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"In public, the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ leadership downplays the impacts of its ban on blood transfusions, which are based on interpretations of Bible passages that say Christians should not eat blood.
“No one is ever obligated to accept or reject a particular medical treatment or procedure,” a church spokesman said.
That is at odds with a secret handbook for church leaders, known as elders, which, according to former Witnesses, most devout members of the sect have never read and women are not even allowed to touch.
The handbook Shepherd the Flock of God and other documents seen by The Sydney Morning Herald set out the lengths the church goes to prevent believers from receiving blood and details the secretive rules that govern the lives of its 70,000 members in Australia and 8.7 million around the world."
Punishment and control: the secret handbook that rules a religion
An investigation has uncovered disturbing practices within the Jehovah’s Witness church, including the systems for discipline, punishment and control in a secret rule book for church “elders”.
Punishment and control: the secret handbook that rules a religion
An investigation has uncovered disturbing practices within the Jehovah’s Witness church, including the systems for discipline, punishment and control in a secret rule book for church “elders”.