Re: Former SGI members
Posted by:
tsukimoto
()
Date: September 13, 2009 02:49AM
------Begin Quote: Milwaukee Magazine, January 1, 2008------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cult of Curiosity
UWM crawls into bed with a notorious Buddhist leader.by Matt Hrodey
Tuesday 1/1/2008
UW-Milwaukee chancellor Carlos Santiago’scourting of wealthy philanthropists took a bizarre turn last April when he flew to Tokyo to award an honorary degree to controversial religious leader Daisaku Ikeda. Even more curious, Ikeda’s group paid the expenses for the five-day trip to Japan by Santiago, UW-System Regent Tom Loftus and two other university representatives.
Soka Gakkai has 8 million members in Japan and about 500,000 in the United States. The group has founded elementary and high schools in Japan. It also opened a university, which is where Santiago honored Ikeda.
Author and prominent Buddhist scholar Laurence O. McKinney says Ikeda “has no reputation as a theological leader,” but has used contributions to buy approval and prestigious connections. McKinney notes that when Harvard refused to provide Ikeda a speaking venue, he rented a basement room at Harvard, and the Soka Gakkai-funded Boston Research Center for the 21st Century billed his talk as a historic “lecture at Harvard.”
Santiago declined several interview requests. Randy Ryder, secretary of the university, said a faculty committee made the recommendation for a degree and Santiago approved it. “We Googled. We didn’t see anything [negative on Ikeda],” Ryder says. Ryder also says Ikeda was not physically up to traveling to Milwaukee, so his group paid the travel expenses for UWM officials.
--------------------------------------End Quote--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Didn't Byron Katie do exactly the same thing -- lectured in a room that she rented near the Harvard University campus, and then presented it as if Harvard had invited her to speak? These cult leaders are using the same handbook! Look more legit by renting a lecture room on or near a prestigious university, and act like you are affiliated with said university!
Such service! If you have enough money, you don't even have to travel to a university to get an honorary degree -- you can get them to bring it to you. Ikeda could be comotose in bed and still collecting degrees. Which one is this, Degree #269?
Cult of Curiosity
UWM crawls into bed with a notorious Buddhist leader.by Matt Hrodey
Tuesday 1/1/2008
UW-Milwaukee chancellor Carlos Santiago’scourting of wealthy philanthropists took a bizarre turn last April when he flew to Tokyo to award an honorary degree to controversial religious leader Daisaku Ikeda. Even more curious, Ikeda’s group paid the expenses for the five-day trip to Japan by Santiago, UW-System Regent Tom Loftus and two other university representatives.
Soka Gakkai has 8 million members in Japan and about 500,000 in the United States. The group has founded elementary and high schools in Japan. It also opened a university, which is where Santiago honored Ikeda.
Author and prominent Buddhist scholar Laurence O. McKinney says Ikeda “has no reputation as a theological leader,” but has used contributions to buy approval and prestigious connections. McKinney notes that when Harvard refused to provide Ikeda a speaking venue, he rented a basement room at Harvard, and the Soka Gakkai-funded Boston Research Center for the 21st Century billed his talk as a historic “lecture at Harvard.”
Santiago declined several interview requests. Randy Ryder, secretary of the university, said a faculty committee made the recommendation for a degree and Santiago approved it. “We Googled. We didn’t see anything [negative on Ikeda],” Ryder says. Ryder also says Ikeda was not physically up to traveling to Milwaukee, so his group paid the travel expenses for UWM officials.
--------------------------------------End Quote--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Didn't Byron Katie do exactly the same thing -- lectured in a room that she rented near the Harvard University campus, and then presented it as if Harvard had invited her to speak? These cult leaders are using the same handbook! Look more legit by renting a lecture room on or near a prestigious university, and act like you are affiliated with said university!
Such service! If you have enough money, you don't even have to travel to a university to get an honorary degree -- you can get them to bring it to you. Ikeda could be comotose in bed and still collecting degrees. Which one is this, Degree #269?
Re: SGI and American universities
Posted by:
tsukimoto
()
Date: September 13, 2009 03:55AM
Is Ikeda going to keep getting honorary degrees after his death?
---Begin Quote -- The Toda Institute for Peace Research's Connection With Indiana's Ball State University-----------------------------------
Orwell 101
By: David Horowitz
FrontPageMagazine.com | Friday, July 11, 2008
A couple of years ago, a student in a Peace Studies course at Ball State, taught by jazz saxophonist George Wolfe, claimed that Professor Wolfe used his class to promote a political agenda, using the classroom to argue against all forms of violence except revolutionary violence, assigning a one-sided text which argued among other things that the word “terrorist” was another term for “guerrilla” and could be applied to the American founders, and offering extra credits and better grades to students who supported his viewpoints. The facts are reviewed here.
At the time, I did not take a position on the student’s claims about Wolfe’s classroom behavior but instead posted an article by him in FrontPage Magazine describing his complaints. I did write a critical review of the 500-page class text Wolfe had assigned, which purported to review hundreds of years of historical events and analyze the causes of war and peace, and which was written by an animal psychologist and a philosopher who boasted in the introduction to their text that was a partisan argument by progressive activists, and that Peace Studies itself was field devoted to instilling the tenets of progressive activism in its students. “The field [of Peace Studies] differs from most other human sciences in that it is value-oriented, and unabashedly so. Accordingly we wish to be up front about our own values, which are frankly anti-war, anti-violence, anti-nuclear, anti-authoritarian, anti-establishment, pro-environment, pro-human rights, pro-social justice, pro-peace and politically progressive.”
***When the student’s article appeared in FrontPage, the Ball State administration and faculty instantly came down on his head like a ton of bricks. He was warned by the chairman of the Political Science Department not to write any more articles for FrontPage or to talk to the press. He was ridiculed by his professors in class. When I wrote an editorial questioning the credentials of a jazz saxophonist to teach issues of war and peace, the Vice Provost at Ball State, Beverley Pitts defended him saying he was a member of the board of the Toda Institute for Peace Research. The Toda Institute turned out to be an organization created by Soka Gakkai, an international Buddhist cult. Backed by his university, and with the support of the local press, Wolfe went on a campaign to smear me as a “political extremist” and “McCarthyite.”
Now Wolfe has written an article for a Ball State University publication called, “Arguments Against the Horowitz Agenda.” (Unlike Wolfe, I will actually cite his text so that readers can judge it for themselves. His article contains no citations of anything I have actually said, nor does it addresses anything remotely resembling any agenda I have ever advanced or been associated with. Consequently it is not really an argument against anything except Professor Wolfe’s fantasies.)
The article begins in a vein that is sustained throughout: “Of all the universities across the United States who were subject to attack for liberal bias by political extremist David Horowitz, in only one did senior administrators publicly come to the defense of their faculty and their academic programs. Vice President for Academic Affairs Beverly Pitts, President Jo Ann Gora, Interim Vice President for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management Randy Hyman, and Joseph Losco, Chair of the Department of Political Science, are to be commended for their public stance against political extremism and their efforts to refute the false accusations directed towards Peace Studies at Ball State University.”
***You would never guess from this statement, that their stance was against an undergraduate student whose crime was questioning what he felt was an unfair classroom situation and whose views they tried to suppress. My role in this was merely to give this student a platform to air his complaints, and to support them by an analysis of the textbook he was required to read.
As it happens, however, I have never attacked any university – in the United States or anywhere else – for “liberal bias.” Or left-wing bias. Ever. In my widely-read book on the university, The Professors, which was made notorious by unscrupulous academics like Wolfe, I state quite clearly: “This book is not intended as a text about left-wing bias in the university and does not propose that a left-wing perspective on academic faculties is a problem in itself. Every individual, whether conservative or liberal, has a perspective and therefore a bias. Professors have every right to interpret the subjects they teach according to their individual points of view. That is the essence of academic freedom.” (See below.)
Not one left-wing academic who has attacked my academic freedom campaign, and there have been many, have ever acknowledged that I ever made such a statement, let alone that my public record shows that these are, in fact, my views and what I am prepared to defend.
