rrmoderator Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Drop it.
>
> This board is NOT about Texas or politics.
>
> Cease and end the petty squabbling.
>
> Hopefully this won't end in banning, but if it
> continues it will.

Rick, I am not here to troll anybody. I am here to share information, and correct misinformation. I have never once called anybody any names, engaged in ad hominem attacks, or preached my politics or personal spiritual beliefs to anybody at any point. I also never once quoted Prabhupada lately, as I was accused of.

What I am doing is sharing numbers, statistics, hard data, demographic information and and Texas state law. Why? Because I want to keep up with what this group is doing in Texas, just like I want to keep track of what the Moon organization is doing in Texas. If Butler establishes a foothold here I want to know. I am a researcher; I keep track of stuff like that, or try to.

PS, Rick: I also helped to prevent ISKCON from covering up some shit, and risked my life to do so. That's why I carry a weapon at all times now. The temple president had to resign as an indirect result of what I did, and I got banned from my local temple over it. You know what I am talking about. So I don't know how that makes me a "covert supporter" of ISKCON. I am not an atheist, but I am certainly not on Team ISKCON. Any charge that I am is absurd. That's just bullshit.

RUN_FOREST_RUN;

Thanks for the feedback.

You are not going to be banned.

XKRISHNA:

You frequently create conflicts.

Stop or you will be banned.

Rick: I am sharing information in terms of numbers, hard data, demographic information and Texas state law. If "some people" don't like it because they have a chip on their shoulder and are so, so territorial then that is not my problem.

But don't worry. I will desist and from now on will not address what's-his name-unless he addresses me first.

The Indian immigrant community here is very big, and it's getting bigger every day.

She's not moving here because she loves white supremacists. Gabbard is working her potential constituency in the state with the second-largest Indian immigrant community in this country. Texas is red. Cali is blue.

"The economic relationship between India and Texas is deeper than just the immigrant community. The size of both economies is a major driver in bilateral trade. If Texas were counted by itself, it would have the world’s ninth-largest economy by GDP. India has the world’s fifth-largest. 28 Houston-based companies now operate 69 subsidiaries in India.

Houston is also the fourth-largest gateway for bilateral trade between the two countries, while India is Houston’s 10th-largest trading partner, with trade valued at over $4.3 billion. In Austin, homebuyers from India comprised the largest share of international homebuyers (21%) and are helping to fuel a surge in home values."

[asiamattersforamerica.org].

EVERYBODY INVOLVED in the last Dallas case, was lying about what happened to that little boy, Rick. His parents, his teachers, the temple president, everybody. I am the one who blew the whistle and told the truth. I am the one who DID NOT lie.

My conscience is clean. "Covert supporter," my ass. I think these people are beyond evil, the high ISKCON "leadership." Butler too. It's all beyond evil.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/16/2024 04:57AM by XKRISHNA.

Rick:

Why do I think it's evil? What do I think is so evil about it?

Read a story from the Bhagavatam called "The Song of the Avanti Brahmana." It's about a man who was wealthy, who then loses everything, but he never blames God for his troubles. It's a lot like the Book of Job, The Song of the Avanti Brahmana is, but unlike Job the Avanti Brahmana blames himself for his own troubles and thinks to himself "well, I have to suffer my karma. I deserve every bit of this." Job does not say any such thing, since the Bible does not deal in karma. Job questions God, but he does not blame himself. The Avanti Brahmana does blame himself.

What I am saying is, that any religious system of that places the blame on the person who has suffered abuse, any system that blames the victim (especially when the victim is a child, a minor), or teaches the victim to blame himself, is evil and is to be rejected. Therefore, I reject such ways of thinking. In other words: I do not believe that woman secretly enjoy being raped. I believe that Prabhupada was wrong about that, in every sense of the word "wrong."

[vanisource.org]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/16/2024 07:25AM by XKRISHNA.

One more thing, Rick, and then I will not be back for a minute, since I do not want to be banned here.

Just today I had lunch with one of the Hare Krishna devotees who was present when John Lennon and Yoko Ono put on the "Montreal Bed-in" in May of 1969. You can see him at about 2:30. Just today I had lunch with one of the Hare Krishnas who is in this video, but I will not tell you who he is. Just today I had lunch with a devotee who was present when this was filmed. He told me all about how he met John and Yoko, and the circumstances under which he was in Canada to begin with. I will not tell you his name, but I will say that he is American, and not Canadian. He hates what became of ISKCON, too. He's a great guy and he is a friend of mine.

