My Concern over the New Editorial Policy on the Jewish Issue
BY: JANET SULLIVAN
Jul 02, UK (SUN) — I have been awaiting your new editorial policy on the issue about the Jewish impact on our Vaisnava Society and I see it has finally arrived along with research ‘tools’.
The one glaring problem I see with the points you have raised is that devotees don’t have the means to conduct this research. As you are well aware, the ones with the means are the ones with the power. The ones with the power are not going to release information or documentation and they are certainly not going to condone or facilitate research conducted on themselves or the institution unless they themselves conduct the research under their criterion, terms and conditions.
There is certainly no question of the ‘freedom of information act’ or civil liberties (free speech) only ‘newspeak’ is allowed in ISKCON. ISKCON has been a Fascist organization since Srila Prabhupada went into Samadhi. Institutional ISKCON has never been accountable to any man woman child or cow, what to speak of Srila Prabhupada. Anyone who attempts to hold them accountable or objects to their leadership, terms and conditions, laws, policies and programs or philosophical orientation is censored and censured with extreme prejudice.
Most if not all of the party line websites are filled with articles written in newspeak and now we are seeing the trend of the non-party liners to become more conservative and aesthetically pleasing to pander to the sensitive liberalized ‘newage’ devotee and to bow to the impervious Institution. The http://prabhupadanugas.eu is now a gorgeous website filled with beautiful flowers and non-political articles, a mere shadow of its roots in the PADA pulp.
The general devotees lack bona fide leadership and focus and have limited resources. Their only means of obtaining and collating information is usually sourced via anecdotal or hearsay stories from devotees or whatever piecemeal information is obtainable via the internet which is put together with their personal computers. Rarely do they come up with documented evidence as Institutional ISKCON has been extremely careful to never reply in writing and has stringent information dissemination and security protocols.
Another point to consider is that the criterion for what makes an acceptable submission on the Jewish issue is not fair. Take the article on the altercation in Jagannath Puri by a staff correspondent, for instance. This article was posted on your website, even though it is not possible to establish the actual facts of the incident because most if not all of the information (evidence) is hearsay or anecdotal and not admissible under your criterion for the Jewish issue. There was no official police report provided or witness affidavit cited and the unverified police statement states that the evidence was circumstantial. Yet it was posted on your website and the only verification was that the correspondent was a staff member of the Sun.
The point that I am making is that most evidence that a devotee can get on individuals or the institution in regards to this issue will be either circumstantial, anecdotal or hearsay, therefore it is not fair to have one set of rules for news reports as above and another set of rules for this issue.
I believe that your editorial policy on this issue is unfair and impractical. The only way that the research you are suggesting will actualize in a credible form is if someone comes up with funds to establish a well funded investigative/forensic team to: professionally investigate, gather, collate and document the issue within ISKCON. Even if there were funds, resources and manpower available the GBC, the Gurus or the general devotee is not going to volunteer their private and personal information or documentation to a group of random rank and file devotees.
Sure to have a Google Docs Toolset to gather information is a start but it needs leadership and manpower that is coming from where? You are backing away from this issue and we have not heard from Mukunda Prabhu or Achyuta prabhu for some time now. I would imagine they are distancing themselves from this issue, I know I would be after reading your editorial policy.
To me and my friends it is clear that you have put this issue on the backburner. Where we saw hope and progress we now feel deflated. Fair enough for you and your staff, I am sure that you have more important things to do and the lobby to censor this must be incredible.
I believe that the devotees who have presented the case that JBD’s have an impact on our society have already proved their point. To push for more and more evidence is not the solution.
ISKCON is no different to other corrupt Governing bodies who know full well that you would have to have signed admissions of guilt (affidavits), court ordered audio video recordings of crimes or incriminating statements, credible witnesses, Forensic investigative reports or Genetic studies to prove their guilt or intent to do wrong. Even if they were confronted with irrefutable evidence they have proven themselves to not change or care. Our ex-Gurukula children and the Turley Lawsuit is a prime example of this.
A sincere and honest person or authority, if innocent of any wrongdoing or honest about their level of spiritual realization, need have no fear admitting their attachment to their cultural background. I myself have no problems with discussing at length and in detail my familial background and attachments.
It is beyond doubt that senior leadership JBD’s are on their familial bodily platform and so perceive and interpret Krishna Consciousness from that platform. It is already proven that by doing so they have shifted the focus and practical implementation of Krishna Consciousness away from the Sampradaya Acarya’s intended direction and instructions. The JBD leadership and their apologists will never openly admit or accept this even if, as I have said before, irrefutable evidence was brought before them. We on the other hand being the victims have known and accepted their complicity for many years and require no further proof.
“But when the guru departs sadhu and shastra can take on a new import, as those who succeed him become the new interpreters of past precedents, scriptural law and new set of circumstances.” (The Perils of Succession Heresies of Authority and Continuity in the Hare Krishna Movement - TKG) This quote explains our leadership’s mindset very clearly. How this mindset relates to the Jewish connection with Modernity, Academia, Secular Education, Professionalism, Secularism, Pluralism, Liberalism, Humanism, Impersonalism, Interfaith, Lobbyism, Capitalism, Commercialism, etc is public record. The above quote displays the mindset behind the senior leadership which have steered our movement into the above ‘isms’ and have left the interpretation that Srila Prabhupada had when he gave us Vaisnavism far, far behind.
One last point that needs to be addressed in attempting to understand the Jewish influence in ISKCON is that you mention in your editorial “to very well-written academic pieces on Judaism as a world religion, Jewish culture as a general phenomenon, and the Jewish influence, specifically in ISKCON.”
I confess that I know very little about the Jewish faith or culture, coming from an Irish Catholic background and with my study of Srila Prabhupada’s books, my children and my work it leaves me with very little time or energy to study anything else. It would be constructive and highly informative to have concise information on the Jewish culture and belief system and how their religion impacts upon the world. It would be advantageous and timely if you published one of the academic pieces that you refer to in your editorial. Preferably an article that covered all of the above points you have mentioned would be invaluable indeed in order to understand the mindset of the Jewish people and especially how they see themselves relate with ISKCON.
Sun Editor's Reply:
"Substantiating Claims on the Jewish Issue"
