Journeyman - “…still they double down on being God's only representative on earth…”
From their POV, they have no choice.
If, after a hundred years of rhetoric and policy, they’re not actually what they say, then by their own standards, they are a “false” religion, and therefore have no right to even exist…
…which is, needless to say, unthinkable on their part.
Journeyman - “…and must be listened to and obeyed without question.”
This demand is a survival tactic.
For the reasons listed above, the Org simply cannot allow its ability to function to be threatened, simply because if that ability were at serious risk, it couldn’t very well be what it claims to be… its status as “God’s only representative on Earth” should make it, for all intents and purposes, invincible.
Requiring the rank-and-file’s unquestioning obedience is therefore a survival tactic, because there’s only one thing any religious authoritarian high-control group fears worse than loss of tax-exemption and insolvency…
…and that’s a mass exodus (active or passive).
At this stage in the game, with constant lawsuits, member apathy and discouragement, This Old System’s stubborn refusal to collapse into chaos (and supposedly bail the Org out)…
…requiring unquestioning obedience is the only way to forestall that eventuality.