At last finished reading Crisis of Conscience

by diamondblue1974 42 Replies latest jw friends

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  diamondblue1974

  And what an eye opener it was...dont get me wrong I faded some 10 years ago and the reasons for such were contained in the book, i.e 1914, failed prophecies and so forth.

  The expose is disarming by its objective style and whilst I now read any literature through sceptical eyes I could see a person genuinely grieved by what had taken place and the crisis he was subjected to conscientiously; it said it all to me when he said that his aim was not to divert people from the JWs but give them support so they could develop as christians and therefore allow them to come to their own conclusions (or words to that effect).

  Extremely well written and consise with reams of references (which I happen to love).

  Anyone that is recently out must read this book...it objective, honest and was totally surprising in parts.

  DB74
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  PaulJ

  I have to get a copy- where did you get yours from? Is it available in libraries and book shops?
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  nicolaou

  Paul

  UK libraries are fantastic! If they haven't got a copy of CoC just put in a request - at my library it costs just 80p to do that. You may have to wait 3 or 4 weeks but you'll be notified when the book is in. A bonus is that when you're done with it it will be available for anyone else in your town.

  Nic'
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  diamondblue1974

  You can buy it online from below or

  http://www.freeminds.org/sales/menuframes.htm

  You can order it through Wesley Owen (a chain of christian bookshops) they will have to order it in but they dont charge for this priviledge...I waited two weeks and it was in and ready for pick up.

  www.wesleyowen.co.uk

  Either that or from Libraries...which is definately the cheaper option...I wanted to digest it though and really dig out the references where possible and needed more time to do so hence why I bought it...

  DB74
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  greendawn

  So Diamond what were some highlights in the book that you liked most?
  
  I didn't read it but from what I heard about it it's the voting by the GB to decide on vital and at times potentially lethal issues that makes them appear as the spiritual charlatans that they really are. Where is the unanimity of the Spirit in the spirit directed FDS? To some it says vote yes and to others it says vote no.
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  katiekitten

  It made me think what a load of codswallop all this 'apostacy' rubbish is, telling us not to read anything because it will ruin our faith - because it will educate us objectively more like. After I had read it I thought - there is no such thing as the apostacy, they just made it up, like the booger man in the cupboard, to keep us in line.

  Ray Franz has way more reasons than most to be bitter and vindictive, but his style is unbelievably loving and tolerant. He just doesnt slag anyone off at all, he makes no comments that are emotionally loaded, he is a genuine spiritual person. He makes me wish I still believed in something. He really encourages people to love god.

  I would reccomend everyone to read it, its an unbelievable read.
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  PaulJ

  Thanks Nic... I'll get down to my library this weekend!

  Diamondblue- what are you going to read next?

  Ive not really started any research since I left 2 years ago, except what I have learnt on this site... my eyes are wide open already!
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  Crumpet

  You can order it from Amazon and when I bought mine they had an offer on where you got In Search of Christian Freedom as well with a few quid off.

  I remember also thinking what a warm good soul Ray Franz seemed and not all like the mean-spirited hierachy I have frequently encountered within the borg. Thats what impressed me most, although there were several procedures and doctrinal issues particular with regard to Mexican brothers being allowed to join the military at the same time as Malawian brothers were being tortured and imprisoned for following the society's rules to abstain from any connection with the military there.
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  diamondblue1974

  What really jumped out at me was the authoritarian structure of the organisation and the fact that it is akin to a machine as opposed to a Christian congregation; upon my exit I always had these thoughts at the back of my mind but lacked the solid information to support it and plus it was a scary experience having such thoughts given that they are classed as apostate; but Ray Franz's case demonstrated that when the organisation has an agenda it ruthlessly will stick to it irrespective as to the lack of scriptual basis for their actions.
  

  The book gave me some interesting views on apostacy and supported the view that their interpretation of apostacy is not the one set down in scripture; apostacy against the organisation isnt apostacy against God

  I took great comfort from the part about works and faith and those being coterminous but not necessarily being the works that JWs would have us believe are applicable.

  What people sometimes dont realise upon exit is that even when the split from the witnesses is severe i.e disfellowshipping etc there still remains a deep entrenched belief system made up of guilt and fear which does tend to wear off in time but part of it still stays even 10 years on; for me this book has helped to resolve these doubts and fears.

  As my profession dictates I read the law day in day out; I take a set of facts and try through statute and caselaw to form an opinion as to how the law applies to the facts in a literal sense and whether or not the law has been broken or whether or not a person or organisation has complied. This has given me good practice from a spiritual point of view too because if you use the bible (for what it is worth) and use it as measuring stick you see the WTS does not comply with the scriptual laws set out in the bible. If you take a scriptual principle and apply it to the WTS actions, it simply more often than not does not comply.

  Cant praise the book enough....next stop is one of Steven Hassans books.
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  katiekitten

  What hit me was when he said they dont pray or refer to the bible when they have their governing body meetings - they dont get the minutes of meetings before hand so they cant research any points raised before hand - they just make a string of d/f decisions about people they have never heard of, and they make doctrine decisions the same way. Also amazed that strong personalities could streamroller other brothers on issues of doctrine, and it only took a majority vote to alter a doctrine - and all without opening the bible ONCE!!

  At KH they fed us this blarney about them sitting down and prayerfully considering things and being led by Jehoba - prayerfully considering the scriptures - they told us. I used to imagine them being dead holy and humble. Couldnt have been more wrong. What an insight.

  And of course the Malawi / Mexico thing made me cry with hurt and shame and anger. I used to pray every night for those poor Malawi Brothers when I was a kid, and now I find out it was all totally unneccessary.