Hi there.
Rick, I appreciate your earnestness in this manner. I am considering writing my own letter. I thought I would offer some suggestions on what would be effective in a letter and what wouldn't.
Every religion or cult has their peculiarities. If I were to use disfellowshipping, I would not use the vague "breaks up families". This is true, we all know this. But to add power to it, I would combine it with the disgraceful practice of allowing kids as young as 8 years old getting baptized and making these young people accountable for thier entire life to a decision they were not capable to make.
Families frequently break up in JW land because a 13 year old gets baptized as a lifelong committment. Later, they learn the history of JW's never presented to them, some simply change their minds, others are gay, whatever. The fact is, they make a decision that is binding and lifelong as a kid, not as an adult. When they change their mind, the GB still holds them to the baptism they made as a minor, requiring their shunning. This is patently unfair. They discourage young marriage whenever they can, but allow the lifelong committment of JW baptism by a minor. It is inconsistent and wrong.
Obviously, the other main issue with Jehovah's Witnesses is the pedophile problem. Include links to Dateline and the Brian Williams report from NBC nightly news..... Don't make it sound like all congregations have pedophiles. That isn't true. Highlight the fact that any pedophile that is discovered is not reported to the police unless mandated by law, and that the bylaws of the Governing Body frequently allow pedophiles to remain hidden and unknown. Pedophiles still are allowed to participate in the door to door preaching, allowing them to potentially case out a house, regardless of whether they are with an elder or not. By all means, use the resources from Barbara Anderson and what is on freeminds.org Make sure your statements are factual, not sensational. If you have personal experiences or know of any, these would be most powerful.
Lastly, here is the biggest mistake I see in most letters written by former JW's against the borg. The GB uses this to their advantage. Many letters get too personal, and talk of personal gripes against the people inside. (aka: personality differences.) I am not saying these aren't legit. What I am saying is that to an outsider, this is totally irrelevant. In addition, the GB uses the argument that "apostates" are nothing more then disgruntled former associates who left for flimsy reasons. If you were to use how you personally were treated (i.e. unkind, gossiped about) you turn it into a high school drama argument, and you won't win.
So, don't make it about you. Don't make it about them, the flock. Make it about the leadership, the Governing Body. Jehovah's Witnesses are conveniently named as such, and the Governing Body (GB) hides behind them. (i.e. The GB is nothing more then JW's...) So make them accountable. In your letters, I would ALWAYS refer to the leadership of Jehovah's Witnesses, the Governing Body as those culpable and responsible. Don't refer to them simply as "Jehovahs Witnesses". Because the GB uses their flock and brags about Jehovah's Witnesses all the time. I would even be concilliatory toward the flock as a whole. No need to highlight that they are "misled". Again, outsiders don't care about the UN controversy, 607 BCE and 1914, and other peculiar teachings of JW's.
The key is to keep it focused on the most harmful aspects about people, not teachings. So bring up the pedophile issues, shunning and disfellowshipping esp as it relates to children (so you put a face on it). I would mention blood transfusions, but in most cases, I wouldn't make it the focus of my letter. You can't compare JW's to other faith fealing cults. Whole blood is the only thing JW's reject, and now they say they take blood fra