Because of the views expressed above, I make it a practice of never using the term “bias,” nor have I ever called for the firing or punishment of any professor for their political views. On the contrary, I publicly defended the First Amendment rights of Ward Churchill when the Republican governor of Colorado called on his university to fire him for his political views. I defended Professor Erwin Chemerinsky, when he was removed as the dean of the new law school at UC-Irvine after conservatives complained about his left-wing opinions. (He was subsequently re-instated.) Moreover, my Academic Bill of Rights – the same that Professor Wolfe regards as an agenda of McCarthyite extremism – states in no uncertain terms: “No faculty shall be hired or fired or denied promotion or tenure on the basis of his or her political or religious beliefs.”
The two books I have written on academic freedom, along with the scores of articles amounting to tens of thousands of additional words, are entirely and without exception based on the classic 1915 “Declaration on the Principles of Academic Freedom and Academic Tenure” of the American Association of University Professors.” In short, my academic agenda – the “Horowitz agenda” that professor Wolfe describes throughout his article as “McCarthyite” – is entirely liberal in the sense of the word used by John Dewey, A.O. Lovejoy, and the other academics associated with the 1915 statement and with subsequent academic freedom statements it inspired.
Professor Wolfe’s article is itself an example of exactly what he decries: a political smear by an unprincipled demagogue. Wolfe’s article consists of a series of ad hominem attacks on a straw man – a “political extremist” of his own manufacture, and depends on a version of events that studiously avoids any examination of the facts involved. This is the way he argues, “According to my colleague, Political Science professor Joseph Losco [the same professor who threatened the Ball State undergraduate if he opened his mouth to complain about his treatment by Professor Wolfe], Horowitz’s tactics are “reminiscent of something that would take place in the McCarthy era or the period of the John Birch Society of the 50’s and 60s.” Talk about guilt by association!
Wolfe justifies this McCarthyesque smear in the following way: “David Horowitz, in using extremist language that accuses peace studies professors like myself of supporting terrorism, and falsely accusing the Ball State Muslim Student Association of having ties to terrorist organizations, is clearly evoking the Patriot Act in an attempt to intimidate Americans who believe it was a mistake to invade Iraq or who identify themselves with the religion of Islam.” In other words, because I cited a textbook that equated contemporary terrorists with America’s founding fathers, and pointed out what is an indisputable fact – that the Muslim Students’ Association is a creation of the Muslim Brotherhood and part of its network – I must be a member of some “Patriot Act” conspiracy to intimidate Americans from dissenting on the war in Iraq.
This is a classic McCarthyism. The fact is that I have written many articles – and a recent book – which affirm the legitimacy of dissent over the war policy in Iraq. If reading is too onerous a task for Professor Wolfe he could have viewed my hour-long speech on C-SPAN or a similar speech I gave in Santa Barbara which is currently posted at www.FrontPageMag.com. In both these speeches, which are about my book Party of Defeat and the war in Iraq, I say, “Criticism of government policy is essential to a democracy, and criticism of war policy is [particularly] important because the stakes are so high.” But Professor Wolfe isn’t interested in facts because he is an ideologue and for him people like me who disagree with his progressive views are enemies to whom no decencies are owed.
Does the professor behave differently in his classroom? Perhaps, but I wouldn’t bet on it.
--------------------------------------------End of Quote--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Whether you agree with David Horowitz's conservative views or not -- this is typically SGI: smear anyone who questions their actions.
SGI has slandered Horowitz as someone who wants to suppress freedom of speech. Yet, Horowitz has spoken out many times in favor of freedom of speech and the people's right to dissent over war policy.
And again, here's the real irony: SGI really doesn't support world peace! Not when their money is invested in companies that manufacture weapons. Not when the SGI's New Komeito Party voted for to send money and men to support military action in Afghanistan and Iraq! Nor does SGI really support freedom of speech. If you don't believe me, just go to a meeting and criticize SGI policy. You'll learn quickly how much SGI really believes in dialogue -- not very much! I can only imagine what it must have been like to be in Professor Wolfe's class --- a semester-long SGI meeting, where you must regurgitate the professor's views to get a decent grade and your credits.
And terrorists are really "guerillas"? I remember Sparky's post about SGI's response to 9/11. Apparently SGI members were supposed to forgive the hijackers (though SGI cannot seem to forgive the high priest Nikken, who never killed anyone), despite the murders of thousands of innocent people. Oh wait, maybe we're not really supposed to forgive these terrorists, since the President Ikeda's New Komeito Party actually voted to provide support to military actions in Afghanistan and Iraq. The New Komeito Party did this so that SGI's finances wouldn't be audited.
So what's the real message? World Peace is nice, but protecting President Ikeda's riches is essential. Well, what would I know? I don't have 250 plus degrees, just two, and I was clueless enough that I actually studied and went to class to earn them.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/13/2009 04:00AM by tsukimoto.
---Begin Quote -- The Toda Institute for Peace Research's Connection With Indiana's Ball State University-----------------------------------
Orwell 101
By: David Horowitz
FrontPageMagazine.com | Friday, July 11, 2008
A couple of years ago, a student in a Peace Studies course at Ball State, taught by jazz saxophonist George Wolfe, claimed that Professor Wolfe used his class to promote a political agenda, using the classroom to argue against all forms of violence except revolutionary violence, assigning a one-sided text which argued among other things that the word “terrorist” was another term for “guerrilla” and could be applied to the American founders, and offering extra credits and better grades to students who supported his viewpoints. The facts are reviewed here.
At the time, I did not take a position on the student’s claims about Wolfe’s classroom behavior but instead posted an article by him in FrontPage Magazine describing his complaints. I did write a critical review of the 500-page class text Wolfe had assigned, which purported to review hundreds of years of historical events and analyze the causes of war and peace, and which was written by an animal psychologist and a philosopher who boasted in the introduction to their text that was a partisan argument by progressive activists, and that Peace Studies itself was field devoted to instilling the tenets of progressive activism in its students. “The field [of Peace Studies] differs from most other human sciences in that it is value-oriented, and unabashedly so. Accordingly we wish to be up front about our own values, which are frankly anti-war, anti-violence, anti-nuclear, anti-authoritarian, anti-establishment, pro-environment, pro-human rights, pro-social justice, pro-peace and politically progressive.”
***When the student’s article appeared in FrontPage, the Ball State administration and faculty instantly came down on his head like a ton of bricks. He was warned by the chairman of the Political Science Department not to write any more articles for FrontPage or to talk to the press. He was ridiculed by his professors in class. When I wrote an editorial questioning the credentials of a jazz saxophonist to teach issues of war and peace, the Vice Provost at Ball State, Beverley Pitts defended him saying he was a member of the board of the Toda Institute for Peace Research. The Toda Institute turned out to be an organization created by Soka Gakkai, an international Buddhist cult. Backed by his university, and with the support of the local press, Wolfe went on a campaign to smear me as a “political extremist” and “McCarthyite.”
Now Wolfe has written an article for a Ball State University publication called, “Arguments Against the Horowitz Agenda.” (Unlike Wolfe, I will actually cite his text so that readers can judge it for themselves. His article contains no citations of anything I have actually said, nor does it addresses anything remotely resembling any agenda I have ever advanced or been associated with. Consequently it is not really an argument against anything except Professor Wolfe’s fantasies.)
The article begins in a vein that is sustained throughout: “Of all the universities across the United States who were subject to attack for liberal bias by political extremist David Horowitz, in only one did senior administrators publicly come to the defense of their faculty and their academic programs. Vice President for Academic Affairs Beverly Pitts, President Jo Ann Gora, Interim Vice President for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management Randy Hyman, and Joseph Losco, Chair of the Department of Political Science, are to be commended for their public stance against political extremism and their efforts to refute the false accusations directed towards Peace Studies at Ball State University.”
***You would never guess from this statement, that their stance was against an undergraduate student whose crime was questioning what he felt was an unfair classroom situation and whose views they tried to suppress. My role in this was merely to give this student a platform to air his complaints, and to support them by an analysis of the textbook he was required to read.
As it happens, however, I have never attacked any university – in the United States or anywhere else – for “liberal bias.” Or left-wing bias. Ever. In my widely-read book on the university, The Professors, which was made notorious by unscrupulous academics like Wolfe, I state quite clearly: “This book is not intended as a text about left-wing bias in the university and does not propose that a left-wing perspective on academic faculties is a problem in itself. Every individual, whether conservative or liberal, has a perspective and therefore a bias. Professors have every right to interpret the subjects they teach according to their individual points of view. That is the essence of academic freedom.” (See below.)
