this is a GREAT topic, and i've given this a lot of thought over the years. excellent posts up there.

here's my take, and if you like, let me know if i missed one, or might better characterise another.
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in the broadest sense, JW's can be undertsood in two categories : Leadership and "rank-and-file" (this is the basic structure of any organisation really, especially agenda driven auhoritarians)

Leadership :
- the founders (russel/rutherford etc) and thier successors the Governing body
(it's anoher topic, but i speculate as to how much they actually believe what they say)
- the LEGAL team. make no mistake, its the Legal team that keeps this "Pyramid scheme(pun!)" going. it is the legal team that stands between them and many many class-action lawsuits for fraud, abuse cover-up and blood transfusion deaths.
- the "Bethel family" - the BORG machine that does the heavy lifting so the GB and the lawyers can train the writers, buy expensive suits and stay in 4-star hotels as they go all over the world keeping tabs on it all.

Rank-and-File

we have here again, two very braod categories, and many sub-categories. "true-believer" and "fringers"

True Believers -

dyed-in-the-wool, go to the grave, LOVE persecution, would turn on thier kids/friends in a second die-hards.
who are they?
- the self-rhiteous by nature. these people would be houghty in ANY church, they just happen to be in this one. they love it because it makes them feel superior. the fact that they can lay into catholics and jews and so forth with smugness, that they can sit in a group and congratualte themselves about how they are "in the know" and "have the truth" and that makes them "better".
(might have been recruited, or raised in it)
these are the power-mad elders, who actually think they are "stars in the hand of christ", that they have every right to pry into private matters and eneter other peoples homes with the air of a gestapo agent.

- "benign born-in" . at an early age parents converted or were already jw's when they were born. i say "benign", because if we're fair, and honest there are SOME jw's that actually were fine people. they didn't have any intent to promote a hoax, they mean well, they are sincere. the religion gives them a structure, that they have been 'educated" to think they can't do without. they may privately harbor some distaste for aspects of the organsiation but overall think its the truth. they could be smart, succesful and even fun people.on the other hand, they might just as well be dullards.

"the FRINGERS":

these are the ones that are in and out, sometimes there and sometimes not. "spiritually weak" or "inactive" or adult unbaptised.
who are they?

"the just-in-case'rs" these are the ones who want some attachment "just in case".
- they may be young and thier parents have brow-beat them and while they have some skepticism, they aren't informed enough to make a real choice and attend under duress.
- they may be married to someone who was a fringer.
- they may not have the neergy/intellegence to make any real engaged active commitment, but the think it might be the last days so theyll keep reading the WT publications and not make any fuss.

"the IN-and-OUTers" these are the ones that cosnatntly yo-yo from super-jw to full-out worldly.thier reasons for leaving "the truth" are always anecdotal, and personal. never about fact or reason. so even when they take the step to leave they have no basis to hold thier position. so they end up going back to the "comfort zone".

-might be mentally ill (exascerbated by the religion) and the stress causes a sort of "bi-polar" tack with the 'truth". for example- a young woman might leave, become 'worldly" and get sexually promiscuous, gets pregnant, gets scared, goes back. makes brings her boyfrind/hubby along. (who as the punk fella described might be total social misfit who finds a 'family" in the knigdom hall) becomes very pious for a time, then leaves her spouse and becomes worldy again. lather rinse repeat. my old congregation had one gal, the kingdom hall was literred with her ex-bo's.
- might be amature biblical scholar, who wants to convince the GB that He/She has a new angle on a scripture or doctrine, can't "wait for jehovah" and either bolts or gets DF'd for apostacy.
comes back when he hears the Gb has modified beliefs, or when he caves in on his own theory.
- might be "seduced" into leaving for a career, education, only to be guilted into coming back. resents the sacrifice and leaves again.

-brother "easily offended" - this is the absolute worst. let me spend some quality time with brother easily offened for a moment. you all know brother easily offened. you have him or sister offended at your old hall. brother easily offend is nothing more than a d*ck. sorry, to be vulgar, but he's just. a. d*ck. brotheeasily offended is afraid it "might be the truth", so he associates, but he's too lazy to be bothered or too stupid to even make a case for leaving so he looks for a reason to NOT go to the K-hall so he won't have to do any of the work and it's your fault!
so brother elder wlaks up to brother easily offended, says your child is running around all hooligan like and knowcked over sister elderly ( sister elderly breaks hip). brother elder says maybe little johnny ought to slow down in the k-hall maybe?
brother easily offeneded says "how dare you?! my son is an angel!" (he's the devil,actually) "we're not going to this congregation again!"
so brother and sister easily offended bolt, boycott and stew for 6 months untill the elders or jw family persuade them to come back.
they come back SUPER SELF RHITEOUS. comments at watchtower. field service. gregarious and handshake to everyone.
then they find out they weren't invited to some picnic, get offended and leave again.
they'll be back.



Closet Apostate
the closet apostate could actually fill any of the above. the anxiety over apostacy can drive someone mad, it can make them depressed. you will occaionally get little clues that seem more apparent in hindsight.
how about that brother or sister who you alway thought was too smart to get fooled so you figure if he believes so should you?
rememeber when he said we might occasionally have..."doubts" or disagrements ? how he said you may read soemthing in the WT that we know, from education or other experince to be false?
and how we should just 'wait on jehovah" to fix it?
might be a closet apostate.

how about the paranoia you felt when you stared researching and felt like a cold war spy smuggling contraband across enemy line? but you were afraid to speak about it to your frinds/spouse? closet apostate.

an elder, or a bethelite overhears a converastion, sees a memo he wasn't supposed ot see. suspects he's being lied to, maybe jsut a bit. but its not enough to go full out ex-jw. closet apostate.