DISILLUSIONED JW:
Please don’t take offense. I was speaking in generalities when I said many JWs either don’t know or don’t much care what is being taught. (We aren’t using our real names here and nobody knows who you or your family are.)
It’s true there are so many teachings there it takes an unusual person to keep track. But, the Witnesses I know certainly are not in this category and are just ‘there’. They would probably get tongue-tied if you asked them an intelligent question about their beliefs.
I still believe the religion was psychologically harmful to me anyway. But, my observation was that not everybody was equally damaged by the religion. It was hit and miss and depended on who you were. Some people are perfectly happy there. Let them stay there. I’m just glad I’m out 21 years. I was only TOO happy to forget most of the useless teachings there and only recall the few basic ones.
I also believe the ‘loyalty’ thing is not just about control but because they want to keep people from leaving when they are stumbled or things don’t make sense..Of course, this doesn’t necessarily work because there is a steady exodus of people - especially lately. I hope it continues.