8 million years ago and diverged into two separate lineages. One of these lineages ultimately evolved into gorillas and chimps, and the other evolved into early human ancestors (which are called hominids).

Just because one animal lineage can branch off (which is why evolution is often depicted as a tree), it doesn’t mean that the original species stopped existing. Your grandparents didn’t cease to exist when you were born, for example. Asking the monkey question is like asking, “If Americans came from Europe, why are there still Europeans?”

From Fish to Human?

I’ve heard this one a lot – animals can change but only slightly. A dog stays a dog. A fish stays a fish. It’s a good step to acknowledge that animals can change. After all, just take a look at how many breeds of dog there are. Compare a Chihuahua to a Great Dane – they’ve varied so much based on breeding programs (selecting which traits are wanted in each species and breeding accordingly) that they now look completely different.

Other examples are plentiful. Guppies, for example, and other fish have been known within just a few generations to change the colour of their skin in order to better blend in with a new environment.

The point is that those variations is evolution… if we can go from a Chihuahua to a Great Dane in just a few hundred years, imagine how different they would look after a few million years! It’s the same process of variation, just looked at from different time scales.

To say that “I believe animals can change, but not into a new species,” is like saying, “I believe in millimeters, but not kilometers.”

Only a Theory!

It is called the theory of evolution. That is true. But ‘theory’ in science doesn’t have the same meaning as ‘only a theory’ in common language. A theory in scientific use is a more or less verified or established explanation accounting for known facts or phenomena.

Think about it this way – Have you heard of the ‘theory of gravity’? It’s only a theory, yet you know it’s factual enough that I doubt any of you are going to jump off a building shouting, “it’s only a theory!”

Same thing here. I have to say that if we just changed the word ‘theory’ in this context it would probably be easier and avoid a lot of the confusion.

I hope that this brief (really, I could go on all day about this wonderful subject) helps and you won’t be so quick to dismiss it next time.

For Jehovah’s Witnesses, it’s important to point out that even if you could disprove evolution (which you can’t), that doesn’t put any weight towards the argument that Jehovah exists. “Evolution isn’t true so God did it” is a false dichotomy – you aren’t providing evidence towards there being a god at all and you assume there are only two options to pick from.

If you have any evolution related questions, do add them in the comments. I’ll try my best to answer them all. If you’re just going to dismiss evolution without having read the article and not provide evidence, don’t bother.

“The Christian ministry has always been urgent, but now it is more critical than ever.”

Over the years, the Watchtower, Bible and Tract Society (WBTS) has repeated their scaremongering. Just like IBM, this publishing company uses FUD – Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt, to up the fear levels of their members.

As we get no closer to the “end” the WBTS continues with their scare tactics, which are, if you don’t mind me saying, quite disgusting. A great deal of members that became Jehovah’s Witnesses between 1980 – 1990, joined due to the fear campaign that used “Nuclear Destruction” as its keyword phrase.

“What would happen if fullfillment of the sign required that we wait until another all out war were to break out between the superpowers? Such a war would leave few, if any survivors. So, you see, Gods purpose that there be survivors indicates that we are very close to the end of this system.” Page 242 from the Reasoning from the Scriptures, published by the Watchtower, Bible and Tract Society in 1985.

After the events of September 11th, 2001, they changed their keyword phrase to, yep, you guessed it, “Terrorism!!!” The world is on the brink of a nuclear terrorist Armageddon people! Anyway, take a look at this superb quote on page 17 from the Watchtower March 15th 2012 magazine:

“The example of a small group of Bible Students who prior to 1914 set out to preach the good news illustrates what it means to have a sense of urgency.”

If I’m not mistaken, wasn’t that 98 years ago (2012 – 1914)? Back then, this small group of book sellers were convinced God was going to carry them away to heaven. Yes, that’s right. They didn’t believe Jesus had won his war against Satan in heaven in 1914. Oh no no no. Jesus conquered Satan way before that! Jehovah’s Witnesses are told that Jesus had a punch up with his old mate Satan in 1914, but that little teaching came after 1914 came and went. You see, these buffoons thought that Armageddon was definitely going to happen in 1914!