Not one left-wing academic who has attacked my academic freedom campaign, and there have been many, have ever acknowledged that I ever made such a statement, let alone that my public record shows that these are, in fact, my views and what I am prepared to defend.
Because of the views expressed above, I make it a practice of never using the term “bias,” nor have I ever called for the firing or punishment of any professor for their political views. On the contrary, I publicly defended the First Amendment rights of Ward Churchill when the Republican governor of Colorado called on his university to fire him for his political views. I defended Professor Erwin Chemerinsky, when he was removed as the dean of the new law school at UC-Irvine after conservatives complained about his left-wing opinions. (He was subsequently re-instated.) Moreover, my Academic Bill of Rights – the same that Professor Wolfe regards as an agenda of McCarthyite extremism – states in no uncertain terms: “No faculty shall be hired or fired or denied promotion or tenure on the basis of his or her political or religious beliefs.”
The two books I have written on academic freedom, along with the scores of articles amounting to tens of thousands of additional words, are entirely and without exception based on the classic 1915 “Declaration on the Principles of Academic Freedom and Academic Tenure” of the American Association of University Professors.” In short, my academic agenda – the “Horowitz agenda” that professor Wolfe describes throughout his article as “McCarthyite” – is entirely liberal in the sense of the word used by John Dewey, A.O. Lovejoy, and the other academics associated with the 1915 statement and with subsequent academic freedom statements it inspired.
Professor Wolfe’s article is itself an example of exactly what he decries: a political smear by an unprincipled demagogue. Wolfe’s article consists of a series of ad hominem attacks on a straw man – a “political extremist” of his own manufacture, and depends on a version of events that studiously avoids any examination of the facts involved. This is the way he argues, “According to my colleague, Political Science professor Joseph Losco [the same professor who threatened the Ball State undergraduate if he opened his mouth to complain about his treatment by Professor Wolfe], Horowitz’s tactics are “reminiscent of something that would take place in the McCarthy era or the period of the John Birch Society of the 50’s and 60s.” Talk about guilt by association!
Wolfe justifies this McCarthyesque smear in the following way: “David Horowitz, in using extremist language that accuses peace studies professors like myself of supporting terrorism, and falsely accusing the Ball State Muslim Student Association of having ties to terrorist organizations, is clearly evoking the Patriot Act in an attempt to intimidate Americans who believe it was a mistake to invade Iraq or who identify themselves with the religion of Islam.” In other words, because I cited a textbook that equated contemporary terrorists with America’s founding fathers, and pointed out what is an indisputable fact – that the Muslim Students’ Association is a creation of the Muslim Brotherhood and part of its network – I must be a member of some “Patriot Act” conspiracy to intimidate Americans from dissenting on the war in Iraq.
This is a classic McCarthyism. The fact is that I have written many articles – and a recent book – which affirm the legitimacy of dissent over the war policy in Iraq. If reading is too onerous a task for Professor Wolfe he could have viewed my hour-long speech on C-SPAN or a similar speech I gave in Santa Barbara which is currently posted at www.FrontPageMag.com. In both these speeches, which are about my book Party of Defeat and the war in Iraq, I say, “Criticism of government policy is essential to a democracy, and criticism of war policy is [particularly] important because the stakes are so high.” But Professor Wolfe isn’t interested in facts because he is an ideologue and for him people like me who disagree with his progressive views are enemies to whom no decencies are owed.
Does the professor behave differently in his classroom? Perhaps, but I wouldn’t bet on it.
--------------------------------------------End of Quote--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Whether you agree with David Horowitz's conservative views or not -- this is typically SGI: smear anyone who questions their actions.
SGI has slandered Horowitz as someone who wants to suppress freedom of speech. Yet, Horowitz has spoken out many times in favor of freedom of speech and the people's right to dissent over war policy.
And again, here's the real irony: SGI really doesn't support world peace! Not when their money is invested in companies that manufacture weapons. Not when the SGI's New Komeito Party voted for to send money and men to support military action in Afghanistan and Iraq! Nor does SGI really support freedom of speech. If you don't believe me, just go to a meeting and criticize SGI policy. You'll learn quickly how much SGI really believes in dialogue -- not very much! I can only imagine what it must have been like to be in Professor Wolfe's class --- a semester-long SGI meeting, where you must regurgitate the professor's views to get a decent grade and your credits.
And terrorists are really "guerillas"? I remember Sparky's post about SGI's response to 9/11. Apparently SGI members were supposed to forgive the hijackers (though SGI cannot seem to forgive the high priest Nikken, who never killed anyone), despite the murders of thousands of innocent people. Oh wait, maybe we're not really supposed to forgive these terrorists, since the President Ikeda's New Komeito Party actually voted to provide support to military actions in Afghanistan and Iraq. The New Komeito Party did this so that SGI's finances wouldn't be audited.
So what's the real message? World Peace is nice, but protecting President Ikeda's riches is essential. Well, what would I know? I don't have 250 plus degrees, just two, and I was clueless enough that I actually studied and went to class to earn them.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/13/2009 04:00AM by tsukimoto.
Toda Institute, George Wolfe, SGI, false non-profit claims?
Posted by:
The Anticult
()
Date: September 13, 2009 05:23AM
Its interesting how SGI-USA floats such exaggerated numbers for their membership.
They promote a number of 500,000 members in the USA, which is certainly another SGI propaganda lie.
What are the real numbers? Its impossible to know for sure, as they refuse to make public where their donations go, and other important information. SGI-USA keeps everything secret.
How much does SGI-USA bring in every year? Millions and millions.
And no one knows where any of the money goes.
And the (SGI member) jazz saxophonist George Wolfe, that name comes up a lot around SGI.
This fight regardling academic freedom, and Peace Studies, and the rest of it, is very interesting.
SGI also promotes itself as being for Peace Studies, and also "human revolution". Which is interesting considering the outrageous things that Daisaku Ikeda has said in the past about him being the king of Japan, and his own style of miltaristic top-down leadership, which is based on the fascist model.
[www.culteducation.com] "I am the king of Japan; I am its president".
It may be the kind of "revolutions" being talked about by George Wolfe are what Daisaku Ikeda wanted to do in Japan?
And its interesting about the academic freedom issue. SGI has attacked any website that dares to question SGI with facts, and have SHUT THEM DOWN and taken them offline, where is the academic freedom there?
They also attack the media to create a "chill".
Is there academic freedom inside SGI itself? Are its own members allowed to critically examine SGI and its workings? Of course not, if they say ANYTHING critical about SGI, they will just kick them out.
And people are signed to non-disclosure contracts, so they can't say anything.
The George Wolfe situation might have many more layers to it, considering Soka Gakkai, and Daisaku Ikeda's militaristic methods and behavior, and his goals.
Its not hard to see that the Soka Gakkai SGI's real objective, even though its delusional, is a POLITICAL REVOLUTION, with the Soka Gakkai in control.
It would be interesting to look at the agenda of the Toda Institute, and who they are lobbying, and where the money is going.
They say they are a non-profit institute, so where is the 990 Form?
There does not appear to be any Form 990 for the Toda Institute? Where is it?
Toda Institute posts some "Annual Reports" but they are beyond laughable, no mention of where the money is going.
NOTHING COMES UP when Toda Institute is searched on the non-profit websites.
More deception by SGI, which country are they a non-profit? Not in the USA.
Where is the evidence for being a nonprofit?
They say "The Toda Institute is an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization.."
Its not independent, its founded and organized by Daisaku Ikeda. Its not nonpartisan, as SGI and Ikeda are political. It doesn't even appear to be a registered non-profit, certainly not in the USA.
Something is seriously wrong with this picture.
"Dr" Daisaku Ikeda is the founder of the Toda Institute, and wanted to create some type of office in the UN, and all sorts of other political activities.
Frankly, its yet another of numerous front-groups for the SGI religion, to get involved in politics, very similar to various Scientology organizations.
