by StoneWall 58 Replies latest jw friends
In addition, Cynthia may need some monetary help at this time. Someone close to them could open up a fund and we could deposit $1, $5 or $10 into it. Whatever. It would come in handy so she doesn't spend her last years on this earth missing her husband in poverty.
bluessaphire you have an excellent idea. Would you be able to look into setting something up through the internet and PM me. Maybe we can start this thing up. What does everyone think of that?
LD
As others have stated, Ray Franz is not now and never has been my leader. He didn't drag me out of the WT Society. While I was still an active JW, I wouldn't have dared read Ray Franz's books. They were the very definition of apostasy. It was only after I escaped the cult that I found the courage to read Crisis of Conscience. I found Ray's account of his life at Bethel to be very moving, comforting, and disturbing. It brought me comfort at a very difficult time in my life, and helped confirm many things that I had observed on my own. He let me know I was not alone. I owe him a debt I can never repay.
I am no longer a Christian, and I know Ray would be disappointed in that. On this point we differ. Nevertheless, I respect him greatly and I intend to make every effort to attend his funeral. I hope to see many of you there.
I pray that can meet Franz Ray live, we hope in a Miracle
Sadly, when Ray gets the huge funeral that he deserves, I think the sentiment from B-Rock is going to be whispered through the kingdom halls. I doubt the Watchtower will be brave enough to print anything about this man that has had a huge impact on the direction of the organization, but if so it will no doubt be to paint him as a cult figure that set himself up for worship by evil apostates. They have mentioned often enough about the evil slave that whips there brothers and it is sad that such a sincere person as Ray is painted in this light.
ATJ said it much better than i could.
With regard to the subject - i wont be able to attend either way, but i think it would be a beautiful idea IF its okay with Cynthia. From what i understand, her relationship with the WT is somewhat unclear, and if a number of 'apostates' suddenly arrived and some of her believing friends or relatives got rubbed the wrong way and gave her a choice between themselves and you, she would be in a terrible situation in this day which in my oppinion should be all about supporting her in her grief. I hope its just me who are being silly :-).
(ps. i know it is tasteless to talk about him like he is allready gone).
ATJ has said it perfectly. If I wasn't in Australia, I'd be over there offering support and making sure to attend whatever there was to attend of this great man(not our leader, but a good man). It makes me sad not to have met him. At least I had the pleasure to correspond with him. A very humble, christian man.
Etna
according to Paul Blizzard,Ray was cremated.
I'm disappointed that there is no organized, formal memorial service for Ray Franz.
Mad Sweeney I was kinda disappointed as well when I first heard about the arrangements to be honest.
Because of all the talk when I was raised in the Org about those who leave wind up either being alone or dying alone.
I thought this would be an excellent opportunity to show others how untrue those words were.
But after thinking about Ray's life and how he didn't want to draw followers to himself, or give others any reason
to objectify or point to him as some sort of leader, I guess this was the best way to handle it.
He evidently had thought it through beforehand and didn't want to give any impression that he was anything more than
a follower of Christ.
So even in death he has made my respect for him grow a little more.
