Well, I do think it makes little sense to discuss a book that you've never read. The fact that you changed your mind about walking away from the JWs is an indication that you have more to learn. I would say reading Ray Franz' books was a huge change for me, but that's not where any person of good common sense would stop--that's where their research would begin, if anything. I certainly didn't agree with everything he wrote, and would readily acknowledge that much of what he said was anecdotal--his personal experiences on the Governing Body, which comprise much of what is written in his books, though not all. That's stuff that I personally cannot prove happened, so as shocking as some of it was, it alone isn't/wasn't enough to convince me to have serious doubts about the Witnesses.
I guess Crisis of Conscience starts with the late Mr. Franz retelling his life story as one of Jehovah's Witnesses up until the time he began to serve on the Governing Body. (It actually reads a lot like many life stories still found in issues of The Watchtower today. He had a full life of service.) He goes on to discuss various concepts relating to the authority structure of the organization, the excess in rules where the Bible isn't necessarily clear, and inconsistencies to be found in Watchtower literature, including predictions that did not come to pass, teachings that were in error and how they were handled, and how individuals in the organization were impacted by the ever-changing policies made by the Governing Body. He uses direct quotes from Watchtower literature and his works seems very well-researched and thought out to me. He speaks as someone who personally wrote many Watchtower articles and a book or two himself, so I think his record commands a certain respect whether you agree or not. When it comes to being one of Jehovah's Witnesses, he was as at-the-top-of-the-game as they get. It's a long book, but someone ought to give you a copy, and if not I can, if no one else has yet.
I think one of the biggest things that helped me clear up how I felt about the organization was just reading the Bible itself. Verses considered in their context, rather than scattered through an article in The Watchtower, seemed so much clearer without any outside explanation potentially saying they mean something else that they may or may not mean. There is a reason why the Society says that you cannot understand the Bible without its literature--because the Society wants you to see only what they tell you to see, whether it is there or not.
But I want to be clear, even so: it's not my job or personal wish that you "wake up" and leave the Witnesses. If you read Ray Franz' stuff, do your own research on top of that, and are convinced nonetheless that Jehovah's Witnesses are the true religion, then fine. If that's what you believe, you have the right to that, and nobody should try and take it from you. I found that logical reasons to question the entire concept/system/organization/whatever weren't as important to me as emotional reasons to stay--the feeling of security and belief, in varying degrees of accuracy, that all was well inside this organization. That may not be the case with you, of course, you may feel that there are perfectly logical reasons to stay, and again, that's your choice.
Whatever the case, you are free to make your own decisions on this. And for the record, you would most certainly find yourself in trouble with the elders for reading Ray Franz' books. But only if they knew about it. Either that, or your elders would also be kind of questionable too. The way they swooped down on me, you'd think I was holding a protest sign outside the Kingdom Hall or something. I would be as skeptical as you are if I hadn't experienced it with my own two eyes. This was far more than human imperfection showing, this was a witch trial.
If you're serious about this, though, I think this could be a valuable opportunity, not to make fun or attack you personally, but to have an open forum for these issues for the whole world to see. But it's very telling that you want to talk about these books at all. If you think you have the truth, then why? There's no reason to go down this road if you want to be a Witness. If you are absolutely sure that's what you want, then you should never return to this site, for your own...good, shall we say? Because nothing here can help you be sure about remaining a Witness.
Well, I hope I've not been offensive or done ad hominem kind of stuff. Just my two cents, is all.
--sd-7