As is the case with Jehovah’s Witnesses, their entire set of beliefs are abandoned within a generation and replaced by another mirage that only a select and faithful few can see hovering on the horizon. Do you think Charles Taze Russell and his mate, Alexander Hugh Macmillan would be rolling around in their masonic graves if they knew that almost after a century, their beloved Watchtower magazine would still be purporting the end that is just around the corner? Goodness me, that’s some corner!

Related articles include the story of a nuclear scientist who is also a Jehovah’s Witness, and another article called “Does Science Contradict the Genesis Account?” The point of all these articles, it seems, is to point out that science and the bible do not contradict each other. In fact, our nuclear scientist, Alton Williams says, “I have never encountered a conflict between a proved scientific fact and a teaching of the Bible.” The writers of the article emphasize this point by giving it it’s own block-quote section on the page.

I don’t know what bible he read, but it definitely can’t be the same one we all use. Nothing in the bible is scientifically inaccurate? That just isn’t the case, unless the Earth is flat, had a ‘firmament’ and winged insects only have four legs and you deploy the “Oh, that was symbolic” argument whenever you have no real rebuttal.

But that isn’t the bit I want to focus on here – we’ll go over some of the science in later articles. The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society use these examples of top scientists – well educated men – who believe in God because they feel it gives their opinion more weight. As Carl Sagan once said, ”Intellectual prowess is no guarantee against being dead wrong.”

Yes, it’s true that some scientists believe in god. Out of the thousands upon thousands of scientists worldwide, some are bound to, right? Just like I am sure some of them have said that Vishnu is real. Religious people like using this argument a lot – how many times have we heard them saying, “Well, Einstein believed in god!” which isn’t true, and wouldn’t add any strength to their argument even if he did?

Also, you can’t be “raised an atheist.” Everyone is an atheist until taught otherwise. You are an atheist when it comes to millions of gods such as Thor and Ra, and even believers were an atheist about the god they now believe in until they were told about him.

Yet more examples of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society using devious tactics in order to convince the people that god is real, despite no evidence. To prove that their argument has no weight, I challenge you to find a single Jehovah’s Witness who will renounce their beliefs and leave the cult simply because some scientists believe in the Islamic Allah instead.

Did I mention the changes in the blood issue? Up until 2004, Jehovah’s Witnesses weren’t allowed to have any form of blood transfused into their system. Since 2004, Jehovah’s Witnesses will accept hemoglobin-based products (considered blood fractions) that are made from expired human blood despite them telling everyone that blood should be poured out on the ground and not stored.

Anyway, I found this great bit of research which identifies the changes in the blood issue. Well actually, Blondie discovered it. Before reading any further, I want you to ask yourself the following question: Would a religion that claims to be the only true religion make the following comments?

I’ve put the important bits relating to the changes in the blood issue in bold and blue.

w00 10/15 pp. 30-31: Questions From Readers
Occasionally, a doctor will urge a patient to deposit his own blood weeks before surgery (preoperative autologous blood donation, or PAD) so that if the need arises, he could transfuse the patient with his own stored blood. However, such collecting, storing, and transfusing of blood directly contradicts what is said in Leviticus and Deuteronomy. Blood is not to be stored; it is to be poured out—returned to God, as it were. Granted, the Mosaic Law is not in force now. Nevertheless, Jehovah’s Witnesses respect the principles God included in it, and they are determined to ‘abstain from blood.’ Hence, we do not donate blood, nor do we store for transfusion our blood that should be ‘poured out.’ That practice conflicts with God’s law.

That’s really interesting isn’t it? Well 4 years later, the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society says the following:

w04 6/15 pp. 30-31: Questions From Readers
Some would refuse anything derived from blood (even fractions intended to provide temporary passive immunity). That is how they understand God’s command to ‘abstain from blood.’ They reason that his law to Israel required that blood removed from a creature be ‘poured out on the ground.’ (Deuteronomy 12:22-24) Why is that relevant? Well, to prepare gamma globulin, blood-based clotting factors, and so on, requires that blood be collected and processed. Hence, some Christians reject such products, just as they reject transfusions of whole blood or of its four primary components. Their sincere, conscientious stand should be respected.

Other Christians decide differently. They too refuse transfusions of whole blood, red cells, white cells, platelets, or plasma. Yet, they might allow a physician to treat them with a fraction extracted from the primary components. Even here there may be differences. One Christian may accept a gamma globulin injection, but he may or may not agree to an injection containing something extracted from red or white cells. Overall, though, what might lead some Christians to conclude that they could accept blood fractions?

