The thread about the Mexico issue got me to thinking. I started to post this there and then realized it was a bit of a hi-jack, so I'm starting a new thread. In that other thread, it was mentioned that JWs are finding ways of blaming Ray Franz for some of the embarrassing things that has plagued the WTS. A couple of quotes...
attributed those issues to the "apostates" at headquarters intentionally mistranslating information for the friends in Mexico. And directly implicated Ray Franz as head of the writing department as the primary source.
Apparently Ray Franz is responsible for the 1975 teaching too according to one of my JW friends. It seems he is being used as a useful scapegoat for all the problem doctrines.
This is why you don't use what Mr. Franz, or any other ex-JW or anti-JW, has published as your sole argument against the WT organization. His books/experiences are great tools in learning the truth about the Society and its misdealings. But they're resource material, not the Holy Writings of Apostacy. The same is true of any other ex-JW who has published works.
While we may need these resources as we work our way through the issues of having been a JW, in the end we have to know in ourselves why we're leaving and why we don't anything to do with the religion or their parent organization.
JWs...and other Christian types will quote Bible verse after Bible verse as if that's the end-all be-all to the argument, not realizing that the person they're talking to maybe doesn't even accept the Bible as Holy. The same can be said of qouting Mr. Franz or any other ex-JW who has exposed the WTS as a fraudulent society. JWs aren't going to accept anything they say. They're apostate after all.
A side note: Please - dont' take this as a negative against Ray Franz. I have the utmost respect for him, but I know in the end, my decisions have to be based on what I know and what I've learned and experienced. His book helped, but I have to be able to stand up for myself and fight my own battles.
It's always been important to me to figure out which scandals or doctrines are the most damning and concentrate on knowing the facts and details about them. The thing is...there are so many fucked up things about this religion, it's easy to get overwhelmed by all the issues. Forget all of them. Concentrate on the ones that bug you the most...the ones that prove to you that this isn't the true religion.
If and when you decide to discuss the issue with anyone you can speak as expert on these few issues...and that's all you need. You don't have to prove them wrong on every thing that has been brought to question about them. They claim to be the one, true religion with it's Governing Body as God's Channel on Earth. Well... let them prove it. If I have a short list of things that proves to me that those are false statements and claims, then the burden of proof falls back on them. I don't need to keep harping on scandal after scandal or false teaching after false teaching.
If that person refuses to accept our detailed and well-informed position, nothing quoted by anyone else is going to change their mind. As long as we know the truth of the matter, then we can move on, confident in our knowledge and where we're going and who we are.
In the end, that's all that matters...