In a nutshell, Ray left because he was a good man.
That is clear from his publications. Crystal clear. Also, from the brief emails we exchanged, I know he had a deep sense of guilt.
He knew he was bloodguilty, by a definition to which he subscribed.
He had done evil things, though, by being part of the Whore and by colluding in her works, even after the penny had begun to drop for him.
So, also, he was a weak man.
That is the key distinction between Jiddu Krishnamurti and Ray - Jiddu acted immediately and decisively. Also, the theosophical movement and affiliates were not a malevolent, malicious, happiness-eroding, family-destroying blood-cult.
Yes, Ray therefore does not have my forgiveness. fwiw.
The imaginary God to whom he foolishly prayed may have forgiven him in his mind (he died just over 4 years ago) but his intellectual laziness while within the abomination
His closest cult-buddy among the Gibbering Baboons, old Lie & Swindle (Lyman Swingle to the plebs) slipped his mortal coils in the week Farkel joined jehovahs-witness discussion. Now, there's a conspiracy theory for any ill-equpped old goats.
L&S withdrew his support for Ray in the final reel - self-preservation trumping all else. What a pity there's no hell for these fiends. L&S full knew it was all a hoax and a fraud.
Back to Ray. His instinctive reaction to being pushed out was to appeal and fight it, lol. Calm reflection came later.
Such is the power of the Evil One over the good...
In Ray's defence, he was much in the shadow of his uncle, the very model of depravity, untruthfulness, fraud, calculated deceit and sheer evil. Fred Franz was, with the old pedo Charles Russell himself, the smartest of the Spiritual Pimps who've held the keys to the Tower. So he knew exactly what he was up to. Corrupting and misleading his not-all-that-clever nephew was part of his game-plan.
The vast majority of fubdubs here have not the slightest grasp of how truly evil some people can be. By viewing them as simply
weirdo
they trivialise their crimes.
These filth are no better than deliberate, intentional mass-murderers. Their hands and mouths are covered with the blood of innocents, including babes.
FF full knew the whole thing was a swindle (just see his answers in Court re the ultimate authorship of the works), but went along with the blood transfusion ban knowing that he was killing people, including innocent kids, that way.
I've no difficulty in grasping the degree of the evil.
Possibly FF had fun with it. Could it be, he masturbated to the images of kids fighting for their lives on operating tables with blood being denied them due to their deluded, brainwashed parents.
As to the nephew - I don't know if Ray died unhappy, as my last knowledge of him was 7 years before he left. He was certainly not at peace with himself then.
I realize that Ray Franz may seem like a towering giant to some. To me, he is nothing like that at all. He was basically a fool, probably a useful fool, though an essentially good fool, and very human in his failings. It took nearly three years of internal struggle for him to publish his first, ofh so absurdly mild, chastisement of the WTS. Why?
Why was he not immediately busy whistle-blowing about the filthy Whore while kids (and others) were dying needlessly due to the ludicrously contrived blood ban (which has zero scriptural basis), while shunning and other Elder-led crime led to many suicides and endless unhappiness, while the two-witness rule brought pedophiles to the Tower like flies come to honey, and on and on.
He was still in his fifties then.
Ray, I didn't hate you (in the "godly" manner prescribed in Watchtower teaching as being what God wants you to do). Certainly not. But I certainly didn't respect you either.
I would unhesitatingly say to him:
"You are the best person by far who has ever belonged to the WTS-ruling elite."
But that is to be damned by faint praise indeed. Let it rest, he's dead, the sh!t goes on. His books undoubtedly helped many get out of the Disgusting Thing.
__
Focus
("Anti-Filth" Class)