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Jehovah's Witnesses: Balanced And Informed Opinion... by Janosky: 1:08pm On Feb 05, 2020 |
https://m.guardian.ng/opinion/jehovahs-witnesses-balanced-and-informed/ The Guardian Nigeria News - Nigeria and Wo... Jehovah’s Witnesses: Balanced and informed By Chijioke Nelson 04 February 2020 | 3:52 am I read with great amazement, the article titled “Fanatical witnesses”, published in The Guardian of January 28, 2020, written by Mr. Ray Ekpu. Of course, I read his articles, especially for his knowledge of subject matters. But more so, I believe I can learn more from his experience, despite putting 15 years already in the field of journalism myself. But this time, I beg to differ from your understanding and approach of the matter in question, particularly your use of words like fanatics, outlaws, extremists, sect, idiocy and stupidity. Granted that you were expressing your concerns, but it was on a matter of personal belief (faith), which you do not wholly understand or at best, agree with. You ended up veering off course. It is a hasty generalisation and profiling, to describe Jehovah’s Witnesses the way you did. You also chose to use derogatory descriptions for their dress and grooming and at another point, you associated witnesses with illiteracy. It appears to me, Sir, that indeed, you know little about Jehovah’s Witnesses. Around the world, there are over eight million Jehovah’s Witnesses, who are active in 240 lands. These are organised into almost 120,000 local congregations. Over 90% of these congregations hold their weekend Bible Studies on Sundays, not Saturdays, as you wrongly claimed. Why not visit a Kingdom Hall near you this Sunday to verify? In your article, you claimed, without any evidence, that Jehovah’s Witnesses do not respect national symbols and live as outlaws. This is simply, false. The Nova Svoboda Newspaper in the Czech Republic said this of Witnesses:“[Jehovah’s Witnesses] have tremendous moral strength. We could use such unselfish people even in the highest political functions. . . . They recognize governmental authorities, but believe that only God’s Kingdom is capable of solving all human problems.”Closer home, Dr. Luke Onyekankeya of The Guardian Newspaper had written of his encounter with Jehovah’s Witnesses, although he is not one them. In any case, I see it that you are entitled to your opinion, but it is more of expression of personal hatred and misgivings for Jehovah’s Witnesses than the subject matter and that is below the part of your estimated self. These personal fangs are also not necessary as a discourse in the national newspapers, except the prompt of harboured animosity. Your narration of the story of the Onokpise family’s rejection of blood transfusion for their baby could have been more accurate had you taken the time to research the facts. This has already been reported by the Punch Newspaper the Nation and others. Given your experience and reputation, a simple interview with a Jehovah’s Witness, or even online research on their website from your desk, would have provided ample ink for your pen to be more accurate. I also know that expressions like these against Jehovah’s Witnesses are more of personal perceptions and hearsay, than knowledge and detailed findings about them. Regarding your views on blood transfusion, I wish to bring to your notice, Sir, that Medicine has gone beyond blood transfusion as a first option, to effective alternatives. This is a global trend and riding on the back of the witnesses’ informed refusal to accept blood transfusion. The successes are on the increase and on record. Do you know that many who are not Jehovah’s Witnesses are no longer accepting transfusion? Are you aware that the medical world now advocates bloodless medicine, even for children? For example, check out the following websites, which do not belong to Jehovah’s Witnesses, among many others: John Hopkins’ Center for Bloodless Medicine and Surgery: and Stanford Children’s Health and The Punch Newspaper, January 15 2017 You may also want to log on to the Witnesses’ multilingual website www.jw.org for success stories, documentary on successful complicated medical issues (videos), as well as trends in international medicine, not religious ideas, to see what renowned surgeons and accomplished international medical experts have to say on the topic of transfusion alternatives/bloodless medicine. After a review of the contents, judge for you if these are mere cooked up stories or realities. While you have the right to hold your opinion and interpretation of Biblical injunctions regarding blood do you not also agree that others, Jehovah’s Witnesses inclusive, have the right to an alternative opinion? Would it not be hypocritical to opine that you disagree with their views, but insist that they accept yours? Does the fact that progressive medical science has since come to agree, according to Dr. Charles Huggins, the director of blood transfusion service at a Massachusetts Hospital, that blood has become “the most dangerous substance we use in medicine”, not lend any credence to the Witnesses acceptance of the Bible’s injunction to “abstain from blood”? You were, therefore, expressing a very narrow view