You know the old saying about "the devil you know is better than the one you don't"?
That's the situation for a JDub who has invested everything in a stock that goes down, down DOWN.
They can't sell because they've sunk everything into hop that it will turn around.
But, this "sunk cost fallacy" only ties up what resources they have left in a losing proposition.
Changing your mind about EVERYTHING YOU HOLD TO BE TRUE takes more courage, stability and willpower than any JW normally possesses. It is much, much easier to make excuses for the bad and cling to whatever good that can be found.
I should have said to Pamela, "Remember all those years you stuck in your first marriage through all the browbeating and abuse hoping something good would be salvaged in the end? Well, you know better now that those years were wasted. Why not apply the same life lesson to your dismal and abusive religious status?"
But, that would be unkind and too personal.
I'm done. Stick the fork in me.