Good thread, flipper. Another good catch...
Serenity, you said:
I would love to do an experiment with worldly people- by not telling them my views about the mags or the org, just hand them a kool-aid edition to read and give their opinion.
Back when I was first coming to grips with realizing that I was in a cult, I pored over articles that I had over time remembered as troublesome. One in particular was the article about avoiding independant thinking in a WT. Interestingly there was an Awake article on being objective that came out either the same year or shortly thereafter. Comparing the articles showed inconsistencies in what was presented.
I was sharing some of my new knowledge with a workmate who was nice enough to let me vent about these new things I was learning. I showed him both these articles and asked him to give me his opinion. He was a pretty objective guy and didn't mind sharing his opinion, agreed with or not. His balance helped me as I dealt with the anger and bitterness.
He actually used the word cult in describing the WT article and he pegged the Awake article as PR piece meant more for outsiders. He saw through in minutes what took me a lifetime to realize. I think most people see through the WT shit pretty quick.