last month, six little babies were born here in vancouver. sextuplets. as is often the case in multiple births, they were premature. to keep some of them alive, blood transfusions were needed.
and the parents are jehovah’s witness. their religion forbids blood transfusions.
on the weekend, authorities decided to seize the children from their parents in order to make the transfusions possible.
in an interview, the father said, “we could not bear to be at the hospital when they were violating our little girl.”
this feels so alien to me – the blood of life, how can it be a violation?
i wonder how this father thinks and feels. it’s easy to try and understand how people think who have values similar to mine. but what goes on in the hearts and minds of people who have beliefs that are so very different?
maybe he feels honour or duty bound to do what his religion prescribes, no matter what.
maybe he is afraid that allowing the transfusion would give up his children’s soul to eternal damnation.
obviously he believes that the life of his children is not as precious as the dictates of his church.
of course, what i call “dictates of his church” probably has a different name for him – the holy truth, perhaps. maybe nothing is more precious than such a holy truth?
“a” holy truth – that is, ONE holy truth. again, something that i find very difficult to understand. my spiritual path is strongly influenced by liberal christianity, intellectually inclined forms of paganism, as well as buddhism, all of which encourage diversity and critical thinking.
so i honestly have little on which to base an understanding of where this father is coming from.
how can we understand and reach out to people who think so very, very differently?
maybe i can’t understand him. maybe the only way i can connect with him is on a heart level. as remote as he is from me, he is still my brother. and, like me, he is a parent. my heart knows that we both want life for our children. so i’ll let my heart embrace him, and my brain applaud the authorities for taking charge to make the transfusion happen.
isabella mori
counselling in vancouver