in my 60+ years most of the kids I grew up with in the 'truth' left. Only the ones who were climbing the theocratic ladder and came from well connected families stayed. As my own kids grew up almost all their friends in the congregation, including them, didn't stay. Born-ins are in it by default, as someone said above, and the pressure to conform and tow the line is so strong, there's no room to develop as a person. Everything is monitored, from the length of your skirt to your hairstyle. No wonder, the minute these kids get away from family they leave. It's only idiots like me, who were terrified into staying. I was too scared to say I didn't want it anymore because I didn't want God to kill me. Even until last May I was still locked into the fear.
I also knew many, many people who came in and went out. We had a brother once on the convention. He'd left his biker life - tattoos etc - to become a witness and was hailed as a success story. I knew him well. After about 5 years him and his family left.
If I sat down and tried to list all the people I knew that had left - born ins and converts - it would take forever. There has been so many.
It's a hard religion to be in and there is so much pressure to tick all the boxes or else. But then you get others that seemingly sail through life as a witness. The well connected people who often get away with all sorts.
Just wish I'd had the courage decades ago to say enough like my friends did.