Yet another example of a registered RELIGION forming another front-group, to get its influence into politics and universities.
This one needs to be looked into very carefully
____________________________________________________
Toda Institute for Global Policy and Peace Research
1585 Kapiolani Blvd, Suite 1130, Honolulu, Hawaii 96814 USA
Founder: Daisaku Ikeda, president of the Soka Gakkai International (SGI)
___________________________________________
They promote a number of 500,000 members in the USA, which is certainly another SGI propaganda lie.
What are the real numbers? Its impossible to know for sure, as they refuse to make public where their donations go, and other important information. SGI-USA keeps everything secret.
How much does SGI-USA bring in every year? Millions and millions.
And no one knows where any of the money goes.
And the (SGI member) jazz saxophonist George Wolfe, that name comes up a lot around SGI.
This fight regardling academic freedom, and Peace Studies, and the rest of it, is very interesting.
SGI also promotes itself as being for Peace Studies, and also "human revolution". Which is interesting considering the outrageous things that Daisaku Ikeda has said in the past about him being the king of Japan, and his own style of miltaristic top-down leadership, which is based on the fascist model.
[www.culteducation.com] "I am the king of Japan; I am its president".
It may be the kind of "revolutions" being talked about by George Wolfe are what Daisaku Ikeda wanted to do in Japan?
And its interesting about the academic freedom issue. SGI has attacked any website that dares to question SGI with facts, and have SHUT THEM DOWN and taken them offline, where is the academic freedom there?
They also attack the media to create a "chill".
Is there academic freedom inside SGI itself? Are its own members allowed to critically examine SGI and its workings? Of course not, if they say ANYTHING critical about SGI, they will just kick them out.
And people are signed to non-disclosure contracts, so they can't say anything.
The George Wolfe situation might have many more layers to it, considering Soka Gakkai, and Daisaku Ikeda's militaristic methods and behavior, and his goals.
Its not hard to see that the Soka Gakkai SGI's real objective, even though its delusional, is a POLITICAL REVOLUTION, with the Soka Gakkai in control.
It would be interesting to look at the agenda of the Toda Institute, and who they are lobbying, and where the money is going.
They say they are a non-profit institute, so where is the 990 Form?
There does not appear to be any Form 990 for the Toda Institute? Where is it?
Toda Institute posts some "Annual Reports" but they are beyond laughable, no mention of where the money is going.
NOTHING COMES UP when Toda Institute is searched on the non-profit websites.
More deception by SGI, which country are they a non-profit? Not in the USA.
Where is the evidence for being a nonprofit?
They say "The Toda Institute is an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization.."
Its not independent, its founded and organized by Daisaku Ikeda. Its not nonpartisan, as SGI and Ikeda are political. It doesn't even appear to be a registered non-profit, certainly not in the USA.
Something is seriously wrong with this picture.
"Dr" Daisaku Ikeda is the founder of the Toda Institute, and wanted to create some type of office in the UN, and all sorts of other political activities.
Frankly, its yet another of numerous front-groups for the SGI religion, to get involved in politics, very similar to various Scientology organizations.
Yet another example of a registered RELIGION forming another front-group, to get its influence into politics and universities.
This one needs to be looked into very carefully
____________________________________________________
Toda Institute for Global Policy and Peace Research
1585 Kapiolani Blvd, Suite 1130, Honolulu, Hawaii 96814 USA
Founder: Daisaku Ikeda, president of the Soka Gakkai International (SGI)
___________________________________________
Re: Toda Institute, George Wolfe, SGI, political agenda
Posted by:
The Anticult
()
Date: September 13, 2009 06:08AM
QUOTE: [www.relinquishingjunk.com] "...a student in a Peace Studies course at Ball State, taught by jazz saxophonist George Wolfe, claimed that Professor Wolfe used his class to promote a political agenda, using the classroom to argue against all forms of violence except revolutionary violence.."
That is very interesting, especially with the connections to the SGI Toda Institute, and the behavior and goals of the Soka Gakkai, and their connections with politics and religion and capitalism.
Isn't it fascinating, how the Soka Gakkai ideology is similar, and how this explains so much of their extremely aggressive behavior and HATRED against SGI perceived "enemies"?
The are against violence, EXCEPT in the service of their "revolution".
Like the Soka Gakkai Human Revolution?
And the (volumes) of books by Daisaku Ikeda called THE NEW HUMAN REVOLUTION [www.amazon.com]
The religion SGI-USA is constantly getting involved in politics and placing its people in universities, to promote the SGI agenda.
This example with saxophonist George Wolfe, seems to be another case study.
It would be interesting to trace that "biased" textbook he was using, and to see how that came into being.
Its very typical of these sects that they try to get their "ideas" into various institutions through the back door, or side door.
That is very interesting, especially with the connections to the SGI Toda Institute, and the behavior and goals of the Soka Gakkai, and their connections with politics and religion and capitalism.
Isn't it fascinating, how the Soka Gakkai ideology is similar, and how this explains so much of their extremely aggressive behavior and HATRED against SGI perceived "enemies"?
The are against violence, EXCEPT in the service of their "revolution".
Like the Soka Gakkai Human Revolution?
And the (volumes) of books by Daisaku Ikeda called THE NEW HUMAN REVOLUTION [www.amazon.com]
The religion SGI-USA is constantly getting involved in politics and placing its people in universities, to promote the SGI agenda.
This example with saxophonist George Wolfe, seems to be another case study.
It would be interesting to trace that "biased" textbook he was using, and to see how that came into being.
Its very typical of these sects that they try to get their "ideas" into various institutions through the back door, or side door.
Re: Former SGI members
Posted by:
tsukimoto
()
Date: September 13, 2009 09:41AM
----Beginning of Quote: Mission Statement of the Toda Institute, Toda Institute's Website-----------------------------------------------------------
The Toda Institute was established on 11 February 1996 by Toda’s main disciple Daisaku Ikeda (1928 -), the President of the Soka Gakkai International (SGI), a worldwide movement for peace, culture and education based on Buddhist Humanism. Ikeda is a prolific writer, poet and photographer who has published more than 50 volumes of dialogues with prominent world figures. He established the Toda Institute to implement Toda’s vision of a world free of nuclear weapons where global citizens interact with each other based on trust and friendship. Ikeda expanded this vision in order to create a new civilizational platform characterized by respect for life, interconnectedness, understanding and cooperation.
Goals and Activities of the Toda Institute
Our main activities, for the promotion of peace research, are the organization of conferences, the publication of books, and of the yearly journal Peace & Policy. Following Toda, Ikeda asserts that all institutions should first and foremost serve people. Like his mentor, he also believes in dialogue and nonviolence as the proper tools to achieve goals. Inspired by their common vision, the Toda Institute will focus on three main themes:
Human Security and Human Rights
Dialogue and Nonviolent Conflict Transformation
Global Governance and World Citizenship
These three themes will be explored in order to find concrete solutions to three main issues:
Abolition of Nuclear Weapons
UN Reform, to ensure a more collaborative world
Sustainable Peace through Environmental Integrity and Social Justice
On 8 September 1957, Josei Toda made a declaration against nuclear weapons for an audience of 50,000 people in Yokohama, Japan and made a rousing appeal to the youth. He declared that the willingness to use these weapons was an expression of the devilish nature lurking within human beings, leading them to control and dominate others through fear and threats rather than choosing dialogue and collaboration. Based on Toda’s declaration, Ikeda has outlined his vision for a peaceful global civilization in numerous proposals, and inspired by these, the Toda Institute will focus on the three main global security issues mentioned above.
The starting point of any endeavor for peace is the personal transformation of an individual human being. Our institute wants to place world peace firmly into the hands of real people, and this is actualized as a focus on Human Security and Human Rights.
Next, people with an elevated consciousness need to have meaningful dialogues about the future of the world, and about how to solve the numerous problems affecting humanity. This translates into Dialogue and Nonviolent Conflict Transformation. Finally, through dialogue, people with a heightened awareness can design the best systems to tackle humanity’s challenges, and this can be achieved through Global Governance and World Citizenship.
