Noone in their right mind wants to displease the God they have come to love more than their own lives. Satan uses this tactic to cause people to fear leaving a religion that has enveloped their entire lives. Some stay for the prestige and honor they feel being in charge of other peoples lives. So much so- that to displease the elders can wind up you losing every shred of what we knew as a normal life, friends family and God Himself. the fear of god is the reason.. to join, and holds you captive. the only way to leave is to educate yourself about your own religion as seen through the eyes of the world, and to do so, is more frightening than impending death. The key to unlock the doors of your mind is the word, religion- religion is a snare and a trap. If any Jehovah's witness remembers that fact, and the religious status that the WTBTS IS then you can step back and look and see that they have lied to you.I never even once considered anything they taught me as being untrue. I trusted them blindly, and only when I began to see before they shunned me, God gave me the heads up, because i was serving god in a way, that did not rely on JWS...I now understand that i never really believed everything they taught, i believed only the bible, the truth{JESUS} set me free.