Wow! This is an interesting question and some of the repsonses have been very revealing to me. I left in 1991 by simply withdrawing and staying away. I was very quiet about it because I had children who were minors and still "in" and did not wish to put them through any more trauma if I could avoid it. Their father was already DF'd at the time and we were divorcing -- I didn't think they needed to deal with a DF'd mom as well. Anyway, I digress.
In my case, I was really in. I had been quite active, participated in meetings a lot, service, parts on conventions, aux. pioneer, etc. For me, it was the failure of the society to deal with a pedophile on my husband's side who had molested my kids that really started me having doubts about the wts. In the past I had some dealings with elders who were real jerks, but I told myself and others that these were imperfect men and did not reflect the standards of God and the visible representative of his organization on earth - the wts. When things were hard to accept, I further told myself that Jesus had said it would be hard to follow him and that our relatives would turn against us or be separated from us. (My mom, brothers and sister were all DF'd for various reasons)
At the time I left I still believed many of the things I had been taught and for years had nightmares about Armageddon and being on the wrong side. I am happy to say that as time passed, I have come to understand that the so-called "truth" is full of errors and maybe even lies. Most of the people I knew in my 30 years of being "in" were believers. I think over time we became conditioned to accepting what we were told, such as the more people persecute you the more proof you have that you are in the true religion. The same holds true of world events. Every disaster, war or corrupt politician is touted as further proof of the truth of the wts teachings. And to be honest, I think for some, not all there is a smug self-righteousness that comes from thinking you are in the one true religion.
I am sure there are many who have some doubts about various things but are afraid to bring them up for fear of being punished. I know now, that this is further evidence that this is not the true faith. Truth can stand up to the closest of scrutiny and we should never fear asking questions about what we don't understand. Based on what we know about the life and teachings of Jesus Christ I cannot imagine him punishing anyone for asking questions about something they did not understand. My only regret is that it took me so long to see these things. I feel very sorry for all the good, sincere people who are still caught up in this. Steve2 -- you shouldn't call these people morons -- they deserve not to be judged, just as you do.
