I enjoyed your story very much. I was feeling down several years ago about the practices of Jehovah's Witnesses. I have long likened the Watchtower to the Sicilian mafia, where you can join but can't later leave without consequences.
A friend of mine changed my perspective.
My friend is an ex-Detroit SWAT Team cop. He also served in the armed forces during the Vietnam conflict. He was also raised in an Islamic family, but later became a bible-believing Christian when he was well into adulthood.
He explained to me that when he became a Christian, his father looked him in the eye and told him that he was lucky to live in America, because if they were back in Pakistan he would be required to kill him.
Jehovah's Witnesses are not required to kill us for leaving the Watchtower printing company. I began to see myself as being in relatively pretty good shape compared to hundreds of millions of Muslims. Many are not as fortunate.
From the Hadith:
The reason why executing apostates has always been well-ensconced in Islamic law is that there is an indisputable record of Muhammad and his companions doing exactly that according to the reliable Hadith.
According to verse 4:80 of the Quran: "Whoso obeyeth the Messenger obeyeth Allah."
Bukhari (52:260) - "...The Prophet said, 'If somebody (a Muslim) discards his religion, kill him.' "
Note that there is no distinction as to how that Muslim came to be a Muslim.
There is always someone who has it worse.