I've long theorized that fear has always been the best tool to control individuals, groups or masses. I wonder if men figured out a long time ago, that to play on the basic fears of human beings is very effective in keeping them under control.
Probably, yes, though religion was also a way to see order in a frightening world. In other words, it's not just for men who want power, it's for any one of us who's afraid. But eventually some blowhard who likes power takes control of every religious movement and makes it more dogmatic and controlling.
So I look at women as the gatekeepers to sex, more of the time than not. It gives us kind of natural advantage and even power in sexual situations.
Yes, and don't forget the mind games! Men are like toys in women's hands sometimes, it's sad how easy we are to manipulate with a bit of sex and a bit of ego-tweaking. That too might have been an adaptation by women to keep some balance of power in the relationship. Also, the woman's aid is needed to raise the baby, so that means the man needs her as an ally to raise his child. Thus, the cliché of simply dragging the woman to one's cave isn't going to cut it.
Convince women that their god(s)/goddesses will torture or condemn them eternally if they do not submit to sex with their husbands. The only effort required is to play on the fears of the women.
Maybe, but most religions don't seem to have sex as much of a fundamental point of doctrine, besides restricting it (Catholics) or encouraging it (pagan temple orgies).
What struck me about N. Koreans is that while some are brainwashed, the N. Korean techniques aren't affective with all citizens. This means the WTBTS is possibly more effective than even the N. Korean govt in brainwashing techniques.
I suspect a factor in this is that the JWs who aren't susceptible to the control techniques are the ones who can't take it anymore and flip off the elders, or who won't follow the rules on porneia, or who keep coming to their own conclusions about what the Bible says, and then they get DFed. So the people who are the "worst" at being Witnesses are ejected from the group, which makes it easier to control the ones who remain.
If North Korea exiled the rebellious ones, they'd probably be able to control the rest much better. But maybe they prefer numbers over control to some degree. The Witnesses would DF 90% of a congregation if they had to, at the cost of numbers, in order to maintain control.