1: Part of me wants to say those parents need to be put away for the rest of their lives, but I can\'t. I was raised a Jehovah\'s Witness and believe it or not, I was in almost the exact same situation. When I was 13, I was scheduled for a surgery, I had checked in and everything, but when it came down to the paper work, my mother wrote down no blood transfusion, under ANY circumstances. I agreed to this, as this is what I was raised in and I believed it at the moment, if for no other reason than because my mother believed it. The problem is, now that I am older, I realize why I believed in it , it wasn\'t because I understood the consequences , it was because it\'s what a child will do for their parents approval. At the age of 13 or 14 in this boy\'s case, you cannot understand truly the consequences of what you\'re doing, especially when you have a situation that is as deep as religious conviction in your family.
I\'m 24 now and no longer a witness, in fact, I haven\'t been since my teen years, but I still understand the conviction these people have for their beliefs. Recent studies have shown that Jehovah Witness\'s have the highest rate for suicide once they leave the religion and this is due to the fact that the whole religion centers around control, control that is used to make the followers feel guilty for simple things such as speaking to people who are "worldly" (people not of the religion). I\'ve personally witnessed my mother bounce in and out of the religion, deal with the depression when she isn\'t part of it, because on one hand she truly believes that this is the only true religion and on the other hand, I think deep down inside she knows there is more to life than what these people are selling. As of right now, she is dis fellowshipped , which means if she attends a meeting / church, she must sit in the back, never be spoken to, until the elders (aka preachers) decide she has reformed. Just in case you\'re wondering why she is dis fellowshipped, it is because she divorced my father, but continues to live with him due to the fact they are both disabled and help take care of each other. Does this sound like a caring religion or a religion based upon control?
Still, once you leave the religion, it does maintain some form of control on you. It\'s been around 10 years since I practiced the faith, but I still don\'t do things that a "normal" person would do. I don\'t celebrate any holidays, as I never had them growing up. I don\'t know the pledge of allegiance (and have no desire to know it). The list goes on and on.
If any of you have any questions about Jehovah Witness\'s, feel free to ask. I\'ll answer them as best as I can. I\'ve forgotten a lot of stuff, but I still have the basic ideology down.
2: I work the night shift on the average of half of the year and personally, I love it. However, I have no doubts that it can weaken your immune system and has adds a lot problems to your life. Not only do you increase the risk of falling asleep at the wheel on your way home (knew someone who done this and died), but your whole body is drained of energy. Still, I prefer night shift. - shrugs-
edit - Just read the parents did not have custody, but it was the Aunt who done this. The same thing applies to the aunt, but one has to wonder why the parents lost custody in the first place.
