ThomasThomas, I'm not quite sure what you mean but Ray Franz continued to be a Christian so I presume he believed he was going to heaven when he died. His second book which I didn't read but I believe was called In Search of Christian Freedom might tell you more.
Everybody loves Raymond
by Saintbertholdt 73 Replies latest watchtower scandals
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APieceOfShitNamedTate
@Thomas Thomas, when you really think about it, how many people actually take it seriously when someone says they're anointed? In my hall, everybody always calls those people crazy. "Oh there's no way brother or sister so-and-so are anointed! They'll barely make it into paradise!" I'm sure you've heard similar things. So if that's the general attitude, it doesn't reflect well on people who claim to have faith in "Jehovah's organization".
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batchannel
I was friends with Raymond Franz starting in the 90's. He spent the rest of his life quietly helping people who contacted him by offering encouragement and support through letters as well as answering questions. He didn't go out and start a church or do anything else that would indicate he was AT ALL interested in power or glory. He told me he avoided forums on the internet because they often devolved into baseless accusations and ridiculous speculations (as sadly happens here too). He refused to partake in anyone else's agenda or be forced to take a public position to further that agenda. He was extremely measured and thoughtful in his public statements. He felt the moral responsibility of having led people in the wrong direction as a GB member and so spent the rest of his life trying to compensate for that. I believe his character was unimpeachable and was friendly with him right until his passing nearly 10 years ago.
I'm happy to see this because Ray would have been saddened that it was taken down in the first place. Everything Ray wanted or needed to say is there.
All of the old Commentary Press material back is online, which includes the original PDF versions of Ray's books as well as his essays and other commentary, and are available for free:
www.friendsofraymondfranz.com -
Vidiot
Saintbertholdt - "Most worrisome is why Franz didn't gun Leo Greenlees in 'Crisis of conscience'. In the book he mentioned Greenlees having to leave while he still resided on the Governing Body. Franz gave his vote to make him step down and yet he kept absolutely silent on the matter of why Greenlees was kicked out. Wasn't his silence complacency? Franz wrote about everything else, why not this particular subject? The Watchtower pedorast scandal already broke three years before the last revision of his first book (2001 and 2004 respectively), yet he still kept silent. Was it too uncomfortable for him or was he just protecting Greenlees and his own reputation? So why wasn't his conscience in crisis over this particular matter?"
I've occasionally wondered this myself...
...and the only explanation can think of was that the rest of the GB may have realized that letting Ray in on the entire Greenlees story would have caused too many difficulties, considering the strain Ray himself was going through at the time (remember, Greenlees - for all intents and purposes - was booted for being gay, not for being a pedophile, in part because back then, the two were often viewed as simply two sides of the same coin)...
...i.e. Ray didn't out Greenless because he himself wasn't privy to the growing child abuse problem (he expressed skepticism that it was a serious problem when questioned some time ago), as the rest of the GB were able to keep him out of that particular loop.