Unfaltering Faith

This past week I was surfing television channels when I encountered a special on PBS from Independent Lens. I was ready to continue my journey upward to the other seventy channels or so when I became intrigued by two parallel stories about Jehovah's Witnesses. In my theological training of the past, I had always been taught that this group was a cult and, therefore, to be avoided at all costs. Now that I have seen this special, however, I have developed a new respect for their unwavering faith.

One of the stories featured a European Jew and Holocaust survivor from the concentration camps. He, and many of his fellow prisoners, lost all faith in God due to their circumstances--being imprisoned and killed without cause. He was located next to a group of Jehovah's Witnesses who were offered an opportunity by Hitler's soldiers to be freed if they would but renounce their stand on war. Being pacifists, they refused to do so. As a result of this unfaltering faith in the goodness of God, in spite of horrific circumstances, this European Jew converted to Jehovah's Witnesses.

The second story featured a Jehovah's Witness who was 24 and in need of a liver transplant. Of course, a Jehovah's Witness cannot accept blood transfusions, as part of his or her faith. The dilemma was unmistakable. Where could he find a hospital that would do a liver transplant and promise not to use additional blood? The answer came from the USC hospital in southern California. They agreed to do the surgery as part of an experimental procedure. The hospital, of course, could gain greatly if the procedure worked because of the threat of AIDS-infected blood that all hospitals struggle with. The procedure was a success for both donor father and recipient son. This family also had unfaltering faith.

Most of us who fall somewhat on the liberal side of religious and political thought tend to view uncompromising attitudes of the religious right in a negative light. This program, however, challenged me to see otherwise. Perhaps, just perhaps, unfaltering faith such as this can actually result in peace and love, not war and hatred. As fundamentalists, it seems the choice is theirs to make.