crisis of conscience

cyrus

Hi all ,got my copy today read 90 pages already ,so far very interesting and an eye opener rutherford comes across as a very dishonest man and a dictator. knorr comes across as very insecure.anyway back to it .have fun and i will let you know as i read more .dan

skyking

great book keep reading

Rayvin

cool! I am told my many to get it and will get it soon when finances allow. I am intrested to see how your opinion is as you read more.

orbison11

hi ravyin

till then, you can get it at your local library,,,well worth the read

obi

Terry

I found it creepy.

The tone came through exactly like reading a Watchtower article.

The same assured confidence and reasonableness that permeated all the Society's books was present in Franz's book.

How could Franz be so utterly convinced he was right before and after? The same mind saw the Truth as truth and the Truth as lie. Bewildering to me.

Shall we attempt to call Franz's journey from convinced believer in Watchtower theology to skeptic a transformation we have to ask some critical questions.

1.At any point in time, wasn't Franz ethically obliged to speak out in a way that demanded explanation for dissonant conflict between reality and mere orthodoxy? And, if he did speak out, surely he was reproved and instructed as to why he was in error.

2. At the point of becoming a skeptic, wasn't there an obligation to persuade the Governing Body of error in a way that didn't shrug off their opposition? After all, Franz was becoming something of a covert operative as his mindset was changing. There was a disharmony in the boardroom and he was the dissonant note.

3. On the sly people at Bethel were questioning the directives of conventional JW teaching. Had they stuck together and remained in full view as a united group of HONEST INQUIRERS there would never have been the possibility of being labeled troublemakers, dissidents and sneaky complainers.

4.Ray Franz had the ear of his uncle in a way that nobody else had. Surely Ray Franz could have called uncle Fred into his study and mano a mano gone over the sore points of conflict and allowed the old man the opportunity to answer the troubling questions.

5.The transition from honest true-believer into honest skeptic and disfellowshipped victim doesn't ring true to my ears. All the documents that Franz presents (as photocopies) in his book tells me he was sneaking around when eyes weren't looking. Franz was preparing his broadside over a period of time in which he was trusted. This is disingenuous behavior at best and outright unethical behavior at worst.

6. I think much of the reaction of the other GB members toward all that went down in Bethel is the result of the backroom, sneaky, covert, sub rosa conspiracy-laced murmurring that drove it into view. It could have been prudently, honestly and visibly presented innocently by men with good reputations who would have been taken seriously. Instead, the water was poisoned by the manner in which the murmurring went round.

Having said all that; the book Crisis of Conscience (beyond being self-serving for Franz) is an invaluable document that gives a glimpse into the inner workings of the JW religion in a way otherwise impossible.

It is impossible to view them the same way after reading C of C that you did before in regards to the Governing Body and the religion as a whole.

nicolaou

Brace yourself Terry!

bernadette

found both Ray's books very beneficial.

As far as I'm concerned he did the best he could in the circumstances - although I hear what you are saying Terry.

I've learned a huge lesson about the harm we can do to one another and to ourselves when our identity as a group or even as a person becomes the all consuming thing on which our survival depends. Ray in COC conveys that very clearly.

bernadette

Blueblades

What if Ray left quietly and never wrote the books he wrote? Whatever the reasons as to the way he behaved inside and outside only he really knows what drove him to do what he did Did what he did by writing those books help not only himself, but the many others who have said that it was those books that freed them from The Watchtower? The Watchtower stills holds many captive because of the fear of losing loved ones. What internal anquish and struggle that Ray was going through only he knows that. Ray, I think has tried to undo some of his past failings in not acting sooner then he did, until he was given the booth and a small compensation. Had they not given him the booth would he have come clean sometime in the near future or just waited it out?

I understand fully Terry's points and agree with them.

Blueblades

wanderlustguy

I have to say I agree with Terry, but at the same time have the opinion that everything is self serving. Some people are just fortunate that in serving themselves they can serve others in some small, or not so small way.

