It appears that apathy is a growing problem within the congregations. I make the causative connection with people in the process of "waking up". It is my opinion that the first thing people stop doing when waking up is donating money. They will keep up the appearances of going through the motions for years, but stop donating.
As noted before there are many reasons that people must stay in. As several older friends have said to me, they have "too much invested" to leave. It can be a huge loss in relationships and even financially to leave with the shunning and hatred that is reinforced regularly at meetings, conventions etc. about the mentally diseased apostates or ones who quit believing.
Recently, I went back to my home town and visited with a very select few. The subject of what I was doing in the organization never came up. They didn't ask, and I didn't tell. I don't think they can afford to ask. We were happy to visit one another and enjoy the time together.
