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At least Shin didn't spend his last days chronicling the misfortunes of others.
He DID spend months, if not years, chronicling the misfortunes of the Nichiren Shoshu priests, though.
When the members are assured that proper, devoted practice brings protection from all corners of the universe and health, prosperity, and happiness - and they most certainly ARE told this - it is certainly germane and necessary to point out the misfortunes of those who are supposedly "doin it rite." If THEY, with all the supposed "fortune" they've accumulated, can't activate enough gohonzonal or univeral protection to, say, keep their eldest son from dying from a rather trivial stomach ailment, then what hope do any of the rest of us have? In other words, it is THEIR misfortunes that put the lie to all their claims of "fortune" and "protection," which serve as hooks to get naive suffering people into the cult.
Surely you wouldn't deny that the SGI has all the key characteristics of a dangerous cult, would you, HansTaaibosch?
For reference: [
www.theguardian.com]
To keep this short, here are just a few of the characteristics in the list:
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1. A charismatic leader, who increasingly becomes an object of worship as the general principles that may have originally sustained the group lose power. That is a living leader, who has no meaningful accountability and becomes the single most defining element of the group and its source of power and authority.
2. A process [of indoctrination or education is in use that can be seen as] coercive persuasion or thought reform [commonly called "brainwashing"].
The culmination of this process can be seen by members of the group often doing things that are not in their own best interest, but consistently in the best interest of the group and its leader.
Some groups may not fit the definition of a cult, but may pose potential risks for participants. Here are 10 warning signs of a potentially unsafe group or leader.
• Absolute authoritarianism without meaningful accountability.
• No tolerance for questions or critical inquiry.
• No meaningful financial disclosure regarding budget or expenses, such as an independently audited financial statement.
• Unreasonable fear about the outside world, such as impending catastrophe, evil conspiracies and persecutions.
• There is no legitimate reason to leave, former followers are always wrong in leaving, negative or even evil.
• Former members often relate the same stories of abuse and reflect a similar pattern of grievances.
• There are records, books, news articles, or broadcast reports that document the abuses of the group/leader.
• Followers feel they can never be "good enough".
• The group/leader is always right.
• The group/leader is the exclusive means of knowing "truth" or receiving validation, no other process of discovery is really acceptable or credible.
Gosh, that's got ol' Senseless Dai-Sucky Ick-eda written large all over it, doesn't it???
SGI: NO financial transparency or accountability. NO democratic processes - leaders are "appointed", not democratically elected. Evil Latter Day of the Law! Sansho Shima! King Devil of the 6th Heaven! Hell of Incessant Suffering!! Always seek to stay in the correct orbit of the most
wonderful and
family-like organization in the history of the universe! NEVER GO TAITEN!! You'll cut a big hole in the cargo hold of your ship of fortune, and everything you have accumulated will just drain right out! Always seek to be
in rhythm with the organization! People can *ONLY* become happy if they chant NMRK! Keep doing your human revolution, NO MATTER WHAT! Always seek guidance - your leaders know MUCH MORE about your life than YOU can! Itai Doshin - NEVER rock the boat! NEVER stray from the "correct path of faith" (as outlined by the SGI). Read and study President Ikeda's "guidance" and appallingly bad poetry, as HE know the MOST about Buddhism of anyone in the world! Seek Ikeda as your "Mentor in Life", even though you will never meet him, never speak with him, and he doesn't give a SHIT about you! Just keep that money flowing in - that's creating the "cause" for accumulating "fortune", don'tcha know! Hell, he's probably dead - but I'm sure that, in a few years, that will develop into "He died for YOU!! So now you OWE him!!"
And, as a Jt. Terr. WD leader told me - two weeks before she dropped dead (which shocked everyone - she was only in her 50s) - when she couldn't give me any good reason why I should do as she ordered, "Chant until you agree with me." Alas, Hans, you got me going. First post of the day and whatnot. Okay, everybody - carry on!
One last question, Hans, how are you going to regard the SGI when Ikeda's pasty little frogfaced son Hiromasa, Mr. I've-never-accomplished-anything-in-my-entire-life-except-to-have-a-rich-and-powerful-dad, becomes International President, the first in what's to become a long North-Korea-style dynasty of inherited positions?
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/30/2013 01:46AM by StillTaitenAndProud.