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Yeah, that is really depressing.
I think it's a sunk cost thing for the authors, but also it could be fear of coming off as "disgruntled" to people they're hoping to communicate with. They still have hope of changing these communities, but they know these communities are very hostile and dismissive towards any criticism, especially criticism from perceived "enemies". They also don't want to lose whatever power and respect they have in those communities. So emphasising how great these groups are and how smart all the members are and how much they got out of being a member is a tactic to try and get around all that hostility. They want to flatter the remaining members enough that they'll retain their respect for them. Which in itself is a sad comment on the attitudes common in these communities.
Having said all that, the poor man is not long out of a cult and has taken a big step by publicly blowing the whistle. That takes some backbone.
What a twat. "It's much harder to bullshit people than to be rigorous and skeptical guys. Not only is everything fine, I'm actually a better person than ALL my critics"