The most important global issue for Toda was the abolition of nuclear weapons, and Ikeda has added support for the UN, inspired by Makiguchi’s concept of Humanitarian Competition. Finally, if Toda were alive today, he would certainly be very concerned about the environment, as much as he was about nuclear weapons in 1957. Ikeda made proposals that helped establish the UN Decade for Education for Sustainable Development which started in 2005. This narrative is at the origin of the three themes and three issues which form the framework of the Toda Institute’s activities.
------End of Quote------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--SGI traditionally has pushed the notion of nuclear disarmament; I heard this so many times at meetings, along with "dialogue and nonviolence." Sure, these are lovely ideals -- but what happens when you are dealing with people who just want to kill innocent people, or, unprovoked, invade your country? Especially if their group has nuclear weapons and your country has given theirs up? If you start chanting -- or start a dialogue based on your "elevated consciousness" -- are the terrorists really going to stop slaughtering your family?
--"Institutions should first and foremost serve people." Really? Well, why doesn't SGI lead by example then? In SGI, it's the other way around -- the members all serve the institution of SGI! If Ikeda is serious about institutions serving people, then members should have some say, some choice in who their leaders are, and in SGI's activities. Members should know how much money and property SGI has, who has title and control over it, and how it's spent. Some of this money should be returned to members, or spent for things that will benefit them -- after all, Ikeda's said that he's for "humanitarian competition," a form of blended capitalism/socialism. (How can he be a socialist and a billionaire?) There should be grievance procedures for members who feel that they have been treated unjustly by the Soka Gakkai. There should be true dialogue at meetings, discussions where different viewpoints, not just Ikeda's, are listened to.
--SGI forced Lisa Jones to stop publishing her blog, which was critical of SGI, and kicked members of the Internal Reform Group (IRG) out of SGI. The IRG had the audacity to actually ask SGI to allow members more say in how SGI was run. Wendy Byrd Ehlmann was also kicked out of SGI for having the nerve to criticize SGI policy on the fraughtwithperil.com website. How were SGI leaders demonstrating "meaningful dialogue" and "heightened awareness"? Or "trust and friendship"?
--"Global Governance and World Citizenship"? UN Reform? Do I really want to know what they mean by this? The whole world becomes Sokanation under the rule of President Ikeda? "I pledge allegiance to the United Land of Soka, one nation under Ikeda, indivisible, with liberty, justice and wealth for Sensei, and nothing but work for the rest of us."
--If SGI is really so into peace, tell me again why the New Komeito Party voted to send money and personnel to support the military actions in Afghanistan and Iraq? Maybe instead SGI should organize some conferences in Iraq and Afghanistan, and ship over some books and copies of the journal "Peace and Policy." If that fails, then send Ikeda to Iraq and Afghanistan to conduct dialogues with the Taliban on respect for life, interconnectedness, understanding and cooperation.
The Toda Institute was established on 11 February 1996 by Toda’s main disciple Daisaku Ikeda (1928 -), the President of the Soka Gakkai International (SGI), a worldwide movement for peace, culture and education based on Buddhist Humanism. Ikeda is a prolific writer, poet and photographer who has published more than 50 volumes of dialogues with prominent world figures. He established the Toda Institute to implement Toda’s vision of a world free of nuclear weapons where global citizens interact with each other based on trust and friendship. Ikeda expanded this vision in order to create a new civilizational platform characterized by respect for life, interconnectedness, understanding and cooperation.
Goals and Activities of the Toda Institute
Our main activities, for the promotion of peace research, are the organization of conferences, the publication of books, and of the yearly journal Peace & Policy. Following Toda, Ikeda asserts that all institutions should first and foremost serve people. Like his mentor, he also believes in dialogue and nonviolence as the proper tools to achieve goals. Inspired by their common vision, the Toda Institute will focus on three main themes:
Human Security and Human Rights
Dialogue and Nonviolent Conflict Transformation
Global Governance and World Citizenship
These three themes will be explored in order to find concrete solutions to three main issues:
Abolition of Nuclear Weapons
UN Reform, to ensure a more collaborative world
Sustainable Peace through Environmental Integrity and Social Justice
On 8 September 1957, Josei Toda made a declaration against nuclear weapons for an audience of 50,000 people in Yokohama, Japan and made a rousing appeal to the youth. He declared that the willingness to use these weapons was an expression of the devilish nature lurking within human beings, leading them to control and dominate others through fear and threats rather than choosing dialogue and collaboration. Based on Toda’s declaration, Ikeda has outlined his vision for a peaceful global civilization in numerous proposals, and inspired by these, the Toda Institute will focus on the three main global security issues mentioned above.
The starting point of any endeavor for peace is the personal transformation of an individual human being. Our institute wants to place world peace firmly into the hands of real people, and this is actualized as a focus on Human Security and Human Rights.
Next, people with an elevated consciousness need to have meaningful dialogues about the future of the world, and about how to solve the numerous problems affecting humanity. This translates into Dialogue and Nonviolent Conflict Transformation. Finally, through dialogue, people with a heightened awareness can design the best systems to tackle humanity’s challenges, and this can be achieved through Global Governance and World Citizenship.
The most important global issue for Toda was the abolition of nuclear weapons, and Ikeda has added support for the UN, inspired by Makiguchi’s concept of Humanitarian Competition. Finally, if Toda were alive today, he would certainly be very concerned about the environment, as much as he was about nuclear weapons in 1957. Ikeda made proposals that helped establish the UN Decade for Education for Sustainable Development which started in 2005. This narrative is at the origin of the three themes and three issues which form the framework of the Toda Institute’s activities.
------End of Quote------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--SGI traditionally has pushed the notion of nuclear disarmament; I heard this so many times at meetings, along with "dialogue and nonviolence." Sure, these are lovely ideals -- but what happens when you are dealing with people who just want to kill innocent people, or, unprovoked, invade your country? Especially if their group has nuclear weapons and your country has given theirs up? If you start chanting -- or start a dialogue based on your "elevated consciousness" -- are the terrorists really going to stop slaughtering your family?
--"Institutions should first and foremost serve people." Really? Well, why doesn't SGI lead by example then? In SGI, it's the other way around -- the members all serve the institution of SGI! If Ikeda is serious about institutions serving people, then members should have some say, some choice in who their leaders are, and in SGI's activities. Members should know how much money and property SGI has, who has title and control over it, and how it's spent. Some of this money should be returned to members, or spent for things that will benefit them -- after all, Ikeda's said that he's for "humanitarian competition," a form of blended capitalism/socialism. (How can he be a socialist and a billionaire?) There should be grievance procedures for members who feel that they have been treated unjustly by the Soka Gakkai. There should be true dialogue at meetings, discussions where different viewpoints, not just Ikeda's, are listened to.
--SGI forced Lisa Jones to stop publishing her blog, which was critical of SGI, and kicked members of the Internal Reform Group (IRG) out of SGI. The IRG had the audacity to actually ask SGI to allow members more say in how SGI was run. Wendy Byrd Ehlmann was also kicked out of SGI for having the nerve to criticize SGI policy on the fraughtwithperil.com website. How were SGI leaders demonstrating "meaningful dialogue" and "heightened awareness"? Or "trust and friendship"?
--"Global Governance and World Citizenship"? UN Reform? Do I really want to know what they mean by this? The whole world becomes Sokanation under the rule of President Ikeda? "I pledge allegiance to the United Land of Soka, one nation under Ikeda, indivisible, with liberty, justice and wealth for Sensei, and nothing but work for the rest of us."
--If SGI is really so into peace, tell me again why the New Komeito Party voted to send money and personnel to support the military actions in Afghanistan and Iraq? Maybe instead SGI should organize some conferences in Iraq and Afghanistan, and ship over some books and copies of the journal "Peace and Policy." If that fails, then send Ikeda to Iraq and Afghanistan to conduct dialogues with the Taliban on respect for life, interconnectedness, understanding and cooperation.
Re: Toda Institute, George Wolfe, SGI, false non-profit claims?
Posted by:
tsukimoto
()
Date: September 13, 2009 11:51AM
I copied this post from a blog written by David Swindle, a classmate of Brett Mock's (the student who was dissatisfied with Professor George Wolfe's class. Are these really the students' names -- Swindle and Mock? Interesting. In this blog, George Wolfe is replying to claims that Brett Mock and David Horowitz are making about his class in Peace Studies at Ball University.)
