Death of Jehovah's Witness during childbirth prompts investigation

I remember a popular quip about this: "The only difference between a cult and a religion is the number of followers." It's meant as a stab at mainstream religion, but I think it avoids the factors that distinguish high-demand religious groups like Scientology and Jehovah's Witnesses from most other religions, mainstream or not.

Typically the distinction has less to do with the group's stated beliefs and more to do with the way individual members are coerced into following those beliefs. A couple of examples


Thank you for sharing this.


Yes. I've heard former Jehovah's Witnesses say that in similar circumstances they were secretly relieved when a transfusion was forced upon them: it gave them a way to live without actively disobeying their religion, which meant that their families would see them as victims and would be less likely to shun them.

Still, I struggle with the ethics of forced transfusions for Jehovah's Witnesses. Superficially it's an ethical no-brainer: Mumbaibabi's hospital did the medically responsible thing and saved the woman's life. (And Mumbaibabi, I'm certain that you and your team acted in what you believed and had always been trained to believe were her best interests, and that makes a big difference.) But I think the decision to prolong someone's life against their wishes should be treated much more seriously than that, and I disagree with many former Jehovah's Witnesses who think that forced transfusions should be carried out routinely:

Consider a very different situation: someone with a terminal disease who is denied the right to control their own death. A growing number of people, myself included, think that's unacceptable: people should be allowed to die with dignity rather than being forced to suffer a painful, humiliating, protracted death. Others feel differently.

There are many differences between this situation and that of forced blood transfusions, and I want to emphasize that I'm using it as an analogy rather than trying to draw a direct comparison, but in both situations, the person whose life is in question is telling us that they're being made to suffer by having their life extended against their wishes.

Even knowing the pressures that Jehovah's Witnesses are under to conform to a suicidal religion, I find it difficult discount the fact that they probably do really, truly believe what they say they believe. It's an unpopular opinion, which is why I've taken my time to word this comment so carefully, but I find it hard to agree when people think that the feelings of Jehovah's Witnesses should be discounted when medical decisions are made on their behalf.

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