Christian organ donor wants it back after recipient loses her religion

[BurtWorm]

From Pharyngula.org:

http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2006/08/the_apostate_kidney.php

The apostate kidney

Posted on: August 29, 2006 12:53 PM, by PZ Myers

What a strange story: a woman donates one of her kidneys to another woman in need. Later, the recipient leaves the Christian faith. Now the donor wants her organ back.

Smith was aghast when she heard of the conversion, and she quickly wrote a letter asking Felks to re-convert to Christianity or return the organ, saying it was donated under false pretenses.

"I feel helpless," she says. "Part of my body, my DNA, is stuck inside a person who's going to hell."

There's some freaking weird theology going on here. Does she think her DNA is going to be assumed into the afterlife? Do spirits have DNA? Do you need a kidney as an angel?

She also has some strange anxieties, since the recipient is a pagan.

Smith suffers nightmares of her former organ filtering "strange Asian teas, pig blood and witch doctor brews in Africa," she says. She wonders if the Lord really wanted her to donate the kidney, or if she acted on a "triple-espresso high" she had that morning. She is also concerned that when her body is resurrected, it might be incomplete.

That's tragic. The kidney is also missing the opportunity to filter the body and blood of Christ, transforming Jesus' protein into urine. Oh, to never again deaminate the amino acids of the God of Abraham, to never again extract Jesus' sodium ions, and to have to settle for filtering the ichor of little animist gods…what a sad fate.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

1. Can't follow your link

but I imagine it's tough shit for the donor

[skiddlybop]

3. As it was said so truly...

You've got to be carefully taught.

[Gormy Cuss]

10. It might help to add the end of the blog entry

"P.S. Some people aren't getting it. The article is satire, although if you do think about it, there is some weird stuff going on with this whole idea of an afterlife."

[SheilaT]

2. The problem with living organ donation.

There's supposed to be a serious screening of such donors, to insure that they really do understand what they're doing, and that it's irreversible. She certainly should have thought about the resurrection problem, and perhaps even have brought it up during the donation process.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

9. Well if she can't distinguish matters of faith from an espresso high

do you really think her deductive reasoning skills would have assisted in this situation? :evilgrin:

[LoZoccolo]

4. The original article is satire. n/t

[Journeyman]

15. That won't stop people here from exhibiting their own intolerance. . .

n/t

[MrModerate]

17. Huh? Say what? Please expand. n/t

[MrModerate]

16. But if you follow the link back, you discover . . .

That the original story was straight news (reported in a church publication, admittedly).

ON EDIT: Or maybe not. I've looked around the "Lark News" site and I'm still not sure whether it's intended as satire or not. Is it supposed to be a kindler, gentler, Christian-focused, family-friendly takeoff on The Onion?

It's very hard to tell.

[BurtWorm]

20. It's seems like a more subtle version of Betty Bowers Landover Church.

;)

[MrModerate]

21. I think you're right . . .

There's a LOT of ads on that site, and I'm thinking it's a money-making operation (or intended to be).

[BurtWorm]

23. They have some very funny headlines

HEADLINES


Church multi-plex serves choosy faithful
Kidney donor cries foul when recipient ditches Christianity
IPOs net millions for ministries
Youth pastor overestimates preaching ability after wowing main service
Joseph Smith returns to assert finer points of doctrine
Student who chose Bible college over Yale now feels 'royally screwed'

APRIL 1 HEADLINES

Students start ministry to men with ponytails
Animatronic band takes guesswork out of worship
Women's ministry changes the world through crafts
Pastor's coffee insult scars faithful secretary
Accountability groups classified as gangs in Detroit
Savior Scout relieved that peers consider him 'not as uncool as last year'

[ComerPerro]

24. I think its a pro-Christian satire site

which might suggest that Christians are comfortable with this idea, of "give it back"

[Saphire]

28. sad that in todays world, ya can't tell the diffrence.

[darkism]

5. How Christian of her.

:sarcasm:

[Phredicles]

6. She also asked that the blood she donated in 1997 be returned to her

when she learned that it had been transfused to a homosexual who'd been in a car accident...

:eyes:

[Cassandra]

7. How very "Christian" of her.

[NicoleM]

8. It's satire.

From the end of the blog entry:

P.S. Some people aren't getting it. The article is satire, although if you do think about it, there is some weird stuff going on with this whole idea of an afterlife.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

11. ahhh...the link wasn't yet fixed when I commented

but I am getting down on my knees and thanking the lord that it is satire :D

[Phredicles]

13. It's getting damn hard to tell what's satire and what's not any more.

[Name removed]

12. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[KittyWampus]

22. would you explain how a baseball bat would "fix" a fundie?

knowing that a fundie is a fellow human being?

[warrens]

26. Think of it as a wakeup call

[noonwitch]

14. A gift is a gift....

Obviously, this woman doesn't get the true message of Jesus. You are blessed in the giving, no matter who the person you are giving to is or what he believes.

If I give $20 to a homeless person, and that person goes and buys crack with it, I am still blessed for caring enough to give the money. It may be smarter for me to give to an agency that feeds the poor or to give that person a bagged lunch from home, but my intent is still to help someone out of love. God blesses us for our kindness to others.

Hey, all you wiccans and pagans out there-have you ever drank pig's blood as part of a ritual? Every book I read about paganism/wicca openly states that using any kind of blood for a ritual is risky because of diseases that can be transmitted.

[BurtWorm]

18. This woke people up!

I turned my back for a few minutes and next thing I know, 17 replies! :toast:

[tularetom]

19. Will the kidney be raptured out of the body of the godless recipient?

will it sprout little kidney wings and soar up to heaven, there to reunite with its rightful owner? I love to ponder these deep theological questions.

[sinkingfeeling]

25. It's Kidneys for Christ!! There used to be a common saying, "Crazier

than a loon". I think I'll start using "crazier than a Christian fundie".

[Touchdown]

27. Oh' come on! This is an Onion article, isn't it?

Nobody's THAT insane. ...are they?:shrug:

[RB TexLa]

29. guess she can want in one hand and shit in the other and see which

fills up faster.

[hlthe2b]

30. Oh....my....God!

:rofl:

I know, I know, I'm being blasphemous, but really....:eyes: