Do Not Question - Or Else

What happens when following the line is easier than questioning?

For decades, Jehovah’s Witnesses have changed their rules about what God allows when it comes to blood transfusions:

1945 - blood transfusions forbidden.

1958 - certain blood fractions, okay.

1961 - accept prohibited blood and remain unrepentant, risk disfellowshipping.

1981 - certain products made from blood, okay.

2000 - more fractions, okay; whole blood and four major components still forbidden.

March 2026 - store and re-infuse your own whole blood, okay.

Sept 2026 - red cells, white cells, plasma, and platelets, once forbidden, now okay.

Throughout it all, people did not question whether God needed another correction, they believed it. Many died, including children, such as 14-year-old Adrian Yeatts, 12-year-old Lenae Martinez, and 12-year-old Lisa Kosack. All three died after refusing blood and were subsequently featured by Awake! magazine in “Youths Who Put God First.” *

Did they believe they would be resurrected? Or did they also fear they wouldn't be?

What happens when we're taught not only what to believe—but what may happen if we question it?

Of course, some or elses keep us alive: Don't walk into freeway traffic. Don't swim into a rip current. Don't stick a knife in an electrical outlet. The danger doesn't require questioning. Electricity will settle the argument.

But what about the consequences created to keep us from questioning?

Question it—or lose your community.

Question it—or lose your livelihood.

Question it—or lose your reputation.

Question it—or lose the comforting belief that you've been right all along.

In 1847, Semmelweis questioned accepted medical practice—and risked his professional standing when he showed that doctors could prevent deaths simply by washing their hands.

In 1954, mounting cancer evidence questioned the safety of cigarettes—and threatened the tobacco industry with customers and billions of dollars in sales.

In 1986, Challenger engineers questioned whether it was safe to launch in unusually cold weather—and risked their standing with management and their biggest customer.

In 2016, Wells Fargo employees who questioned extreme sales demands risked their jobs and livelihoods.

Different century. Different authority. Different or else.

Maybe “How could they have believed that?” is the wrong question. Maybe it's:

What do I believe today that I've never thought to question?

*My opinion: These children clearly believed they were making their own choices. But when a child has been taught from a very early age that accepting blood means no resurrection for them, I question whether that choice came from belief—or fear.