I stopped attending meetings in the late '70s after witnessing the Tower's 1975 failure and how the Society switched blame to the followers. I also witnessed how the cult mind set works when JWs that eagerly looked forward to 1975 sang a different tune after the failure. I had been a elder and held many other positions, but didn't know the Tower's top leadership. From my personal experiences I saw how the Watchtower controlled people's lives, but didn't necessarily make them better people--just better followers.
As a member of the Governing Body, Raymond did what others could not do. Crisis of Conscience gave a peek behind the wizard's curtain that exposed the Watchtower Society for what it became; just another high control cult-like sect--and nothing more! The timing of his work (I think it was 1983) was helpful to the multitudes that left after witnessing the 1975 fiasco, but couldn't see through the Tower's smoke screen. As voltaire pointed out, "No more mystery = no more reverence." I'll also add, no more fear!