I'd like to elaborate further on Sulla's reference to my own experience which I have shared elsewhere. It is true that it took my being disfellowshipped to burn the bridge between me and the WTS. But my disfellowshipping and subsequent ill-treatment by the elders was one of several factors that helped me make up my mind. The growing unease and disquiet I had been feeling since the 1 November 1995 Watchtower study article on the meaning of the word generation had got the ball rolling and momentum grew from there.
I have always been a student and scholar and probed much deeper into matters than most Witnesses ever bothered to do. During my long years of living in Colorado I met an outstanding man whose worked touched the life of all of Jehovah's Witnesses. I won't mention his real name here, but he was a wonderfully gifted artist and the Society used him to draw many of the cartoon illustrations that appeared in both The Watchtower and Awake! journals. This man, whom I'll call "Art", was not simply an artist, he also was a serious Bible student and in the late 1990s he began looking into various doctrines and teachings of the WTS in order to strengthen his own faith in their validity. In time, he asked me to assist him in his research.
To make a long story short, "Art" began to uncover many things that led him to question primary WTS doctrines. He finally concluded that the Society was completely wrong about the last days beginning in 1914 and this was based on two fundamental points. First, Jerusalem had been destroyed by the Babylonians in 587 BC and not 607 BC as the WTS maintained. Second, and equally as important, the book of Revelation had been written, not at the end of the first century but sometime early in the second half of that century, some years before Jerusalem's destruction by the Romans in AD 70.
It took some time, but he eventually convinced me of the validity of his findings. "Art" shared his research with the WTS, begging for its assistance in checking it for any errors, mistakes and problems. He corresponded by mail, e-mail and telephone. He talked to upper echelon staff at Brooklyn Bethel including Governing Body members. The Society's attitude was perfectly reflected in the September 2007 issue of Our Kingdom Ministry with the "Question Box" article. Many of us will remember that it strongly warned people against studying or consulting independent sources in their own Bible reading and research, but should rely only, wholly, and solely on the Society's publications. That article was leaked to "Art" before its publication and he was told that it was aimed specifically at him and the small research group he had started. In the end he was disfellowshipped, and that action was taken in absentia. "Art" died three years later.
Before he died, "Art" had told me that my seeking reinstatement was in vain, that I was considered "too dangerous" by the local elders because I could think and they would not readmit me to the fold. How right he was! The elders used every trivial and mean trick they could think of to deny my requests. But as I think back over my experience, I believe that the disposal of "Art's" case would have also played a significant role in my decision to leave the WTS. As it was, my original plan was to get reinstated only to reestablish ties with Witnesses I loved. Then I was going to do a slow "fade" and leave quietly. I was never given that chance.
I apologize for the length of this post, but I wanted to clarify my own situation and experience. It has been a long journey out of the WTS for me with many twists and bends so at times it has been easy to oversimplify what happened. Looking back, I would not have remained in the organization because of the doctrinal problems regardless if I had remained in good standing. I have always been a free-thinker and as such I would have chafed under the increasingly burdensome worldview the WTS fosters and would have left. But even though I was pushed out rather than jumping out on my own, I still had a parachute, and thankfully was able to make a safe landing.
Quendi