in your article that it is unreasonable to deprive a patient of the life- saving option of blood transfusion. As any reasonable doctor will attest, when it comes to treatment, no physician can realistically guarantee that a certain approach would definitely save life. We have seen medical news reports of patients who died after blood transfusion and ones who survived without it in treating similar conditions, witnesses and non-witnesses alike. It will interest you to know that many have died out of complications of transfusion, while others have also died despite being transfused. What is more, majority of Jehovah’s Witnesses have also recuperated with the alternatives, all to God’s glory. Sir, while the health issue in question is rare among Jehovah’s Witnesses, compared with non-witnesses, decisions are neither mere ritual nor goaded, but by personal conviction of the Bible words and its principles, which is an aspect of faith that is not a possession of all men. It was a surprise to read your article deriding the style of dress of Jehovah’s Witnesses, real or imaginary, that sought to discuss the Bible’s message with you. On their website, Jehovah’s Witnesses have provided a Newsroom for journalists like you’re very self to easily find secularly available information on their Bible Educational Work. Officials in many countries have commended the volunteer work of witnesses, which is carried out in 240 lands. This link, https://www.jw.org/en/search/? q=Jehovah%27s+Witnesses+and+the +community contains commendation of witnesses from public functionaries in Thailand, Sweden, Canada, Russia, United States and Ukraine. Of course, you are also entitled to disagree with this consensus. If you are a Christian, would you call God’s insistence that Jesus would die painfully for our sins rigidity, even though he can decide to forgive everyone? Wouldn’t Jesus have begged off, perhaps suggesting alternative action, rather than dying? Please, know that upholding godly principles involves submission to Him, not when you are comfortable. Jesus Christ admitted so. (Read Mark 8:35) Christianity is not by human dictate, but the way God wants it. There are several examples in the Holy Scriptures of men and women of faith who adopted positions that would not only have been labeled strange during their time, but would definitely have been described as lunatic in the year 2020, if your article is adopted as a standard of thought. But major religions of the world have come to accept these individuals as exemplary. Would you call Abraham’s obedience idiotic or irrational for readiness to sacrifice Isaac on a mere directive of someone he does not see physically, especially knowing the circumstances around Isaac’s birth? Would you say Daniel’s steadfastness and his loyalty was stupidity by continuing to pray, even visibly, when Nebuchadnezzar had decreed that such was forbidden? What of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. Would you describe these as extremists, outlaws, mad, fanatics, unreasonable and stupid for refusing to bow before national images, when they were looking at the blazing fire that was their next destination? Would you call Stephen an idiot for confessing his faith in the midst of men with grinding stones pounding him? Would you call Paul and other apostle’s outlaws for telling off the authorities that they will obey God as ruler rather than them, knowing fully well the consequences? Jehovah’s Witnesses are not outlaws, but conscientious objectors. This is a global norm, except in states where individual rights are grossly violated. They seek peace and pay their taxes, which is the meaning of Jesus words to pay back Caesar’s things. I would have expected a father and respected senior colleague of your honour to dig deep into the matter beyond face-reading and personal grievances before being frivolous with words, name calling, baring of fangs and possible display of hatred for a people, their faith and belief. It is judgmental, an overkill and defamation of character, to slam unprintable words on a peaceful people who love their family and provide for them; a people who can go to any length to have the best available medical care for their families and themselves, within the limits of God’s law; and a people who labour to help others adopt positive attitude and become reconciled to God." Nelson wrote from Lagos. *(Copied) |
Re: Jehovah's Witnesses: Balanced And Informed Opinion... by Janosky: 1:21pm On Feb 05, 2020 |
EDITORIAL
Why Ray Ekpu goofed, disgraced journalism
in his Fanatical Witnesses
By starconnect
Posted on February 1, 2020
COMMENTS
Allegations and conclusions reached by
Ray Ekpu in his article are misleading,
others are at best half truth while the
rest are insults and outright falsehood.
One of the main tenets of journalism is
that while opinions are free, facts are
scared
Emmanuel Thomas l Saturday, February 01,
2020
L AGOS, Nigeria – Among the legendary
statements ever uttered by man which I
cherish so much is that by Othman
Danfodio, he said that “Conscience is an
open wound, only truth can heal it” that is
why I have a tremendous respect for men
like Ray Ekpu, a man who has spent nearly
50 years in a relentless and vigorous
pursuit of such truth.
