Very intersting question Francois,
I asked myself a similar question just before I got out. I remember this religion in Africa where the leader killed several hundred of his followers by burning them alive in the churches. He had help from some of his loyal followers. After the political campaign to complain about the taxes in France I wondered if the Society would one day ask people to do something bad and then what would the reaction be from the rank and file members.
This is one of the things that allowed me to start questioning things in my own mind. I thought it was wrong of them in France to ask everyone to show up and give them an assignment without telling them what it was before hand. I imagined that if someone was not comfortable with this political propoganda campaign they would not be able to say no because of the tremendous peer pressure that situation would create. I would love to hear the thoughts of someone who did participate in that event.
That kind of power and the willingness to use it for self preservation scared me. It still does.
TimB