-------Begin Quote, posted by David Swindle, booksindepth.blogspot.com-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Claim Nine [Tsukimoto: "This claim was made by Brett Mock, and possibly David Horowitz."]
"The Toda Institute is the creation of the Soka-Gokkai cult, a Buddhist sect that believes chanting is the key to world peace."
Prof. Wolfe: "There is a Buddhist organization which helps sponsor the Toda institute in much the same way the Quaker Church supports the Friends National Legislation Committee. But it is nonsense to say the Toda Institute is a Buddhist cult. In actuality, the Toda Institute is headed by Majid Tehranian at the University of Hawaii and publishes “Peace and Policy,” which is one of the most respected journals in the field of Peace Studies. Tehranian is a professor of international communications at the University of Hawaii and guest lectured at Ball State in the fall of 2003."
[Prof. Wolfe then produced a copy of the Toda Institute’s journal which is just as professional and scholarly as one would expect from a serious institution. It did not look like the product of a cult. ] [Tsukimoto: "David Swindle must have said this."]
Prof. Wolfe:" Let me conclude this interview by saying that Mr. Mock's claims illustrate how David Horowitz and "Students for Academic Freedom" misrepresent classroom teaching and course content."
------------------------------------------------End of quote-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Professor Wolfe says "There is a Buddhist organization which helps sponsor the Toda Institute...." Um, Professor, did you read the Toda Institute's mission statement? The institute was founded by Daisaku Ikeda, the third president of the Soka Gakkai -- and it was named after Josei Toda, the second president of the Soka Gakkai. The fact is, the Toda Institute DOESN'T belong to just any old Buddhist organization -- it belongs to the SOKA GAKKAI! That is the truth -- why even pretend that the Toda Institute is NOT part of SGI? Why lie by omission?
Reality: The Toda Institute does exactly what Daisaku Ikeda wants it to. If it doesn't, well, let's just say that Professor Majid Tehranian would be lucky to get a part-time position teaching Freshman Composition at Podunk Community College. Hell, he'd probably be mopping the cafeteria floor there.
Does Wolfe realize the top-down nature of SGI -- that nothing happens in SGI unless Ikeda and his inner circle agree to it? That no SGI leader or member can criticize Ikeda or question his policies -- if they did, they'd be tossed out of SGI like yesterday's garbage? Surely he knows...he just doesn't want his listeners to know. He doesn't want to end up playing his sax at the park, hoping that passers-by will toss change into his cup.
This is the exact thing that SGI did on the application for the Spirit of Knowledge Academy in Massachusetts-- praised Ikeda to the skies as a humanist author and educator, and mentioned NOTHING of his connection to SGI. WHY would they omit this fact?
In both cases, SGI is lying by omission. Though I think Wolfe's denial goes a bit beyond mere omission. Why lie? Because they DON'T want people looking too closely into SGI -- and they know that most Americans won't know the Ikeda and Toda/SGI connection unless it is specifically mentioned. So people won't even know that they SHOULD be asking questions about SGI!
I've read what Horowitz, Wolfe, Mock, and Swindle have to say about Wolfe's class. Indeed, Wolfe can sound persuasive as a speaker, but he is lying about SGI's ownership of the Toda Institute. This makes me wonder what else he's lied about.
And "The Toda Institute's journal doesn't look like a cult publication?" Really? What did Swindle expect? That "Property of the SGI Cult" would be stamped on the cover in red letters? SGI/Ikeda has a billion dollars! They didn't accumulate that by acting dumb -- and they can afford good publicists who know how to write and edit a professional-looking journal when necessary.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/13/2009 11:59AM by tsukimoto.
-------Begin Quote, posted by David Swindle, booksindepth.blogspot.com-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Claim Nine [Tsukimoto: "This claim was made by Brett Mock, and possibly David Horowitz."]
"The Toda Institute is the creation of the Soka-Gokkai cult, a Buddhist sect that believes chanting is the key to world peace."
Prof. Wolfe: "There is a Buddhist organization which helps sponsor the Toda institute in much the same way the Quaker Church supports the Friends National Legislation Committee. But it is nonsense to say the Toda Institute is a Buddhist cult. In actuality, the Toda Institute is headed by Majid Tehranian at the University of Hawaii and publishes “Peace and Policy,” which is one of the most respected journals in the field of Peace Studies. Tehranian is a professor of international communications at the University of Hawaii and guest lectured at Ball State in the fall of 2003."
[Prof. Wolfe then produced a copy of the Toda Institute’s journal which is just as professional and scholarly as one would expect from a serious institution. It did not look like the product of a cult. ] [Tsukimoto: "David Swindle must have said this."]
Prof. Wolfe:" Let me conclude this interview by saying that Mr. Mock's claims illustrate how David Horowitz and "Students for Academic Freedom" misrepresent classroom teaching and course content."
------------------------------------------------End of quote-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Professor Wolfe says "There is a Buddhist organization which helps sponsor the Toda Institute...." Um, Professor, did you read the Toda Institute's mission statement? The institute was founded by Daisaku Ikeda, the third president of the Soka Gakkai -- and it was named after Josei Toda, the second president of the Soka Gakkai. The fact is, the Toda Institute DOESN'T belong to just any old Buddhist organization -- it belongs to the SOKA GAKKAI! That is the truth -- why even pretend that the Toda Institute is NOT part of SGI? Why lie by omission?
Reality: The Toda Institute does exactly what Daisaku Ikeda wants it to. If it doesn't, well, let's just say that Professor Majid Tehranian would be lucky to get a part-time position teaching Freshman Composition at Podunk Community College. Hell, he'd probably be mopping the cafeteria floor there.
Does Wolfe realize the top-down nature of SGI -- that nothing happens in SGI unless Ikeda and his inner circle agree to it? That no SGI leader or member can criticize Ikeda or question his policies -- if they did, they'd be tossed out of SGI like yesterday's garbage? Surely he knows...he just doesn't want his listeners to know. He doesn't want to end up playing his sax at the park, hoping that passers-by will toss change into his cup.
This is the exact thing that SGI did on the application for the Spirit of Knowledge Academy in Massachusetts-- praised Ikeda to the skies as a humanist author and educator, and mentioned NOTHING of his connection to SGI. WHY would they omit this fact?
In both cases, SGI is lying by omission. Though I think Wolfe's denial goes a bit beyond mere omission. Why lie? Because they DON'T want people looking too closely into SGI -- and they know that most Americans won't know the Ikeda and Toda/SGI connection unless it is specifically mentioned. So people won't even know that they SHOULD be asking questions about SGI!
I've read what Horowitz, Wolfe, Mock, and Swindle have to say about Wolfe's class. Indeed, Wolfe can sound persuasive as a speaker, but he is lying about SGI's ownership of the Toda Institute. This makes me wonder what else he's lied about.
And "The Toda Institute's journal doesn't look like a cult publication?" Really? What did Swindle expect? That "Property of the SGI Cult" would be stamped on the cover in red letters? SGI/Ikeda has a billion dollars! They didn't accumulate that by acting dumb -- and they can afford good publicists who know how to write and edit a professional-looking journal when necessary.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/13/2009 11:59AM by tsukimoto.
Re: Toda Institute, George Wolfe, SGI, false non-profit claims?
Posted by:
The Anticult
()
Date: September 14, 2009 09:34AM
Its interesting the language used by George Wolfe.
QUOTE: "helps sponsor the Toda institute".
As mentioned, that is deliberately deceptive language.
SGI-Ikeda created, owns, finances, and runs The Toda Institute to spread the SGI political ideology, which stems from a religion.
He uses the word "helps sponsor" to make Toda sound independent, when it is not.
There is no non-profit 990 Form for the Toda Institute, so noone can check out what is really going on. Their "annual reports" are a bad joke, just fluff.
Toda Institute is not registered in the USA as a non-profit, it doesn't come up.
George Wolfe also mentions its in Hawaii, but doesn't mention its in Japan as well, which is obviously where Toda Institute is really run from.
That is actually one of the main criteria of a cultish sect and group. The use of deception, and tricky wording, and lack of full disclosure.
