When you protest that "No one can KNOW for sure" and imply that the discussion is pointless I could not disagree more.
Personally I think that tons of interesting evidence and reasoning is presented in these sort of threads. Its the sort of important stuff that former cult members really need to wrestle with. Proof only belongs to mathematicians, the rest of us have to do the hard work of investigating the considerable amount of evidence that is available. We can answer the big questions beyond reasonable doubt. Some of us have been doing that hard work for decades and it is a positive thing that it is available in the forum.
The problem is that the good stuff is buried under an avalanche of repetitive nonsense.
Facts are responded to with deeply held feelings, grandiose claims of supernatural knowledge and cries of indignation.
Many believers don't want to discuss evidence, they want an unfettered opportunity to convert vulnerable people to a different set of superstitions.
Often unbelievers are accused of contributing nothing positive to the forum. I want to respond to that here. Apart from some excellent, well researched science threads, some of the best anti-JW apologist threads have come from atheists. I offer 3 of my own as examples but there are plenty more from others.
Jehovah's Witnesses View of Jesus Compared to the Early Church... (almost 7000 hits in 11 months)
The Parousia (3500 hits in 5 months)
The History of the Watchtower's Doctrine of the Ransom...
All three of those use only the JW bible and publications to argue in detail that the Watchtower are in error from the perspective of a bible-believing christian.
As an atheist I am not only concerned about exposing the emptiness of theism but also of helping JWs to see TTATT and discover the wonders of reality.
As long as there are believers making assertions that flatly contradict known facts and trying to recruit new members to their various sects, there will be atheists and rational people providing balance.
