Ray Franz---A Man We Owe Our Thanks To (page 4)

adelmaal

AMEN to that! I read "Crisis of Conscience" and I am now reading "In Search of Christian Freedom". That man has given me the strength to read the Bible again, to question the claims of the dubs and any other religeon for that matter and to have my own relationship with God based on my own understanding of God and the Bible. It's a wonderful thing to be free and to think for yourself.

kid-A

Ray Franz' contribution has been invaluable. I know many individuals who read his books and left the borg after fully understanding the inner workings of this dangerous cult.

Would these people have left without reading Rays account? Highly unlikely. To actually read the words coming from a former governing body member about the outrageous behind the scenes

machinations going on at Brooklyn have far greater resonance than anything someone without Ray's credentials could have.

I have no doubt his books have saved people's lives. The circumstances of him leaving the borg are irrelevant, but he most certainly was not "forced out" nor was he bitter about being purged, as revisionists like

SBF will have you believe, his doubts about the teachings of the WTS were being formulated long before the events of 1980. His legacy and the impact he had on peoples lives are what will be remembered.

Thanks Ray.

LDH

I can't say one thing good or bad about Ray with regards to leaving the 'truth.'

I've never read any of his books, except the Aid book, LOL. (Aid to Bible Understanding) that we used and took with us on a family vacation to Israel to visit the "holy land."

I did speak to him once, in 97 or so. He said that JW children were "victims of victims." I thought that was an appropriate description.

I think a little perspective is in order, and once you're on the outside it's a hell of a lot easier to look back and say "WTF was I thinking?!?!?"

However I don't owe my thanks to anyone but myself and my husband, both of whom are smart enough to question everything.

BUT if Ray helped you, then so be it.

Lisa

adelmaal

once you're on the outside it's a hell of a lot easier to look back and say "WTF was I thinking?!?!?"

Well put! It's amazing what a little perspective can do...

BizzyBee

Star Moore

Raymond, If you are reading this:

I LOVE YOU DEARLY, AND THANK YOU VERY MUCH...

star

minimus

I'm GLAD to see that there are more that appreciate Ray's contributions than do not. Ray has his faults and I'm sure looking back, he probably knew he could do things differently in some situations but he's still the one that opened doors of freedom for me.

love2Bworldly

I think Ray Franz is an awesome, honorable person who has other people's best interests at heart, a rare quality.

I was in shock when I was reading his book because it was before I had done a lot of research. It really nailed the coffin on how I feel about the WTBS.

PoppyR

Personally COC was the first 'apostate' literature I ever read, and the fact it was clearly written by someone who had such love for the bible and even for the organisation helped me a great deal.

First time I read it, i couldn't actually believe a lot of it! I read it again recently and it helped me even more. Especially the points on the GB and their interference in the sex lives of individuals and how many were DFed but never apologised to when the doctrine was later revised!! The part on malawi was at first hard to believe, I remember as a child praying for the brothers there it was so bad. Now I feel very sad for all those that lost their lives.

Thank you Ray, i wont say without the book I wouldn't have escaped, but it helped me free myself a lot quicker!

Poppy

justsomedude

By the time I read the book, I had already made my choices and decided to leave, but it was so comforting to see in print that I had certainly made the right choice by leaving the cult.

Despite being a very independant person and not having to lean on someone else to make the big choices, its always good to have a little reinforcement that you are doing the right thing when you get those days that drag you down a bit. Its the same as this message board really. I'm a happy apostate at this point, but every little piece of new information that I get on this board that strengthens my resolve to never go back to the looney bin is welcomed.

Many, many thanks to Ray and all the other folks that did so much to help us.

Ray Franz---A Man We Owe Our Thanks To

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