I had to sort through that for some years ago. I concluded my parents were victims of the Watchtower Society too. Dad was a prisoner of war, under Nazis at 19 yrs of age, almost died there due to no medicines or antibiotics and lost almost half his weight, his nerves were shot and he was drawn to the JWs promise of a new world without war. He felt he needed to have a relationship with God but unfortunately, not having much knowledge, education-wise and especially no knowledge of the organization, he fell for it. Mom, coming from a very disfunctional family, just wanted a strong marriage and family, initially just went along with dad. I don't think she would have ever been drawn to the JWs otherwise.
However, both fell for it totally, hook, line and sinker. Thus, we five kids were strongly commanded , "as for me and my household, we will serve Jehovah!" We all "toed" the line, 4 of 5 of us were regular pioneers and 4 of 5 of us went to Bethel also. Mom died in '70 with cancer. By mid '70s, we finally started analyzing the Watchtower Society and by mid-80s, we were all out, took longer due to JW marriages with the extended family issues. Fortunately, we siblings were all very open with each other, which helped the process. Dad, an elder for many years, would get upset with us kids and our conversations were touch and go with him for awhile. Dad had been questioning things for sometime privately but caught in the "where else is there to go" syndrome.
Finally, Ray Franz' book "Crises of Conscience" came out. That helped Dad, and then Dad was disfellowshipped for apostasy. So, that helped to see Dad willing to leave the WTS.
