I just like to talk about things. You have your perspective and I mine. Neither are necessarily right or wrong, just different I guess. I'm not trying to rap anyone's knuckles, just trying to discuss perspectives.
Yes, he has power, but the moment he pushes too far he has none. That's the thing about the cult, even those positions of power are a robe you put on that can be stripped immediately because even this elder with privilege in our minds is subject to the greater power of the cult.
Is he a hypocrite? Absolutely. Most of us are if examined close enough, but you don't have to examine him closely to see it. Are his intentions bad? Probably not. He seems like he's trying to do the best he can to mitigate the culture of the prison he's in, and not just for himself.
I think I see it kind of like a woman that lives with an abusive man, who abuses both her and the kids. Ideally she would leave, but she's broken in ways and not healthy enough to get out. Even if she ran, she might not be able to take the kids, she might just escape herself. She has a measure of power but being so dominated it means very little. It may be that the best she can do at the time is to shelter the kids as much as she can when she can. That's what I kind of see him doing. The difference is that he's a man and elder so it's hard to see him as a victim, even though he is. Like her, if he leaves he may lose everything that is all he knows. He doesn't know what healthy is. Again, I've left out personal details.
Hating on this guy because Addison has a rough time doesn't mean much. It's like the discussion of who had it worse, men or women, in the cult. All were victims. All had massive problems. The comparison usually serves no purpose but to further divide and is usually incomplete and viewed again only through a supposed lens of power but misses so much.