Bobby: here’s how it’s control.
For years and years and years, since you were old enough to understand what was being said at the meeting, you are told that homosexual desires are wrong and disgusting to Jehovah.
You go through puberty, and come to find out, you’re attracted to those of the same sex. Because it’s been pounded into your psyche, you feel overwhelming guilt and depression over these desires. You haven’t even acted upon them, but you still feel that way because you’ve been told that homosexuals will not inherit a fictitious kingdom (that you only believe in by accident of birth.)
You get so depressed over this that the inevitable happens when the brain becomes overwhelmed by negative emotions: your sanity starts to slip. You might start remembering the scripture that says, “The wages sin pays is death...” and that the resurrection will be of the “righteous and The unrighteous...” Then, in your state of mental illness brought on by the ingrained indoctrination you’ve been subjected to, you decide that though suicide is a sin, it’s okay because when you die, you’ve paid for your sins and Jehovah’s going to resurrect the unrighteous too.
You then decide to take your own life.
Do you see how these Pharisees’ rules in New York can have control over someone?
If you think this scenario is far fetched, think again. It’s very close to something similar I went through at one point in my life...even to the point of putting a gun in my mouth. I’m very fortunate that I was able to stop myself and try to just make it to the end of the day.