XKRISHNA Wrote:
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> FOR ANYBODY WHO IS INTERESTED: I can help you get
> the twelve-volume set of Henry Doktorski's books
> (the ten-volume "Gold, Guns and God" series,
> "Killing For Krishna" and "Eleven Naked Emperors")
> for fifty percent off of MSRP for the rest of the
> month of December, plus free shipping (within the
> Unites States). Overseas purchasers must pay for
> the cost of shipping. If you want to see the most
> thoroughly-researched history of ISKCON available,
> this is it. You can get all twelve volumes for
> one hundred and twenty bucks, this month only.
> Please send me a private message to inquire. I
> just got my set today, and it's great. It was a
> Christmas present I gave myself. :-)

Hare Krishnas have a teaching which says that milk which is touched by the lips of a snake, is just as poisonous as the venom itself. In other words: hearing some piece of truth from a person who is insincere or has impure motives, is just as toxic as hearing a lie. This is taught in order to impress upon the devotees the importance of being careful of who one learns from, but it's also a good piece of teaching to twist if you want to manipulate somebody into listening to no one other than yourself. Teaching from verses like BG 9:30 or SB 1:17:22 when discussing the topic of institutional abuses in ISKCON, justifying things from those verses and ones like them, is like saying that it's a privilege to be abused, if your abuser is an ISKCON devotee. But most institutional devotees are impervious to being reasoned with, on the basis of the venom/milk principle explained above. They will not hear anything, unless it's being taught to them by the guy in saffron or else one of their "authorities." You could tell them something that is true, but unless it's coming from an "authorized" source they will not process it. And it's very frustrating to me. It makes it impossible to reason with the ISKCON true believer.