No "official" Henry Kriete response yet so far. Here is an interesting point CLEARDATEMPL makes on the NYCOC DF about ICC politics:

The ICC is political in many ways.
The ICC was/is a microcosm unto itself. A full fledged FASCIST OLIGARCHY. A virtual Utopia with it's own AGENDA, PROPOGANDA & THOUGHT REFORM! The weekly brainwashings..umm.. I mean sermons consisted of repetitive messages conditioning our minds into homogeneity.

"The Kingdom, d-group, DP, follow-up, visitors, stats, bt, zones, sectors etc" Independence, the sin of rebelliousness and nonformity for the sake of unity are slogans that embody church politics & imprison members within its boundries.

I had a roomate who worked on a councilman's campaign a few years ago. Many of us here vote on a national & local level but we debate more on community issues. more proactive than reactive.

I think if Kip or the other ICC uppers were to be more politically outspoken, they would only attract more attention from the outside to their cultic teachings & unethical business practices.

Yet at the same time, ICC is also a multi-million dollar corporation and America is run by corporations. The government, like much of the ICC lower leaders are just puppets of a corporate machine. So in this sense ICC is analagously political Capitalism is its master.

I found that ICC congregations also tend to reflect their geographical makeup and the majority of the United States is still ULTRA-CONSERVATIVE & Puritanical in thought. From my travels, there are really only pockets of liberalism. Thats why many progressive & free thinkers move to big cities like NYC, LOS ANGELES, SAN FRAN, MIAMI etc. because we reflect that .

I always felt The Manhattan NYCOC was one of the most liberal from all the other ICC's in the US. and even with that said, it was still a very jacked up place to be.Though many disciples here were funky, creative artists,(brothers who had long hippie hair were encouraged to cut it off. I was rebuked once for getting a nose ring against advice.) INDIVIDUALITY was not encouraged especially if one was to be considered for leadership. Upper leadership seemed to have a Banana Republic dress code and blonde hair and /or good looks was instant qualification. If you did'nt fit that mold you were deemed "rebellious ","out there" or "not sharp".
Anyway I'm just rambling at this point.