Hi hatchetmom! Welcome. Glad you avoided the sickness!
Shamus, anytime I use absolutes thoughtlessly, well, I get ashamed.... :) Good call. You are right of course, it isn't the only way. My point though is simply that for most JW's, the water is there. They know that "information" exists about their religion and that they are forbidden to look at it. They are curious. But they snuff out the curiosity.
So most who leave (as opposed to being kicked out) go to a place called factual information. That place has never changed, and never will. It's all history, and the only thing one has to do is read it with an open mind.