This talk might actually backfire and wake up some who didn't want to admit to themselves that the Society truly is a mind-control cult. Some of this stuff could have been taken directly from 1984.
One glaring fault was that this earnest appeal to ignore "the man behind the curtain" didn't even try to address any of the issues he said were causing problems in Houston. Serious, legitimate issues that a deserve a better response than "Never mind. Don't worry about it. Just obey and don't question anything."
The more I hear about this kind of crap, the more I hate the organization. In some ways, it's worse than the Mafia. True, there's no way to gracefully and honorably leave either. But at least the Mafia doesn't usually go after your family.
The Society's treatment of "apostates" and those either DA or DF or even sometimes simply faded has a lot in common with the Soviet purges of the 30's, 40's, and 50's. Of course, the Society doesn't actually murder their victims, but a Watchtower article from the late 50's implied that they would if they could get away with it. More and more, JW's are pushed to treat such ones, even close family members, as if they were already dead.
Emotional blackmail and social coercion are polite ways to term it, but that doesn't begin to describe the terrible harm it does to all concerned. Obedient JW's are often forced to suppress their natural feelings and affections and act in a way completely contrary to the way they would otherwise. It can require a complete personality change, a kind of Jekyll and Hyde effect. The ones shunned are treated as outcasts, worthless and despised. Warm and loving families can and sometimes do disintegrate into warring camps. I wonder how many lives have been totally ruined by this callous and arrogant policy masquerading as faithfulness to God.
