JMO, Nammy is either very naive (not a good attribute for a lawyer) or an SGI troll. I vote for the latter.
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

QuoteSpartacusQuoteScoobyDoobyIt's that time of the year again - when we have to figure out how much of our family's hard earned money goes to the Ikeda relief fund. Ha, ha! "Ikeda Relief Fund" - that's a good one, Scooby. Ah yes, May - the dreaded month of bleeding for the cult. To anyone out there still being suckered into opening up your pocket books to "don
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

It's that time of the year again - when we have to figure out how much of our family's hard earned money goes to the Ikeda relief fund. Of course, the two of us are at opposing ends of giving - me, zip zero nada and she as much as she can. The May contributions has always been a source of conflict and disagreement in our household. In the past, I've conceded to giving reasonable
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

QuoteFreeheartandmindQuoteThatsmeinthecornerWhere do I go from here? I spent WAY too much time on the wrong path so I am more skeptical and to be honest more cynical than I used to be. I ask the question but I don’t really want to know the answer or maybe I no longer believe there is an answer. I've been reading Richard Dawkins and I'm not sure how knowing that I am a speck of cosmic du
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

QuoteWaywardBuddhistWomanAll of the recent posts are so right on. I have experienced every aspect of what's been described here, including the sexual harassment from MD leaders, leaders asking to borrow money, one even slapped my child (age 4), the excessive ridiculous demands at the whim of leaders who want to throw their weight around, the 6 am text messages, the 10 pm conference calls,
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

QuotesixtysevenI am new to this forum. I have spent my time with the SGI since 99. I stopped chanting in February after a miraculous moment with the Gohonzon. Believe it or not the scroll itself showed me this thread. A deep depression followed since I was reading every page of this mb and when I started distancing myself from the SGI and my so called SGI family. Maybe later I will tell you my s
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

"I also want to say to the children, "I'm so sorry that you have such ignorant and brainwashed adults making you do this. I hope you grow up to think for yourself and learn to recognize the chains that your parents have inadvertently handed to you and not become permanently shackled to the cult, as they have." Absolutely key for me - my kids "fortune babies" are s
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

QuoterattyboyScoobydooby and other forum members - We have had some forum members in the process of breaking free from SGI who would not be considered full-fledged "former members". Especially since full extrication from the SGI community can be a difficult process, I hope we stay open to a degree and not discourage those on the fence. I agree that kasumi sounds suspicious, and will l
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

QuotekasumiIs there anyone on this forum who has SGI/Nichiren Shoshu items that they would like to part with? If so, please pm me or post your info here. Also, the issues with SGI raised here seem to center on its organization and operation, including its leadership. Two questions: 1. Aside from SGI, did anyone have issues with the actual practice of Nichiren Daishonin's Budd
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

QuoteUpgrayedWell, good bye everyone. I enjoyed my time here. Frankly, internet forum communicating is not my cup of tea. Good luck with exposing the SGI cult. Time to move on. That's too bad, ungrayed. I thought you had a lot to contribute here. If you ever want to come back, I'm sure folks would welcome you.
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

QuoteFreeheartandmindRattyboy: "Anyway, I'm wondering if some of those individuals posting about the chanting working for them feel alienated by some of the criticisms even if they agree that these many questionable aspects of SGI should be brought to light." In my opinion, this MB is not an appropriate place for people to extol the purported benefits of chanting or for people w
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

QuoteFreeheartandmindDoes anybody know what happened to the "Taiten" group on Yahoo? It appears to be dead in the water. Maybe the SGI did it in? I'd just like to say I've really appreciated all of the recent discussion on the forum. Very enlightening to this affected family member.
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

QuoteSGByeWhen the kids were saying what they wanted to be when they grow up, I was really glad no one said “Shinichi Yamamoto.” That might’ve sent me over the edge. This really made me LOL. It would've put me over the edge, too. I actually know a member who named their kid Shinichi. I have to wonder how many Shinichis we have running around in SGI land.
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

QuotetsukimotoQuoteNichijewThen, if you complain that you couldn't make the rent or the mortgage , they admonish you for failing to say no. Nichijew This made me think of Von, a former YMD who posted on page 54 of this thread. He was a young man, struggling to make ends meet in Los Angeles, and his leaders urged him to spend his last dollar on going to a big NSA convention. They to
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

