Evaporative Cooling

Yes, it's been ages since I've posted here, but I thought this link was extremely interesting, and would serve to explain a great deal of our shared experience:

Evaporative Cooling

Essentially, as time progresses, and especially as prophecies fail to materialize and authoritarianism grows, the more skeptical people in a cult are likely to leave, leaving behind the committed and moderates. As a result, the voice of the committed gets louder and the skeptics gets more muted (as if it's not already muted in the Witnesses, but I digress). The hardliners are more likely to get into positions of authority and therefore respect because they toe the "company line" better, with the result that the company line gets amplified, especially to the newcomer, who is taught to respect the elders, CO, etc.

As they say, read the whole thing.