Good news people. My older brother has abruptly stopped his bible study with the witnesses. He was part-time shunning me during his study and his behavior was beginning to change into cult mode but he was thankfully woken up. Wanna know how? One - little - seed - that i planted about 2 months ago the last time he spoke to me. He was very preachy to me about armageddon being so close and how i should return to Jehovah, so i asked him "how does someone leave?". He said they could just go. I reminded him that leaving voluntarily also results in shunning. He said people can just stop going and they're not shunned. I asked him to ask his study conductor.
So two months later (today) he tells me that his study conductor told him they DONT shun people who leave voluntarily. He was even shown a Questions From Readers article backing up their claim (https://www.jw.org/en/jehovahs-witnesses/faq/shunning/). He then asked my sister (an uber-dub). She also confirmed that people can just leave if they want to, with no reprisals.
THEN... he see's this video on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYASqqlLBP4
The announcement in the last RC to shun those who've managed to fade. He went back to his study conductor and asked about it. He asked HOW does someone leave once they've joined. He got the truth eventually... essentially, you cant.
So that was that. He felt lied to and want nothing to do with them. He last line hit the nail on the head "if they were lying to me about that, how can i trust anything they say?"