As a veteran journalist, prolific writer,
administrator and a renowned columnist,
Ray’s analysis and opinion on diverse
issues can be authoritative.
Mr. Ray Ekpu, a former editor of the now
defunct, News Watch Magazine
For those of us who have followed his
writings over the years, it is no exaggeration
to conclude that he is a master of the prose
genre as he practically takes one on a
journey of free flowing prose so captivating
that you do not want to stop until you have
finished reading his article.
Ray is also a courageous writer, not afraid
to bare his mind on diverse issues. Perhaps,
it was with such zeal and zest that he took
me on a journey in his weekly column of
Daily Sun Tuesday, 28 January 2020. In an
article entitled ” Fanatical Witnesses” the
columnist of repute made series of
allegations against Jehovah’s Witnesses
starting with this statement.
´The religious group that calls itself
Jehovah’s Witnesses is a very unique group
in Christendom. They hold their Church
services on Saturday not Sundays. They do
not sing the national anthems of the
countries in which they live. They do not
respect the national flag. They hold
themselves as outlaws and do not give to
Caesar what is Caesar’s they think that their
duty is only to give God what is God’s”
One of the few things I still remember about
my philosophy class, an elective course I
chose as a student in the University over 20
years ago is that there are two ways of
finding out truth.
The first is “Logical coherence” while the
second is empirical investigation. Today, I
believe there are more ways of finding out
truth but I will stick to the two ways I know
which are timeless in appeal and efficacy.
Like other mortals, Ray is not infallible, he
never claimed he is hence my first reaction
would have been to write a personal letter to
him, refuting some of the assertions he
made in the article which are not correct.
But on a second thought, I reckoned that it
would benefit him and the reading public
more if I send this rejoinder to the editor to
publish because some of the allegations and
conclusions in his article are misleading,
others are at best half truth while the rest
are insults and outright falsehood. One of
the main tenets of journalism is that while
opinions are free, facts are scared.
So a little empirical investigation on the
website of Jehovah’s Witnesses, JW.ORG
(the world’s most translated website) would
have shown him that Jehovah’s Witnesses
hold 2 meetings in a week. The first is a
mid-week meeting while the second is a
weekend meeting; he would also have found
out that 90% of the over 8.6 million
witnesses in 240 lands, islands and
territories worldwide hold their meetings on
Sundays.
On the issue of national anthem and pledge,
Jehovah’s Witnesses, having made an
unreservedly and whole hearted pledge to
Jehovah, the sovereign of the universe,
believe that it amounts to hypocrisy to make
another pledge to a country or state,
interestingly, the pledge we made to
Jehovah includes living by bible standards,
which includes respect and obedience to
constituted authorities as part of reverence
to God. So it is not correct to say that we do
not respect the national flags of countries
where we live.
That is why in obedience to the scriptural
injunction at Romans 13:1, we subject
ourselves to superior authorities by obeying
laws of the land, conscientiously paying our
taxes, tributes and honor to such
governmental authorities. However, in rare
instances where the authorities make
demands that are contrary to God’s laws like
in some countries where certain laws unduly
restricts or ban our worship, we follow the
footsteps of the apostles as recorded in Acts
5: 29, to …”obey God as ruler rather than
men”.
The Witnesses’ respect and view of
governmental authorities transcends
perfunctory obedience like singing the
national anthem and pledge, swearing oat to
serve with honesty, heart and might, only for
many to get involved in anti-governmental
activities like civil disobedience, official
malfeasance like fraud or outright theft. As
an experienced administrator and believer in
good governance, I know that Ray will prefer
a heartfelt obedience to constituted
authorities to a mere ritual of flag salute or
mockery oat of loyalty and allegiance.
I also find as complimentary, Ray’s attempt
to describe the dress of the Witnesses who
came calling at his door in derogatory
terms. While like he said, they may not have
worn finely cut suit and red-carpet gowns,
he noted that they were modestly dressed,
and the gown “covered everywhere from
head to toe”, it will interest Ray to know that
such was the description of the garment
made for Adam and Eve, the first human pair
by the greatest designer in the universe,
Jehovah after they sinned, were sentenced
and driven out of the garden of Eden. In a
world that is alienated from God. Long
garments that cover the body properly are
not popular, instead men glorify immodest
dressing and grooming. That is why I found
his description complimentary rather than
derogatory.
I also found it surprising and a bit
disappointing that a writer of Ray’s repute
will describe as “stupidity and insanity” a
loving effort by the Witnesses who have
volunteered and sacrificed their comfort to
share a message of God’s kingdom with him
just because he was leaving for work.
