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#7 The Facts on Jehovah's Witnesses
The Worldview of the Jehovah's Witnesses:
Practices and Teachings
7. Why do Jehovah's Witnesses prohibit
practices like military service, saluting the flag, celebrating holidays, and
blood transfusions?
These and many other practices
are prohibited because the entire world system, apart from activity in the
Watchtower Organization, is believed to be connected with the devil. Military
service, patriotism, and celebrating holidays are all part of the devil's scheme
to lead men away from God. Thus the Society asks, "Do you want to be part of
Satan's world or are you for God's new system? . . . getting out of Babylon the
Great, the world empire of false religion . . . also means having nothing to do
with the religious celebrations of the world."
Other practices are prohibited because they are wrongly
thought to be prohibited by Scripture. Although the Bible only forbids eating
blood (something associated with pagan rituals), the Society has wrongly
interpreted this as a ban on blood transfusions, something entirely
different. The Witnesses teach that accepting a blood transfusion may "cost . .
. [one his] eternal life . . . " Tragically, thousands of Witnesses and their
children have died because they have believed the Watchtower's unbiblical view.
However, there have been various reports (for example, see the Watchtower,
June 15, 2000) that suggest a change in doctrine may be under way, despite the
fact that the official Watchtower Society website still retains the statement
that members "refuse to accept blood" transfusions
(www.watchtower.org/library/hb/index.htm). The Watchtower Society may have,
incrementally, begun to lift its ban, with the current teaching that certain
unique blood products may be used in some cases. But this is of little comfort
to the dead.
John Ankerberg & John Weldon
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