Great to hear your story, Lightgrowsbrighter. My wife and I also found others drawing away from us for discussing some of the reservations we held about issues such as birthdays and field service reports.
We had a horrid weekend away with two other self-righteous JW couples -- including one young elder -- who spent most of the time rubbishing an elder in the congregation who was a bit of a thinker, very kind and also quite well-off. Over one restaurant meal it became quite nasty when I suggested there was something wrong with the drive to do MORE MORE MORE field service. They were disgusted with the gradual decline in average publisher hours; I suggested that possibly it was declining towards a level that Jehovah was comfortable with, so people could have more balance in their life and feel less pressure. The young arrogant elder stared at me and said, "That sounds like apostasy, brother."
I realised then that those who took the high moral ground always won any argument; those who took a more liberal approach were treated as suspect. By the time we did make the decision to quit meetings (April 2008) people were steering clear of us. We were invited to a gathering at someone's house for a wedding or engagement and left early when it dawned on us that no one would talk with us. No surprise perhaps that when we did quit meetings, there was no contact at all from elders or anyone else. Maybe they thought it was inevitable.