Not entirely a negative in my opinion, but definitely worth considering that everything related by someone is from their point of view only.

COC is only the start of relearning how to learn. It was 2 years ago today that I ordered the book, the first of over 25 so far on mind control and destructive religious groups as well as finance, theology, etc. Enjoy the journey!

WLG

Terry

What follows is another of my half-baked crackpot theories.

In a religious stronghold like the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses there is a dynamic to be discovered.

Men, after all, are flesh and blood. How men use power is an open book throughout history.

Power is sought and wielded only by those who comprehend the "game" of power brokering.

To be effective in such an organization as the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society can be interpreted several ways.

1.Merely serving. This might be gruntwork or meal preparation, housekeeping, etc. I'll call this "pure service". There is no power of a personal nature to be acquired. You grunt and serve until your health fails and then you have to go.

2.Personality service. This often means door-to-door speaking, persuasion, debate, public speaking and using your personal ability, intelligence and people skills to discharge the burden of service. The level of power you acquire can amount to praise, admiration and promotion (to elder, for example.) Your level of respect among the bros. and sisters is "earned" by your personality and skill.

3.Group Dynamic Power service. This is influencing the behavior of others by employing doctrines, policies, judgements, confrontations, votes, disciplines and judicial decisions. The power stems from how much EFFECT you wield through your influence. The more other people have to REACT to you (in your role within the group) the more you separate yourself as special, elite and respectd (or feared.)

4.Policy, Doctrine or Theology service. This is the greatest dynamic of service possible. When you become the rudder that turns a large vessel such as the Organization itself and its beliefs and policies your personal power dynamic is enormous. This only happens at the very top. This is where Ray Franz found himself.

In view of the above, my personal theory is that Ray Franz (probably over time) saw the emptiness in certain beliefs, policies, administrative groupthink and especially hurtful doctrines and the dissonance with simple scriptural application (mainstream application.) He was a well read man with lots of scholorly tomes at his disposal for research.

When Ray Franz realized he held within his mind a DIFFERENT understanding of how, for instance, Kingdom Halls should be arranged in terms of elders sharing the load rather than Congregation Overseers holding sway---he had a moment of REAL POLITICK. He saw the only way to change things was through persuasion in the form of AID TO BIBLE UNDERSTANDING finesse.

Ray Franz made sure the JW Commentary explicating the scriptures was in place clearly enunciating the "new and improved" viewpoint and used that as leverage to persuade the others.

Research, naturally, can only mean one thing that nobody ever wants to say out loud: OTHER RELIGION ("false" religion) and its scholars were right and the JW mentality was askew!

Being convinced you are in need of change by reading the scholarship of false religion, secular scholarship, real investigation can only work if you disguise it as "revelation" which JW's coyly term "new light".

Franz got away with this until Freddy got suspicious. Snooping around began. I believe Ray Franz was unconsciously trying to stage a revolutionary coup. In other words, he was going to straighten these yokels out single-handedly by a whispering campaign to others of intelligence and objective minded skepticism.

If Freddy and the boys hadn't stepped in and stopped the "cancer" from spreading it might have worked!

Ray never counted on the Society as being willing to reverse itself. He thought chipping away at the marble slab would produce the art form he sought in his mind's eye. He was creating a new New World Society in his own image ( or more precisely: his understanding).

I say all this was done "unconsciously" as to motive. I think it was all too easy at first and this success emboldened him beyond discretion.

Had he been a bit more above board and direct the opposition would not have been organizational knee-jerk reaction, but; individual discussion/debate.

I think at some point, Franz began seeing himself as guility of high crimes and misdemeanors and he turned sneaky.

From that point forward he gave the GB enough rope to hang him rightly (in their view).

Ray Franz real crisis of conscience was when he failed to speak up and speak out directly one on one so that everybody would be clear where he was coming from. That he did not do this tells me he wasn't consciously aware of even why himself until it was too late to decide.

crisis of conscience

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