Hi Openminded: I will make a good effort here to respond to your Mom on each point she made:
She said, "I agree that there may "things" an adherent may go along with that they do not necessarily have a personal conviction about. I think this is perhaps true no matter what 'religion' a person attaches themselves to."
This is true of many situations in life, whether our job, or other collective arrangement. Where I do not have specific convictions, it is not necessarily important to get answers or make issues out of them. If those issues make life difficult, and I find them piontless, even though I hold no specific conviction or alternative, then I argue that it is time to get answers.
She continued, "But I do personally believe that if a person, for whatever reason, does not want to align themselves with a particular religious organization it is sufficient to leave."
In principle, I agree 100%. In most cases, one can do that very easily, and it is done frequently among many people. BUt, some organizations hold 'shunning' and 'bannishment' over the head of the person so that leaving is not easy or without dire consequences. Of course, one can still leave in most cases, but they have to sacrifice everything to stay true to their conscience, when, often times, the sacrifice is not according to God's will, but rather, the 'will' of the religious leaders who impose such standards.
she continued, "To continue to attack the religion and to justify their position in doing so serves no useful purpose."
By that logic, then, the WTS itself should discontinue all attacks on other religions because to attack other religions they disagree with or attempt to convert members away from those religions serves no useful purpose.
Another way to view this is that when injustices, falsehood, deceptive practices, and fraud are perpetrated upon the ignorant and unsuspecting, then what is life worth is we do not stand up and makew this known for the benefit of those in harm's way?
She continued, "It is better for me to see the fallacy of my religion on my own than for someone to attempt to convince me by attacking it. For me that casts a dubiousness on the attacker."
Again, by the same logic, all JWs everywhere should discontinue preaching their message, because their literature, study programs, and argumentation contain as a core feature both explicite and implicite attacks on the religious beliefs and organizations of those with whom they contact.
Using again another view, if we all clam-up because we might offend someone, or fail to allow them to somehow magically come to their own conclusions without any alternative information made available to them, or without input from the minds and reasoning of others, then people would still be traded as slaves, women could not own property, Caesar would still rule with absolute and unchecked authority, and we would all still we worshiping Jupiter while feeding Christian to the lions.
Siomply Amazing