IMHO, the cult mentality became most prominent around the time of the Ray Franz saga. Definite moves were put into place to limit the time that witnesses spent together unsupervised. This was the time that any new ideas or thoughts could be exchanged between brothers and sisters. The DC's, at one time quite social affairs, were limited timewise as was the inbetween session periods, normally a time for meeting up with old friends. The meal queues were eliminated completely, always a favourite time to get together. Even the 15 minute break between the public talk and the Watchtower study was done away with. Inter-congregation organised socialising was frowned on too. In later years we saw the abolition of the group book study, ostensibly a caring consideration to reduce travelling, it did in effect put an end to any expression of individual thoughts and ideas being expressed among a small unsupervised group.