Word: franzes
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...Trial, by Franz Kafka...
...months later, the official Watchtower newspaper announced that the policy of shunning disfellowshipped Witnesses included shunning those like Gregerson who were "disassociated." Not long afterward, Franz was seen in a restaurant eating a meal with his benefactor Gregerson. That single sighting provided the technical infraction for which Franz was finally disfellowshipped by the Gadsden leaders two months ago. "By one stroke they eliminated all my years of service," says Franz. "I frankly do not believe there is another organization more insistent on 100% conformity...
From the leaders' viewpoint, however, it was obviously imperative to strike at Franz and the others. The dissenters' Luther-like emphasis upon "Scripture alone" rather than official interpretation was only one threat to the foundations of the religion. Many other central Watch Tower doctrines were also at stake...
...Witnesses believe that only 144,000 of the faithful (a number taken from Revelation 14: 1-3) will be "born again" and go to heaven. The faith's rulers, among whom Raymond Franz was once numbered, come from this elite. The "other sheep" who are loyal to the Watch Tower are promised an earthly paradise. Jehovah will shortly annihilate the rest of the human race. The dissenters reject this class system. They contend that the figure of 144,000 is symbolic and that all believers since Christ's day will go to heaven...
...dissenters, in other words, have moved toward conventional Christianity, except for continuing to reject Christ's divinity. For his part, Franz has not become a bitter Watch Tower antagonist. "There is no life outside the organization" is all he will say about the pain of his shunning. But other ex-Witnesses have launched a barrage of protests, publications and lawsuits. These dissidents contend that roughly 1 million people have left the Watch Tower ranks over the past decade. The Witnesses report that they are still growing, thanks to nonstop recruiting. Still, that success may not go on for long...