Screw it, I'll take a stab on my thoughts:
1) I'm glad that you've been able to find some benefit from being a JW and turn your life around. There are, however, many groups out there that have similar results in helping people recover from dangerous addictions, anger issues, and moral bankruptcy. Many groups, I might add, that do not require absolute loyalty to the point of death. On the other hand, there are also many groups that make precisely this claim (see scientology, among many other cults) and while this is accurate in their case, I hope you'd agree that scientology helping a few alcoholics doesn't justify nor redeem their use of physical brutality to control and punish adherents. Similarly I don't think that the JWs helping you to turn your life around is sufficient to make up for the many wrongs it has committed.
2) I don't really even understand why this is such a good thing. I suppose if you're a communist, then it's great, but I tend to be more capitalistic in my leanings. This was already addressed by others here as well - the stipend may be the same (I don't know if it is or not) but the GB and other higher ups definitely get lots of perks. Nicer accommodations, free trips to see the world, speaking in front of thousands of adoring fans wherever they go, etc. Again, another poster already mentioned this as well, but it bears repeating - if they've taken the same vow of poverty and receive the same stipend, how is it that the GB members frequently walk around sporting watches that cost in the 5 figures? They clearly have other sources of income or receive gifts and do not take the lead in giving their "valuable things" to further kingdom interests.
3) The theocratic ministry school is valuable training for some, I'll admit. So is toastmasters, and you don't have to be prepared to sacrifice your life or that of your child should a blood transfusion be medically necessary in order to join toastmasters. Starting your day with the reading of the text may be beneficial to you, but it certainly never was to me.
4) The legal victories that the WTS has accomplished are indeed beneficial to many, but would probably have come about without them eventually. Their fighting for freedom of speech has set many valuable precedents but unfortunately it seems that this same freedom of speech and freedom of religion does not exist for their members. If I, being "on the books" as a JW were to speak to any elder about what I believe (or, more accurately, what I can no longer believe) I would be subject to punishment and shunning. Merely for what I personally think.
5) I'm not sure what you're saying about evolution here. You might want to educate yourself a bit, though. The overwhelming majority of the scientific community is in agreement on evolution, and those that are selected by creationists to attempt to demonstrate discord in the scientific community are often people that have no real familiarity with the field of evolutionary biology. The watchtower society in particular has quoted numerous scientists out of context and even published outright lies on the topic of evolution. There's too much that I can say on this topic to bother putting it in here if it's not going to be read, as this was what caused me to realize that, beyond a shadow of a doubt, the organization was capable of knowingly, willfully lying to me in order to further their interests. If you're actually interested in the topic, PM me and I can send you so me of my notes on this.
Yes, the 1st century christians believed that Jesus would return in their time. I don't see how past failures of christianity is proof that a currently flawed organization has god's backing, though. Furthermore, yes there was much gained (by the org) from the false prophecies like 1975 - many new ones were brought into the fold based on that promise. Many also lost everything because of their trust in it. Wouldn't it be better if they had not been so dogmatic about it and let everyone decide based on their conscience how they would respond? If they're benefiting from lies, how is that in any way godly? Isn't false prophecy a sign of lack of support from god? In fact, in deut. it is listed as a sin deserving of death to speak prophecy in the name of god that does not come true.
You talk about disfellowshipping as though it's a normal thing practiced by all organizations. I'll admit that revocation of membership is often used as punishment by many organizations. If I steal from my job, I'll get fired. But I won't have the entirety of my social circle taken away. My coworkers are not threatened with being fired themselves for merely sharing a drink with me. Furthermore, it takes much less to get disfellowshipped from being a JW than it does to be fired or declared persona non grata by a government. Governments that practice the rules that JWs have (i.e. any speaking out against the leadership, any talk about doubts or disagreements with official policy, etc) are commonly referred to as fascist, totalitarian, oppressive and violators of the rights of their people.