“Questions From Readers” in The Watchtower of June 1, 1990, noted that plasma proteins (fractions) move from a pregnant woman’s blood to the separate blood system of her fetus. Thus a mother passes immunoglobulins to her child, providing valuable immunity. Separately, as a fetus’ red cells complete their normal life span, their oxygen-carrying portion is processed. Some of it becomes bilirubin, which crosses the placenta to the mother and is eliminated with her body wastes. Some Christians may conclude that since blood fractions can pass to another person in this natural setting, they could accept a blood fraction derived from blood plasma or cells.

Does the fact that opinions and conscientious decisions may differ mean that the issue is inconsequential? No. It is serious. Yet, there is a basic simplicity. The above material shows that Jehovah’s Witnesses refuse transfusions of both whole blood and its primary blood components. The Bible directs Christians to ‘abstain from things sacrificed to idols and from blood and from fornication.’ (Acts 15:29) Beyond that, when it comes to fractions of any of the primary components, each Christian, after careful and prayerful meditation, must conscientiously decide for himself.

So while a Jehovah’s Witness may not store their own blood for future use, they can use hemoglobin-based products made out of someone else’s stored blood. Brilliant!

I don’t claim to be a biblical scholar, for only a few dedicated men in Brooklyn have that title. I would, however, like to know what happened to Leviticus 17:14:

For the soul of every sort of flesh is its blood by the soul in it. Consequently I said to the sons of Israel: “YOU must not eat the blood of any sort of flesh, because the soul of every sort of flesh is its blood. Anyone eating it will be cut off.”

If there’s a question to glean from the above scripture, it is to ask which fraction of the blood contains the “soul”?  Of course, Jehovah’s Witnesses are programmed to tell us that this scripture is not literal, but instead a metaphor for the gift of life as symbolised by blood.

Thing is, if the second phrase of the verse is a metaphor, why do Jehovah’s Witnesses take the first part of the scripture so literally that they would rather die than break it?

Next time you’re in a discussion with other Jehovah’s Witnesses about their latest stance on the blood issue, please make sure to read Leviticus 17:14 and ask the question.

What do Jehovah’s Witnesses think about superstitions? Do they believe any? Well, let’s take a look at the official stance of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society.

The August 1st 2002 Watchtower in the article “Life Under the Control of Superstition” states: “A person who lets superstition affect his decisions and daily routine is allowing himself to be dominated by something he does not really understand. Is this wise?”

Later in the series of articles, the Watchtower goes on to make a connection between superstitions being the devils work – “Given the dangerous aspects of superstition, it is relevant to ask: Who is actually being served by superstitious beliefs and practices?” Well, they don’t take long to name and shame Satan.

The articles also make the point that “The Bible shows that time and unforeseen events befall us all, whether we are superstitious or not. (Ecclesiastes 9:11)” Also, “Accurate knowledge of Jehovah and his purposes—the opposite of ignorance and superstition—is the key to gaining true protection.”

So do Jehovah’s Witnesses practice what they preach? Are they superstitious? Actually, yes, they are and here is a list of common superstitious behavior that Jehovah’s Witnesses in general carry out. In my 25 years as a Jehovah’s Witness, I’ve heard all of these. Let us know what you’ve heard in the comments.

1. Smurfs are bad.
2. Be careful when you get anything second hand from a thrift store or garage sale because it might be possessed by demons.
3. If you stop thinking, it opens the door for demons to take over your mind.
4. Women have one more rib than men (Okay, this isn’t a superstition, but it is funny anyway).
5. If you use Tarot cards or Ouija boards, the demons appear and influence you.
6. Put old Watchtowers and Awakes under the bed in order that demons will not come out.
7. Satan changes the traffic lights to red just to make you late for meetings.
8. If you encounter evil, shouting “Jehovah” out loud will make the demons fly away covering their ears.
9. Jehovah doesn’t let anyone name their children or pets ‘Jehovah’, but kills them on the spot.
10. It upsets Jehovah if you say “Good luck.”
11. You aren’t allowed to say “bless you” after someone sneezes because it is pagan.
12. When you go preaching, Angels are walking with you.
13. If your bible study is smoking a cigarette, the holy spirit won’t help you.
14. You shouldn’t say personal prayers out loud because then Satan will know your weaknesses.
15. Don’t masturbate or it’ll turn you into a homosexual.
16. Jehovah hates it if you fall asleep in the middle of a prayer.
17. UFOs are demons tricking humans!
18. Don’t listen to Hotel California backwards because there are demon messages in it!
19. If you get a strange urge to knock on a door when you are on the ministry, it’s because the householder is praying for it.
20. People’s personalities change after blood transfusions.
21. The internet is evil.