[www.youtube.com]

Two, one two three four
Ev'rybody's talking about
Bagism, Shagism, Dragism, Madism, Ragism, Tagism
This-ism, that-ism, is-m, is-m, is-m.

All we are saying is give peace a chance
All we are saying is give peace a chance

C'mon
Ev'rybody's talking about Ministers,
Sinisters, Banisters and canisters
Bishops and Fishops and Rabbis and Pop eyes,
And bye bye, bye byes.

All we are saying is give peace a chance
All we are saying is give peace a chance

Let me tell you now
Ev'rybody's talking about
Revolution, evolution, masturbation,
Flagellation, regulation, integrations,
Meditations, United Nations,
Congratulations.

Ev'rybody's talking about
John and Yoko, Timmy Leary, Rosemary,
Tommy Smothers, Bobby Dylan, Tommy Cooper,
Derek Taylor, Norman Mailer,
Alan Ginsberg, Hare Krishna,
Hare, Hare Krishna



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/16/2024 09:15AM by XKRISHNA.

Rick, I've lately been accused of being a "covert supporter" of ISKCON, and this is a charge I deny. This accusation bothers me, and so I want to write a few words in order to make my position plain. Thank you for allowing me to do so.

I consider myself a former member of ISKCON who has many friends and acquaintances who are members in good standing of that organization. Some of these people I have known for over thirty years, since I was a teenager. These are my friends, and I would no more forsake their friendship owing to their religious beliefs than I would reject the friendship of a Jewish person, simply for being a Jew. It's very much part of my mentality to never criticize the religious beliefs of others, unless the end result those beliefs are actions which lead to various forms of harm to various peoples. Further, I live in neighborhood in which there are lots of Hare Krishna devotees. A good number of my ISKCON neighbors are Indian immigrants who consider themselves part of the "Hindu" community. I'd say half or more of them are Indian immigrants. They're buying up a lot of real estate around here.

And it is true, that I am networked with certain others who are pushing for positive change within the ISKCON organization. I've helped these people in various ways, and they have helped me. Frankly, I think their mission is rather futile and I have told them so, plainly. I do not think there is much hope for substantial, positive change in ISKCON, at least, not for as long as the current GBC is still living. Once all these old men (and a few old women) die off, then this will create a vacuum that the younger generation of devotees can and will take up. Hopefully, positive change in the culture of the institution can take place.

What I do not think will happen, is that ISKCON will just disband and become extinct. They'll change, like the Moonies, but they won't just die out. They're not going anywhere, as an ecclesiastical organization, the Hare Krishnas are not. So rather than take to the keyboard in order to just gripe about ISKCON, I try to do my part to change it in a positive and more accountable and transparent fashion. I'd like to see it become more like a Western-style church, in terms of polity and governance, instead of this top-down pyramid cult approach they've been using since the GBC took things over in 1978 or so.

So I am not a "covert supporter" of ISKCON. I am a former member who keeps up with it quite closely, and who has many contacts within that community. I also don't think Prabhupada was a terrible person. Once I was speaking with a certain prominent former member of ISKCON, one that wrote a book about her experiences in the cult. She told me that she did not think Prabhupada a bad person either. Her exact words were "Prabhupada was not a bad person. Prabhupada was an Indian." I just about agree with that, knowing what I know now about Indian history, society, and culture.

The Hare Krishnas are not just gonna disappear if I gripe about them online enough. As long as there is one person on the face of this Earth who would read one of Prabhupada's books and take his words seriously, then his mission was a success, in that sense. And I am not preaching here. I am merely reporting a simple historical fact, as I see it. What are they gonna do, make all of his books disappear? It's too late for all that!



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 04/17/2024 06:15AM by XKRISHNA.

A few more thoughts....

Why do I think it's futile, in the long run, to expect positive change in the ISKCON organization? It's because victim-blaming and perpetrator-absolving is baked into their scriptures, or at least, the way they interpret and apply those scriptures. That's the long and the short of it.

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.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/17/2024 06:32AM by XKRISHNA.