Now here is one man we have all enjoyed having had our lives "overlap" with!! In his passing I am sure he is at peace with the choices he made and glad that he did them when his life was at its full. Cynthia, if you are reading on - Ray's memory will never fade...you have been truly blessed as have we.
Ray Franz Passed Away Today
by Amazing 54 Replies latest jw friends
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Aussie Oz
I have had great admiration for Ray since i first read COC 6 months ago. I found his writings to be so empty of hate and personal drive, with no agenda other than being truthful to his concience. I wish i had been brave enough to have read his books 12 years ago.
I admire his wife for steadfasly taking the journey with her man.
Perhaps in his wish for no funeral service, Ray has shown one last time that he wanted no grand recognition, no fanfare and had no agenda other than to be a truly honest man. Perhaps just as well, for i am sure it would be a huge memorial indeed.
Gone but not forgotten
oz
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Mary
I had no access to the internet last night, so I'm just seeing this now. Death is always difficult for those who are left behind. The vast majority of us on here never met him in person, yet he's touched many of our lives.
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The Finger
Sad. I always hoped to read another book he had written. I enjoyed the two I read very much and still reread portions. I wrote to him and recieved replies from him. I also wrote to the President of the WT but recieved no reply. Ray Franz writing helped me to feel less guilt about leaving what I had held as God's organization.
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quietlyleaving
I'm so glad Ray got to live out his days dying active and alert to the end - out walking in his 90s
my thoughts are with Cynthia too
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JimmyPage
He will always be a hero to me.
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BurnTheShips
I am sorry to hear this. His books were very helpful in making me free.
BTS
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WTWizard
For sure, Raymond Franz lived an honorable life, within his knowledge. He sacrificed much to improve the organization, including much time in missionary work. Then, he spent 9 years of his life trying to improve the religion from the highest position--without much success. He did manage to get oral sex among married couples reduced from a judicial offense to a conscience matter that might result in loss of "privileges". All he really wanted was to get the religion in compliance with the Bible, and they threw him out for that.
Yet, he would not give up. After that, he wrote Crisis of Conscience and In Search of Christian Freedom. Those books were designed to highlight the discrepancy between the Washtowel religion and the Bible they claim to abide by. They also explain what went on in terms of bickering and fighting among the Gibbering Body and Filthful and Disgraceful Slavebugger class. Using those books, Ray sought to set people free from the religion he tried so hard to improve.
Too bad he had to die at a younger age than his uncle Fred, who lived a much more dishonorable life trying to throw up the smokescreen to keep people in the witless organization.
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JustHuman14
I'm sure God will have a place for him in heavens...
Great man we ex-jw's will never forget him
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ziddina
He will be greatly missed...
As another poster said on a related thread... Wish he'd lived to 120... There was so much more he could have taught us...
But I'm grateful for his legacy that we do have available to us...