Leaving is relatively easy. Staying in and being a mindless drone is easy. Staying in and trying to be a Christian when everyone around you is too busy being a "Witness" is hard. We are living in the modern-day equivalent of 1st-Century Judaism. We are skinned and thrown about by a clergy class who teach the doctrines of men. Some chose to get right in the faces of the power-hungry Pharisees and were berated, persecuted, imprisoned, tortured, or executed for it. Some - like Joseph of Arimathea - chose to quietly follow Christ without the knowledge of their contemporaries. It happened again during the Inquisitions.
Think about how bad things got during those times, then keep in mind "for then there will be great tribulation such as has not occurred since the world’s beginning until now". Things are only going to get worse. Jesus called the temple "my father's house", but it had been taken over by people who were so concerned about being their idea of "Jewish", they gave no thought to being God's chosen people. Hundreds of years later, people were so concerned with being Catholic, they didn't give any thought to being Christian. Now, they're so caught up in following Jehovah's Witness doctrine, they don't give any consideration to following Jesus. History is repeating itself and we can learn from it or we can turn a blind eye and let the worsening "pangs of distress" chase us away. The Pharisees refused to acknowledge they were behaving in an evil manner, as did the Catholic inquisitors. Elders and Society mucky-mucks aren't going to be any quicker to admit or even realize their actions as wicked.
Lynch mobs, Nazi Gestapo, Inquisitions, etc. are made up of ordinary, normal people acting as a group. One day, our "brothers" might become our tormentors or murderers. Jesus warned, "A slave is not greater than his master. If they have persecuted me, they will persecute YOU also." Who persecuted Jesus? The pagan Roman priests and priestesses? The Roman government outsiders? No. The corrupt men who had usurped authority over his Father's house. Jesus went on to say, "In fact, the hour is coming when everyone that kills YOU will imagine he has rendered a sacred service to God."
Personally, I've chosen to tough it out until Jesus comes and provides the only viable and permanent solution; his kingship. Every group so far has been corrupted and the end is too soon - in my opinion - for something else to take the place of the current regime before Armageddon. If being true to your beliefs was easy, Paul wouldn't have said "we are of all men most to be pitied." Misery loves company and wrongdoers can't stand to be near righteousness. They will drag you into their activities or view you as the enemy. Early Christians were willing to die at the hands of their Jewish "brothers", as were true Christians willing to die for their beliefs at the hands of their church "brothers" during the Dark Ages. The time may come if government power crumbles - leaving total anarchy - the JWs may have no fear of legal consequences for physically - not being satisfied with only emotionally - attacking those who obstinately cling to the Bible for guidance, rather than share in their idolatry to a publishing company headed by 8 old men.