So are Jehovah’s Witnesses superstitious? I think this long list proves they are! Now, I’m off to walk under a ladder and break a mirror.

The good news is that Jehovah’s Witness Blog.com is now two years old! We’ve had our ups and downs, but we’re still here and plan to be until millions now living will never die.

All we ask is that you learn some critical thinking, seek out evidence and truth and above all, follow us on Facebook. Did I just say that? Yes, I did. Desperation calls for desperate measures. We need you to like our New Facebook Page and to tells others about JWB.

See you soon!

When I first started to fade out of the Jehovah’s Witnesses,  I inadvertently placed the religion under a microscope. I started looking at this group of people far more closely and differently to how other Jehovah’s Witnesses saw them. Even though I had seen the 607 B.C.E. lie for what it was, my fellow ‘brothers and sisters’ still looked like good people, although it was plain to see that they were misguided.

As time went on though, this misguidedness remained, whilst the shine started to diminish. You could say that as I faded away from the religion, their shine also started to wear thin. After all, would you ever label a person as being ‘good’ if they started to shun their son or daughter? Do good people stand by praying to an imaginary god while allowing their child to bleed to death because someone in New York interpreted an ancient book written by nomadic sheep-herders? Good people don’t walk away from lifetime friendships, marriages, or relationships because the other party may disagree with the ‘good persons’ faith.

After a few month into my fade, Ben told me to research the Mormons. I couldn’t believe the similarities they had with Jehovah’s Witnesses. There are 14 million (that’s double the amount of Jehovah’s Witnesses) deluded Mormons, who are convinced of their possession of ‘truth’. They, too, suffer the same delusions about god, sin, hell and heaven.

I then looked at Christianity in general and saw the same thing. I have recently watched ‘Christian’ US congress candidates speak with pride about ‘converting homosexuals’ or ‘praying to god for rain to end a drought’ or still clinging to the idea that stem cell research is ‘immoral’ – once again, all this coming from the insufferable toilet paper drivel of an ancient book. Religions think they are great as they have ‘interpreted’ this ancient book. Why oh why couldn’t they have ‘interpreted’ The Lord of the Rings, or even the PC Pro magazine? At least religion would have been interesting. Can you imagine Sauronites or even a suicide Apple bomber?

My research has taken me onto the other major religions in power on this planet. Lo and behold, I still see the same idiotic nonsense, the same superstitions, and above all, the same reliance on the guidance of people’s writings from several millennia ago.

Take away several layers of all religions and cults and you’ll soon find that they all look alike. Am I wrong? Religions consist of people who are afraid to admit reality, who hide behind ‘hope’ that is false, and base all of this on ancient ideas and non-morals of people who didn’t even grasp modern morality when these writings were inked. For goodness sake, these nomads wrote that the earth was created in 6 days! Oh yes, did I mention that in this same book, it states that god wrote it all?

Since my fading started in 2008, I can honestly say that I am a changed man. I think back to how I used to be – a pawn in a cult that adhered to the teachings of a publishing company in North America – and I feel liberated. I spare a thought for all those that are still locked inside. Those poor souls that are trapped in cults like the Jehovah’s Witnesses. I also find it hard to believe that there are those that choose to hold fast to their religious teaching, even though there isn’t a shred of evidence to support their stance. And I find myself going round in circles of confusion as to why so many academic laureates are so dependent on this foundation of air (also known as religion).

I understand that the superstitious will be among mankind for a long time due to the way we have evolved as a species. The good news is that superstitious groups will fall in number at some point in the future – after all, logic cannot be denied forever. So much progress has been made in the past 100 years or so. Logic has a way of winning and hopefully the next 100 years will see further movement away from imaginary friends and bend our mind environment toward reality. Remember people, the only rewards we actually have exist in this life only.