I wonder what problems with the organization you might've had. Without putting too fine a point on it, I wonder if backing down after being given the excuse to "wait on Jehovah" might show a lack of integrity on your part. Should someone truly "wait on Jehovah" when their child has been sexually abused by an elder, but it cannot be "proven" by the two-witness rule? What if they have another child, should they wait until that child is raped as well? Would insisting that the child rapist be removed from the congregation be putting themselves before the organization? Or let me ask this another way - when god's prophet approached king David to instruct him of his wrongs, was that prophet putting himself before "god's organization" of the day? Or was he simply carrying out his duty as he saw it? Was he following his own god-given conscience to set matters straight? We all have a responsibility to right the wrongs that we see, not to just continue floating along. It may seem like a stretch, and it's quite cliche to say this, but that's exactly how things like Nazi Germany happen - many people see the wrongs being perpetrated, but no one does anything for fear of being expelled (killed). You and many others have sat idly by knowing that something isn't right and what has that accomplished? Have the problems you've seen in the organization been fixed? How long should we wait on Jehovah? Maybe Jehovah is waiting on us to take action to bring them back in line with bible standards. Time and again in the bible god's people were held accountable for following a corrupt king or an organization that perhaps once had his blessing but no longer did. Even if these people truly believed they were following god's earthly organization, they were punished for their failure to see or act upon the problems.
In my case, I can say that I'm very much enjoying my life to a greater extent now that I am no longer attending meetings. My wife, however, is still an active JW. So why should I not be interested in what the organization is doing? I love my wife. From my perspective, she's being lied to. Should that not be a concern of mine? History may have examples of people attacking good people only because they are good, but it also has many examples of rebellion against dictators that kill their subjects. Rebellion against totalitarian regimes. Protest of vile corporations and corrupt governments and wars started on false pretenses. How can you tell the difference? How can you tell if we're legitimately mad because we've been lied to, mislead, and injured by this organization or if we're simply bitter because we didn't get our way? If you only look at it through the lens that the organization gives you, it will look like what they say it is. The only way to know for sure is to look at both sides. In my case, I found that the organization had indeed lied to me. Knowing that I now knew that some so-called apostates had legitimate reason to be upset. Further exploration lead me to find many many more reasons to be angry at the organization that I pledged my loyalty to. It's impossible for you to objectively state our motives and intentions without having explored the possibility that we're right.
Now as for your claim that the good points outnumber the bad:
1) Shunning of family members has caused countless suicides and is known by mental health professionals to be the most damaging thing that can be done to a person short of (and in some cases even surpassing) physical violence.
2) The 2-witness rule has lead to countless repeat offenders of child sexual abuse to go free in the congregation to seek their next victims. Reliance upon the family to report to the police (after being warned that it may bring reproach upon Jehovah's name) is insufficient because often the criminal is a family member or the family may feel too much shame at their failure to be able to face police. The watchtower society's rules on this topic have caused untold pain and suffering.
3) The blood ban makes no room for the christian conscience. A few years ago fractions were banned but now they're a "conscience matter." Do you suppose that it might be possible that many died prior to that change who's conscience would have allowed them to accept fractions that are now officially permitted? How many died simply because they followed the organization over their own conscience because to follow their god-given and bible-trained conscience would have meant that they would be shunned by their family? Does this not make the organization itself bloodguilty? Have they ever expressed repentance for the needless loss of life or did they simply change the rules and ignore the damage that they caused? Isn't repentance necessary for forgiveness from god? Does this not mean that you are following a bloodguilty organization that is not repentant and therefore cannot have god's backing?
4) The organization has lied (as I've mentioned above) on many topics to the rank-and-file. Is dishonesty ever acceptable, regardless of the good intentions or positive outcomes?
5) The ban on higher education has prevented thousands from achieving their potential and has resulted in unnecessary hardship on those affected.
6) Discouraging JWs from planning for the future has left many (my parents among them) without hope of a retirement and facing a future of paralyzing medical bills and working until they die.
7) The constant pressure to do more for the organization is demonstrably psychologically damaging and leads to scars that can last a lifetime.
8) The excuses and invalidating responses to genuine doubts and objections to the organization cause lasting psychological damage that can negatively impact relationships for a lifetime.
And I, too, could go on and on. I've beaten your list by 3 points, so you've got some work to do to show that the good outweighs the bad.