Scientology does that as a rule, with its various front-groups.
Its very clear, that Toda Institute is another front-group for The Soka Gakkai religion, and its political ideology. They can use Toda to get the SGI religious/political ideology into other places, like universities, using the side-door, when their members bring it in.
That appears to be what is really behind what went on with George Wolfe, as the complaint was about "indoctrination" of students.
People who get deeply into groups and sects like Scientology and SGI-USA Soka Gakkai, are so indoctrinated themselves, that their use of DECEPTION seems to become a reflex. Instead of being directly HONEST and giving full DISCLOSURE of all connections, they use word games to deflect and misdirect.
And after Ikeda dies, it could get a lot worse, as someone else is going to take over the drivers seat from Ikeda. Scientology got a lot worse after it founder died, it got even greedier.
The next generation of SGI, is most likely going to get even worse, and more deceptive.
QUOTE: "helps sponsor the Toda institute".
As mentioned, that is deliberately deceptive language.
SGI-Ikeda created, owns, finances, and runs The Toda Institute to spread the SGI political ideology, which stems from a religion.
He uses the word "helps sponsor" to make Toda sound independent, when it is not.
There is no non-profit 990 Form for the Toda Institute, so noone can check out what is really going on. Their "annual reports" are a bad joke, just fluff.
Toda Institute is not registered in the USA as a non-profit, it doesn't come up.
George Wolfe also mentions its in Hawaii, but doesn't mention its in Japan as well, which is obviously where Toda Institute is really run from.
That is actually one of the main criteria of a cultish sect and group. The use of deception, and tricky wording, and lack of full disclosure.
Scientology does that as a rule, with its various front-groups.
Its very clear, that Toda Institute is another front-group for The Soka Gakkai religion, and its political ideology. They can use Toda to get the SGI religious/political ideology into other places, like universities, using the side-door, when their members bring it in.
That appears to be what is really behind what went on with George Wolfe, as the complaint was about "indoctrination" of students.
People who get deeply into groups and sects like Scientology and SGI-USA Soka Gakkai, are so indoctrinated themselves, that their use of DECEPTION seems to become a reflex. Instead of being directly HONEST and giving full DISCLOSURE of all connections, they use word games to deflect and misdirect.
And after Ikeda dies, it could get a lot worse, as someone else is going to take over the drivers seat from Ikeda. Scientology got a lot worse after it founder died, it got even greedier.
The next generation of SGI, is most likely going to get even worse, and more deceptive.
Re: Toda Institute, George Wolfe, SGI, false non-profit claims?
Posted by:
The Anticult
()
Date: September 14, 2009 10:17AM
Its interesting that George Wolfe does not disclose on his bio that he is on the advisory board for Toda International Advisory Council (TIAC).
[www.bsu.edu]
There appear to be an incredible number of people on this Toda "council", looks like hundreds of people.
How many of those people are SGI members who happen to work in a university?
It looks like virtually every person on that list works in a university.
Are they paid?
Do they get expenses covered for trips?
Where is the disclosure?
As usual with SGI, there is NO DISCLOSURE at all.
There also appears to be all sorts of organizations in universities called "Center for Peace and Conflict Studies".
One has to wonder, are any of these creations of members of the Toda Institute?
Its possible that SGI members, who are in academia, join groups like the Toda Institute to bring the Soka Gakkai religious/political ideas into their universities and classrooms.
Of course, looking into this would take some serious research.
[www.toda.org]
George Wolfe
Director, Center for Peace and Conflict Studies
Ball State University
Muncie , IN USA
[www.bsu.edu]
There appear to be an incredible number of people on this Toda "council", looks like hundreds of people.
How many of those people are SGI members who happen to work in a university?
It looks like virtually every person on that list works in a university.
Are they paid?
Do they get expenses covered for trips?
Where is the disclosure?
As usual with SGI, there is NO DISCLOSURE at all.
There also appears to be all sorts of organizations in universities called "Center for Peace and Conflict Studies".
One has to wonder, are any of these creations of members of the Toda Institute?
Its possible that SGI members, who are in academia, join groups like the Toda Institute to bring the Soka Gakkai religious/political ideas into their universities and classrooms.
Of course, looking into this would take some serious research.
[www.toda.org]
George Wolfe
Director, Center for Peace and Conflict Studies
Ball State University
Muncie , IN USA
SGI, Toda Institute, Soka University of America Reviews
Posted by:
The Anticult
()
Date: September 14, 2009 01:23PM
[ARCHIVE, of some informative reviews of Soka University of America.
Notice the badly written and obvious shill-reviews on the website. Also, one review states
"All students are required to live in the dorm 24/7"
...at the same time these young people are being pressured to join SGI. What a nightmare environment, to be bombarded with SGI religious conversion propaganda 24/7 at university, with no escape, and "loud chanting in dorms".
Most cults actively target university students on campus, one has to wonder what SGI Soka University would do if other sects/cults/religions came on their campus, and targeted their students. Or if former SGI members came on campus to distribute critical information about the activities of SGI.]
[www.viewpoints.com]
______________________________
"Forget it if you are not a "MEMBER" of the Soka Gakkai cult."
[www.viewpoints.com]
No true religious diversity, Pressure from students to convert to SGI, No true cultural diversity,
Loud chanting in dorms, Overwhelming Japanese influence, Doesn't teach much marketable skills, Negligible political diversity
MAY 7, 2009:
At SUA, there certainly is a lot of internal politics among the staff and faculty that leads to a weak curriculum. Practically speaking, if you want a job/career after you liberal arts degree at Soka then you are probably better off at a community college where you can get marketable skills.
And yes, within the campus there is certainly discrimination. A whole bunch of faculty and staff have left the university because they were treated differently from their counterparts that were Soka Gakkai (SGI) members (the organization that built Soka University). They were paid less simply because they were not SGI members and not because they had less credentials.
Among students, there is also certainly an in-group out-group phenomenon that resembles dicrimination. Studying at Soka as a non-SGI member (I say "MEMBER" because they have this in-group out-group thing and refer to themselves as "members") is hard, isolating, and extremely overwhelming - even if you are a social person like I am. There is constant pressure to conform to Japanese culture as well as SGI culture. Also, everything seems to revolve around "THE Founder" - SGI President Daisaku Ikeda. It is almost as if he is deified. Students say that it is merely appreciation for his founding the school. But anyone who knows anything about the Soka Gakkai would know that this is an extension of SGI's utmost devotion and "worship" of its President Emeritus Daisaku Ikeda.
Students may say they love it because it is diverse but it is diverse only in as far as there are token representatives of different races/countries. By far, MOST students are either Japanese or of Japanese ancestry (i.e., Japanese-American, Japanese-Canadian, etc.) and they count this as diversity. The biggest issue is that MOST students are "members" of Soka Gakkai, a dangerous and militant cult that hides behind its slogan of peace and Buddhism - although there is much debate on whether this cult is itself worthy of being associated with peace nor Buddhism. There is certainly no true cultural nor IDEOLOGICAL diversity (i.e., political and religious). In terms of political ideology, the SGI swings toward the democratic party and students (the majority of who are SGI - domestic and even foreign students) generally follow. There is nothing wrong with choosing a party you identify with per se --- but where there is no diversity in thought there would be no meaningful debate because everybody thinks the same way. And this is supposed to be a university!
All in all, if you are an SGI member then this would be a terrific university for you! No doubt about it. But If you are not an SGI member then you will surely regret it --- that's unless you are converted into the SGI and of course at that point you'll love it. And there is certainly pressure (from students not the administration) to convert non-SGI members. Oh, and you will inevitabley be well-versed (although reluctantly) with Japanese culture.
Note to all: Take the other reviews with a grain of salt, most if not all of them were probably written by SGI members who would naturally and understandably be very comfortable studying at SUA. I can sense that they are SGI members from the words they use and the way they say them. As I said before, it is a great place for SGI members but a terrible one for those who are not.
__________________________________________
Yes, the campus is beautiful. A choice piece of property acquired by the very rich and powerful cult known as SGI. Do not be taken in by the beauty of thiscampus. Internal politics amongst faculty and senior staff have made the curiculum weak and narrow in scope. If you are a member of SGI and Japanese, you'll be welcomed with open arms, but if you are not, I would suggest you look elsewhere.