QuoteHitchI have a general question that I would like to throw out there to see if any you former members can relate: Did you ever notice how hardcore gakkai members (I've seen it in both Japan and The U.S.) would treat fellow member encounters entirely differently than they would your average non-member out the street, in the real world? They would put on these fake Disneyland-like smil
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Quotewakatta1Comparing SGI's issues to a football team's organizational problems, or a couple's marital difficulties diffuses the true accountability as to what happened in that group. Many of us here were caught in the net and these postings (340 pages mind you!) point at that organizational dysfunction that is uniquely SGI. Wakatta1[/quote Very well said as usual, Wakatta.
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Quote list is great! I like especially "Singing "Forever Sensei" for the umpty millionth time and wondering if any of those "smiling people" truly were." I liked that one, too. My teenaged son always comments on the photos of people in the WT with their forced smiles. My this place has been very quiet...
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Hi Mitchell - Your situation is very similar to mine, except my wife is American. It's great that your wife is at least willing to read this forum and any criticism of SGI, mine will not. I've been married for nearly 20 years and still have not drunk the kool aid. Hang in there.
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

QuoteSparkyI agree..."Fat Jap" is very offensive and uncalled for. It doesn't help with the conversation going forward. I think "Lying Body and Mind Rapist" is a better term. LMAO....
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

QuoteNammyFrom Scooby Dooby "Its tough for me though since the person I have to convince what a sham the organization is just won't listen to reason." Why do you have to convince anybody? People have a mind of their own, and if they are not willing to exercise that mind there is nothing you can do about it. The SGI is not a cult, people are free to leave if they choose. I did.
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

QuotewellI'llbeHi I'm new here. I recently received gohonzon in January this year.I chose to because chanting with members in my neighbourhood and occasionally attending meetings was helping me to feel part of my community. I've had misgivings about the Sensei worship thing all along. Last night I found this form and begin to understand how cults work. I recognise I've made a
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

"They tell you to go find guests, help them get Gohonzon, get them to get a subscription and invite their friends too. Are some of us still really blind to this type of age-old network marketing-type scheme? backnforth" Probably more than you realize. I know members who still apply the cold sale method - at parties, family gatherings, on the subway and in the streets. They carry thei
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

QuoterattyboyQuoteScoobyDoobyQuotetsukimoto And didn't SGI-USA (back when it was NSA) do the same thing with the Liberty Bell? Back in the 70's, youth division members, dressed in clothing of the 1700's, offered to bring a replica of the Liberty Bell into schools? Again, they didn't really say clearly that they were part of SGI -- and most schools didn't ask.
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Quotetsukimoto And didn't SGI-USA (back when it was NSA) do the same thing with the Liberty Bell? Back in the 70's, youth division members, dressed in clothing of the 1700's, offered to bring a replica of the Liberty Bell into schools? Again, they didn't really say clearly that they were part of SGI -- and most schools didn't ask. God knows how many front
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Never had a sustained practice. My wife, however, is still a member. She's had the same Gohonzon since before we were married. We have a much spiffier Budzidon though! QuoteNichijewQuoteFindingmywaytodayQuoteScoobyDoobyYou know, I used to enjoy reading and ocassionally participating in this forum. I have a very difficult situation at home for which the SGI is at the forefront. Many of the
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

I saw the warning signs when I first exposed to NSA back in the mid 80s. I was young and impressionable but still recognized that it was a lot of hooey. When I married a member a few years later (SGI sanctioned ceremony and all!) I thought I could convince her that the organization was a cult. Was I wrong! After our annual disagreement over the May contributions it's still very difficult fo
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

You know, I used to enjoy reading and ocassionally participating in this forum. I have a very difficult situation at home for which the SGI is at the forefront. Many of the people who have posted here since I joined have given me a great deal of insight into the organization and its destructive ways. They don't appear to be around much anymore. Recently, it seems most of the discussion conce
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Quotewakatta1@BeingAdagio Nicely said, nicely said. Sadly, being politically correct is really just ignoring an obvious truth in order to avoid "unpleasantness". Wrap it in a euphemism and presto, you've sidestepped the issue. In particular, the codeword "negativity" is just a call for people to "shut the heck up" because the topic is unpopular. The
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

I've never heard about this organization (doesn't appear to be affiliated with any of the Nicherin organizations that I know of) but an interesting discussion regarding the M/D relationship.
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

I know the numbers game well because I am one of them. I rarely chant and hardly ever attend meetings (unless they are in my home), never received the Gohonzon but I have been a card carrying member of the SGI for last 15 years simple by being married to a WD member.
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families