Free to Believe
I woke up to an interesting argument on the radio yesterday morning. The z103.5 morning crew were discussing an issue about blood transfusions and Jehovah's witnesses belief against them. Now if you read this feel free to correct my information as I was half asleep while I listened. The argument stemmed from a present case of 2 Jehovah parents and their 6 critically ill babies. The parents have already lost 2, and the others need blood transfusions for survival. Given parental belief they of course deny the transfusions, leaving everyone up in arms about the well being of the children and doing whatever it takes to save a life.
I'm sorry, but the parents have every right to not only refuse treatments, but more importantly uphold their belief system. After all, in Canada, we have freedom of religion. Officials have taken custody of the children in order to give them the treatments, and have done so with out fair chance to the parents to state their case, again in a free country as this is, we would hope that parents would have a say in not only how they raise their children, but at least be given a chance to justify their choice.
As I listened to callers on the radio stating their stance on this issue, I heard alot of argument on God's will. Is it God's will to have the babies this way, is it God's will to ensure they get treatments, etc.. Religion is not just about the higher being. It is also the doctrine and the interpretation. Jehovah's have a high regard for blood in that you are to only have in you the blood that is yours.
I also heard an argument as to the mental competency of the parents. Having already lost 2 children, maybe they are not in the mental state to make this decision. However, this decision is not their own, it is provided to them by the belief system that they subscribed to when they were of sound mind. From that time, they knew that if ever there should come a time when this is an option, the choice is and always will be NO. That decision was made by them before this unfortuante situation they have found themselves in.
Now I have little religious belief for the reason that I prefer to make my own decisions based on my own moral beliefs and not to satisfy the desire of something possibly higher than myself. However, in that, I support others rights to choose their faiths.
This case also raises the question of parental control and ownership of their children. If the government can step in and override parental beliefs where exactly is our freedom? Jehovah's witness and their belief of blood transfusion has always been an issue. It has been highlighted on television shows such as "The Practice". If this injunction is supported, the government might as well disban the faith, and then I ask again, are we really free to believe?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6321363.stm
I'm sorry, but the parents have every right to not only refuse treatments, but more importantly uphold their belief system. After all, in Canada, we have freedom of religion. Officials have taken custody of the children in order to give them the treatments, and have done so with out fair chance to the parents to state their case, again in a free country as this is, we would hope that parents would have a say in not only how they raise their children, but at least be given a chance to justify their choice.
As I listened to callers on the radio stating their stance on this issue, I heard alot of argument on God's will. Is it God's will to have the babies this way, is it God's will to ensure they get treatments, etc.. Religion is not just about the higher being. It is also the doctrine and the interpretation. Jehovah's have a high regard for blood in that you are to only have in you the blood that is yours.
I also heard an argument as to the mental competency of the parents. Having already lost 2 children, maybe they are not in the mental state to make this decision. However, this decision is not their own, it is provided to them by the belief system that they subscribed to when they were of sound mind. From that time, they knew that if ever there should come a time when this is an option, the choice is and always will be NO. That decision was made by them before this unfortuante situation they have found themselves in.
Now I have little religious belief for the reason that I prefer to make my own decisions based on my own moral beliefs and not to satisfy the desire of something possibly higher than myself. However, in that, I support others rights to choose their faiths.
This case also raises the question of parental control and ownership of their children. If the government can step in and override parental beliefs where exactly is our freedom? Jehovah's witness and their belief of blood transfusion has always been an issue. It has been highlighted on television shows such as "The Practice". If this injunction is supported, the government might as well disban the faith, and then I ask again, are we really free to believe?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6321363.stm
posted by Nata at 10:41 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home