_________________________________
Agreed! I enrolled then dropped out after 1 semester. As the poster maintains, it is very political and closed... SGI is a cult... step away!
____________________________________
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/14/2009 01:31PM by The Anticult.
Notice the badly written and obvious shill-reviews on the website. Also, one review states
"All students are required to live in the dorm 24/7"
...at the same time these young people are being pressured to join SGI. What a nightmare environment, to be bombarded with SGI religious conversion propaganda 24/7 at university, with no escape, and "loud chanting in dorms".
Most cults actively target university students on campus, one has to wonder what SGI Soka University would do if other sects/cults/religions came on their campus, and targeted their students. Or if former SGI members came on campus to distribute critical information about the activities of SGI.]
[www.viewpoints.com]
______________________________
"Forget it if you are not a "MEMBER" of the Soka Gakkai cult."
[www.viewpoints.com]
No true religious diversity, Pressure from students to convert to SGI, No true cultural diversity,
Loud chanting in dorms, Overwhelming Japanese influence, Doesn't teach much marketable skills, Negligible political diversity
MAY 7, 2009:
At SUA, there certainly is a lot of internal politics among the staff and faculty that leads to a weak curriculum. Practically speaking, if you want a job/career after you liberal arts degree at Soka then you are probably better off at a community college where you can get marketable skills.
And yes, within the campus there is certainly discrimination. A whole bunch of faculty and staff have left the university because they were treated differently from their counterparts that were Soka Gakkai (SGI) members (the organization that built Soka University). They were paid less simply because they were not SGI members and not because they had less credentials.
Among students, there is also certainly an in-group out-group phenomenon that resembles dicrimination. Studying at Soka as a non-SGI member (I say "MEMBER" because they have this in-group out-group thing and refer to themselves as "members") is hard, isolating, and extremely overwhelming - even if you are a social person like I am. There is constant pressure to conform to Japanese culture as well as SGI culture. Also, everything seems to revolve around "THE Founder" - SGI President Daisaku Ikeda. It is almost as if he is deified. Students say that it is merely appreciation for his founding the school. But anyone who knows anything about the Soka Gakkai would know that this is an extension of SGI's utmost devotion and "worship" of its President Emeritus Daisaku Ikeda.
Students may say they love it because it is diverse but it is diverse only in as far as there are token representatives of different races/countries. By far, MOST students are either Japanese or of Japanese ancestry (i.e., Japanese-American, Japanese-Canadian, etc.) and they count this as diversity. The biggest issue is that MOST students are "members" of Soka Gakkai, a dangerous and militant cult that hides behind its slogan of peace and Buddhism - although there is much debate on whether this cult is itself worthy of being associated with peace nor Buddhism. There is certainly no true cultural nor IDEOLOGICAL diversity (i.e., political and religious). In terms of political ideology, the SGI swings toward the democratic party and students (the majority of who are SGI - domestic and even foreign students) generally follow. There is nothing wrong with choosing a party you identify with per se --- but where there is no diversity in thought there would be no meaningful debate because everybody thinks the same way. And this is supposed to be a university!
All in all, if you are an SGI member then this would be a terrific university for you! No doubt about it. But If you are not an SGI member then you will surely regret it --- that's unless you are converted into the SGI and of course at that point you'll love it. And there is certainly pressure (from students not the administration) to convert non-SGI members. Oh, and you will inevitabley be well-versed (although reluctantly) with Japanese culture.
Note to all: Take the other reviews with a grain of salt, most if not all of them were probably written by SGI members who would naturally and understandably be very comfortable studying at SUA. I can sense that they are SGI members from the words they use and the way they say them. As I said before, it is a great place for SGI members but a terrible one for those who are not.
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Yes, the campus is beautiful. A choice piece of property acquired by the very rich and powerful cult known as SGI. Do not be taken in by the beauty of thiscampus. Internal politics amongst faculty and senior staff have made the curiculum weak and narrow in scope. If you are a member of SGI and Japanese, you'll be welcomed with open arms, but if you are not, I would suggest you look elsewhere.
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Agreed! I enrolled then dropped out after 1 semester. As the poster maintains, it is very political and closed... SGI is a cult... step away!
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Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/14/2009 01:31PM by The Anticult.
Re: Toda Institute, George Wolfe, SGI, false non-profit claims?
Posted by:
tsukimoto
()
Date: September 15, 2009 10:24AM
Quote
The Anticult
Its interesting the language used by George Wolfe.
QUOTE: "helps sponsor the Toda institute".
As mentioned, that is deliberately deceptive language.
SGI-Ikeda created, owns, finances, and runs The Toda Institute to spread the SGI political ideology, which stems from a religion.
He uses the word "helps sponsor" to make Toda sound independent, when it is not.
George Wolfe also mentions its in Hawaii, but doesn't mention its in Japan as well, which is obviously where Toda Institute is really run from.
That is actually one of the main criteria of a cultish sect and group. The use of deception, and tricky wording, and lack of full disclosure.
Yes, not to mention Wolfe's assertion that the Toda Institute was headed by Majid Tehranian. Not an outright lie; at the time Tehranian was indeed the director, but certainly it's deceptive. Wolfe implies that Tehranian can run the Institute as he chooses. We KNOW that that's not true; the real boss is Daisaku Ikeda. Tehranian must please Ikeda to keep his job.
I was looking through that list of the Toda council members. A few things jumped out at me:
--The University of Hawaii at Manoa has a huge number of its professors on that council -- 36. It's definitely their party. No other university has even close to that number of representatives on the council. Even their Astronomy professor is on the council. (He's studying out-of-this-world peace.)
--Harvard has the next-largest number of representatives (nine).
--The United States has the largest number of universities represented on the Toda council: 69...everything from the University of Alaska to Florida State University.
--Representatives come from universities in the following countries: The United States, Canada, Jamaica, England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Brazil, Peru, Russia, Lithuania, The Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Morocco, Malta, Cyprus, Tanzania, South Africa,Pakistan, Egypt, Iran, Israel, Fiji, Australia, New Zealand, India, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, China, Thailand, and Malaysia.
--Who would ever have imagined that SGI has connections with Iran, Israel, Egypt, China and Pakistan? Clearly these people can't be SGI, or Buddhist. Yet Ikeda thinks that they have something to offer the Toda Institute -- they wouldn't be on the council otherwise. Clearly, they also want to be on the council -- why?
Noam Chomsky, the famous linguist at MIT, is on the council. I never heard that he was an SGI member -- and SGI would boast about something like that. Must be on the council because SGI feels that having a renowned scholar like him gives them added prestige. Also Soka U does train people to become English as a Second Language teachers. Chomsky has done considerable research on language learning. Maybe he should help Soka University improve their programs.
--Interesting that Audrey Kitagawa, from the Sri Ramakrishna Spiritual Family, is also a member of the council. Rick Ross has an article on her. One cult leader supporting another? Why?
--Dr. Milton Wong, of HSBC's Asset Management Department, and Simon Fraser University of Canada, is also a member. Hmmm, international financial investment again.
--The International Association of Educators for World Peace sounds as if it should be an SGI organization. The rhetoric is exactly the same, but I couldn't find anything that would prove it.
Back in the 1990's, SGI-USA formed a "Culture Department" -- teachers, and people in the legal and medical professions began to have special meetings to discuss how they applied the teachings of Buddhism to their professional lives. Clearly the Culture Department has grown way beyond the Sunday afternoon coffee and discussion meetings.
So is there a large, underground network of educators who can use their positions to introduce Ikeda's ideas to their students -- and in some cases, indoctrinate them? Not really even Buddhism -- but all this mix of capitalism/socialism, nuclear disarmament, humanism, dialogue, and pluralism that he preaches. It sounds like it.
He and his inner circle were assembling this network of very capable and connected people along with considerable wealth...while we members were kept busy chanting, doing roller-skating human pyramids at conventions, hating the priests, and singing "Forever Sensei." We were happy little SGI children, kept busy and out of the 'grown-ups' way while they did the real work. It's as if there were two SGI's -- the one that we ordinary members participated in, and this under-the-surface one that we knew nothing about.
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