His right to personal perception and opinion
does not authorize him to insult people for
practicing their religion, holding different
opinion or for having an unpopular
conviction just like Christ and the first
century Christians had. People have different
routine and circumstances hence the
Witnesses call at homes, markets, streets
and even work places in search of humble
ones who are favorably disposed for
everlasting life. While many may not be
disposed to listen, the Witnesses have had
fine experiences with others with whom they
share the good news of God’s kingdom with
interesting outcome. As a result of such
efforts, last year, a total of 12,232,924
friends and neighbors joined the 8,686,117
Witnesses worldwide to observe the Lords
evening meal in obedience to Jesus’
command at Luke 22:19.
Ray also quoted Genesis 9:4 which sates:
“You shall not eat flesh with its life, that its
blood” and Acts 15:29 which states:”That
you abstain from what has been sacrificed
to idols and from blood and from what is
strangled” it may be necessary to add
scriptures like Leviticus 17: 12 & 14 which
states in part: “None of you should eat
blood, and no foreigner who is residing in
your midst should eat blood… For the life of
every sort of flesh is its blood, because life
is in it. Consequently, I said to the Israelites:
You must not eat the blood of every sort of
flesh because the life of every sort of flesh is
its blood. Anyone eating it will be cut off.
Jehovah’s Witnesses understand and
appreciate God’s loving command to mean
not taking in blood, through any means
whatsoever. If Ray feels that a sacred
substance like blood which God, the grand
creator in his infinite wisdom has
commanded that we should eat can be
transfused without contravening God’s clear
and unambiguous law, he certainly has the
right to his opinion but that does change
God’s law. I will liken this to a child whose
father has prohibited from taking oral pills
but he instead dissolves it in water and
injects it intravenously.
It is important to state that the baby of Mr &
Mrs Emmanuel Onokpise in question had
jaundice induced anemia, and as at the time
of the forceful transfusion, the baby no
longer has jaundice and was recuperating
well. Beyond the religious convictions of
Witnesses, more and more doctors and
patients within and outside Nigeria opts for
non-blood medical management because it
is safer. Blood transfusion is especially
unsafe in a country like Nigeria where we do
not have proper screening facilities for
blood.
My research shows that most blood banks in
Nigeria are filled with blood from commercial
donors resulting in volume and less dead
cells. It may interest you to know that
modern medicine have gone beyond a hasty
transfusion therapy to a robust and effective
alternatives to blood transfusion. Witnesses
in their quest to obey Jehovah’s clear
directive not to eat blood have pushed the
boundaries of research in non blood medical
management.
There are numerous experiences about
successful bloodless surgeries and complex
medical procedures within and outside
Nigeria but let me share my personal
experience here. In November 2018, I was
diagnosed of high grade non hodgskin
lymphoma (a very serious type of blood
cancer) but I thank Jehovah, it was at stage
one and confined to the spleen.
A team of Hematologists at London
Hematology who carried out the diagnoses
recommended that I should have an open
splenectomy, a surgery that will excise the
diseased organ. They also said that
although they do not usually use blood in
procedures, but because spleen is a bloody
organ as such transfusion is a must. The
transfusion practitioner, clinical nurse
specialists and Drs’ all said that being
anemic as I was ( hemoglobin 10+) I stand
no chance without a transfusion.
After some research, the consultant
hematologist Mr Karcsmarski was able to
get the node a surgeon who agreed to carry
out the surgery without blood transfusion,
his name is Mr Satvinda Mudan. On the 10
December 2018, the surgery was successful
carried out at London Clinic, Davonshere
place, London, United Kingdom and I
gradually recuperated to the amazement of
the medical team and to the glory of
Jehovah, the true source of life.
At the anniversary of the surgery, I wrote to
thank both the medical team at the London
clinic and in response he said he wrote:
Dear Uche, Thank you for your most kind
email. I am so pleased to learn that you are
doing so well. While I might have shown
some dexterity as you say however, the real
display of courage was surely from you. I
can only say that you showed great fortitude
and strength of character in the face of a
difficult and threatening situation, not or
your own making.
Moreover, you impressed us all with your
resolve and strength with which you hold
your belief. May you continue to thrive and I
look forward to hearing from the doctors
about your progress.
NB: Other aspects of Ray’s mis-
representation of facts will be addressed in
the coming days. |
(1) (Reply)
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