The causal connection here being, of course, "someone's watching me at all times, judging". Such heavy self-censorship, wed to brutal paranoia, necessarily lead

The causal connection here being, of course, "someone's watching me at all times, judging". Such heavy self-censorship, wed to brutal paranoia, necessarily leads to an erosion of "self", a loss of personal culpability. Submission to a higher power – conveniently represented by its clergy. It's the same playbook, repeated across millennia and societies. The Soviets in 1930s-40s played it out too, with chilling adroitness. They didn't call themselves religious (quite the opposite), but you can easily know the pattern by its fruits. A chilling lesson for today.