Knocking (2006)

Directors:

Joel Engardio (co-director)
Tom Shepard (co-director)

Genre:

Documentary

Plot:

By fighting for their right to live and worship as they choose, Jehovah's Witnesses won legal victories...

Plot Keywords:

Civil Liberties | Blood Transfusion | Watchtower | Holocaust | Bible

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Jason Edling

...

Himself

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Company:

Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB)

Refusal of blood transfusions

I was raised as a JW. I am no longer practicing but understand why many do. I would like to comment on the woman who said she was a JW and worked in the medical field. She posted something on this site. She was discussing the problems with accepting blood transfusions. She said that after 26 years she'd seen those that refused transfusions make it through whatever medical crisis they were going through and to live. I agree that there are many problems that can arise from accepting a blood transfusion and I personally have chosen not to accept blood.

However, I think that it is wrong to spread the message that there are those that don't accept blood will still live. Some JW's actually think that if their faith is strong enough, that they will make it through. This is simply not the case. It just depends on how things happen.

When I was a child, there was a brother in my parent's congregation who had seven children. He wanted to have more, but his wife's doctor told him that this would be detrimental to his wife's health. They did not listen and she got pregnant one more time. The baby was born and the wife started to hemorrhage. The brother really thought that if his faith was strong enough that she wouldn't die. He felt that by refusing blood he would make Jehovah happy. I think he felt that this would guarantee her survival. He was wrong. But he should have been satisfied to know that his wife's wishes were followed and they were following Jehovah's commandments.

While I agree with the idea that accepting blood is wrong, I don't think we should fool ourselves into thinking that we are all going to still survive after this. It simply doesn't work that way.