I feel blessed as I know that there is no god, no sin, no hell, no heaven. I could only ever say that paradise had found earth if all mankind knew this. If you have managed to read this far into the article, but still believe in one of the unhuman elements of god, sin, hell or heaven, pat yourself on the back. Send me a message when you believe in none of them and we can maybe do a write up on your experience.

Jehovah’s Witnesses use their ministry as a sign that they are the right religion, claiming that they are carrying out God’s will by preaching to the entire inhabited earth.

“We must be the true religion, because look at how we are the only ones preaching worldwide, just as Jesus commanded!”

They conveniently forget that Mormons, to name just one other group, do the same thing to at least the same extent. The amount of countries you preach in, by the way, has no bearing on the validity of your message.

But, what is the ministry really for? Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that we live in the ‘Last Days’ before God will bring an end to the current ‘system of things’ and bring about a paradise for survivors to enjoy and have forever to learn how to play the flute and learn the words to Cumbayá. It is literally impossible for every single person on the planet to have heard about God at one instance in order that Jehovah can bring the Great Tribulation and Armageddon.

People are born every day; just recently the population of Earth broke the seven billion marker (seems we are doing okay on our own without God, after all). What about the hundreds of babies that are born each hour (4 babies a second, on average) across the globe that wouldn’t understand what they were being told anyway?

Well, the Jehovah’s Witness answer assumes that Jesus was wrong – that not everyone on the planet will hear of God before the end comes, just most of them. The rest? Well, God can just read their heart condition.

So here’s the question that no Jehovah’s Witness has been able to ever answer efficiently: If Jehovah can just read people’s hearts, why do we need the ministry?

The answer is that we don’t. Some Jehovah’s Witnesses have tried to answer this question by claiming that the ministry is a way for followers of Jehovah to show their conviction and faith, but being as Jehovah can just read their hearts anyway, this argument falls flat.

A further point to mention about the ministry is just how hypocritical the whole thing is. Jehovah’s Witnesses can’t keep their beliefs to themselves to the point that they actually go out of their way to find people to tell it to. They expect people to listen, to be open minded (or ‘in the right heart condition’) to listen to what they have to say in order that they get baptized and join the flock. At the same time, Jehovah’s Witnesses are discouraged from taking any literature in return. Try to tell a Jehovah’s Witness that something they believe in doesn’t make sense and the walls go up and the fingers go swiftly into the ears.

Both Ben and I would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

We both took part in our first ever Christmas on Sunday together and it was great. It could have been better, but unfortunately, as we have some members of our family still locked into the Jehovah’s Witness cult, it was a rather toned-down affair.

As my mother-in-law is still in, we decided to only have some Christmas lights. So I saddled the two palm trees in the front garden with lights. Both the wife and I have agreed to get a smallish Christmas tree next year; one small enough that if my mother-in-law happens to drop by, we can quickly hide it. Sad that we have to jump through these hurdles, isn’t it? Still think it’s not a cult?

Ben also suffers the long reach this sick cult still has on him, even though he disassociated himself nearly 6 months ago. His wife, still a Jehovah’s Witness, wouldn’t come to our home and spend time with her family and us, as “it would be celebrating Christmas”. Therefore, Ben brought along his two lovely children and we all spent some quality time together. During the day, one of Ben’s daughter got sick and so he called up his wife to tell her. Even though her daughter was ill, she wouldn’t step foot in a house that partially celebrated Christmas. By the way, she’s a great mother. Remember my question asking you if you thought the Jehovah’s Witnesses were a cult? You’d be crazy, or a Jehovah’s Witness (same thing really), to say they weren’t. It takes a cult to make a good mother not want to be near her ill daughter. It takes a cult to allow a mother to end the life of her child by not sanctioning a blood transfusion. Anyway, I digress.

Both Ben and I know that we’re not the only ones who have to endure this. There are thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of active Jehovah’s Witnesses that would like to share in the love that is spread around during this festive season. Let’s share a thought for all the young Jehovah’s Witnesses who are trying to make it in this world. I personally remember what it was like at school when we all returned after the Christmas holidays. I would try and change the subject when asked what Christmas presents I got. Ben, on the other hand, would make something up and tell his classmates that he got ‘this and that’. What a terrible burden this cult puts on young ones. Let’s keep them in our thoughts this Christmas.

We wish you and the rest of the world a peaceful end to the year.

Love,
Teeny and Ben
The JWB Team