The Religion Peddlers of IskCon

The Religion Peddlers was written on September the 14th 1985, by Sulocana Dasa.

THE RELIGION PEDDLERS OF ISKCON
False Advertising In The Name Of God

FALSE ADVERTISING IN THE NAME OF GOD. WHY THE U.S. GOVERNMENT MUST STEP IN TO RECTIFY THE HARE KRISHNA MOVEMENT BEFORE VIOLENCE BREAKS OUT.

There is a common law throughout the world which states that a product must perform as it is advertised. When people purchase something, they expect it to work on the heals of this law.

When someone is selling a religion, the same law or code of honour should hold true. If the religion doesn’t work, the party selling it should be caught and punished.

But there are some very unique differences between ordinary salesman and the sellers of religion. For one, religion salesman not only request money, but they request one’s life and soul as well. In return, they give a promise that the customer will go to heaven when he dies. In other words, “give your life now, and when you die I’ll pay you.” Many say, if you don’t give your life now, when you die you will go to hell.“ There are many thousands of persons selling  religions, or these promises, daily. Naturally some hold true more than others. If a religion is authentic, there is certainly justification for buying it, no «otter the cost. There is no price to high .or a ticket to the Kingdom of God.

But What of those selling a concocted religion that does nothing at all? Considering the high coat, isn’t that much worse than stealing a car. wallet, a tape deck, etc. One should think the government would have a department that censors religions but believe it or not, the US government has no such department. Instead, they encourage such stealing in the name of the first amendment. This Law actually protects the Jim Jones’s, the Charles Manson’s, the Kirtanananda’s, etc., the sellers of these manufactured religions, right up until it is too late to stop the catastrophe that always results when unscrupulous men hold power.

So until the Govt. wakes up to its duty in this regard, it’s up to us, the individual citizens, to understand what is religion and enforce it. After death, one cannot file suit against a bogus  religion salesman. Many unscrupulous men like the “religion business” for this reason. They know people won’t t me out they’ve been cheated until they’re deed. So to prove someone is selling a bogus religion, the accuser has to be very sharp in understanding what real religion is. Since most people, especially the politicians, are not inclined in this age to understand what religion is, almost everyone is  being exploited m the name of God. But common sense tells us that there must be a way to find out if a religion is good or bad without having to die first or wait for some other “sign” such as the mass murder in Jim Jones’s ”religion.”

THE RELIGION PEDDLERS OF ISKCON

All these five rogues and nondevotees were involved
in the killing of Sulocana Prabhu and Srila Prabhupada.

(From left to right)
Kirtanananda (Keith Ham) – Sulocana’s Murder
Radhanath (Richard Slavin) – Sulocana’s Murder
Tamal Krishna (Thomas G. Herzig) – Prabhupada’s Murder
Jayapataka (Gordon John Erdman) – Prabhupada’s Murder
Jayadvaita (Jay Israel) – Prabhupada’s Killer (Book Changer)

THE DEBATE

The system used for determining the authenticity of a religion, without having to wait for such extremes, is called debate. This is true for all religions. In an ordinary court of law, there are hundreds or law books. A good lawyer must know these books thoroughly. His job entails quoting from the» and nothing more. The process is exactly, the same m defending a religion.

Religious law books are the scriptures. For the Christiana, it’s the Bible. The Muslims the Koran. The Hindus the Vedas. These are the three main scriptures from which all others are offshoots. In the Western world the scat authoritative translations of the Sanskrit Vedic scriptures are those compiled by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the founder of the Hare Krishna Movement. Anyone who claims to be selling the Bhakti Yoga religion given in the Vedas must be abiding by the laws given in these books. If someone is deviating from those laws, than anyone has the right to challenge the deviator to a debate. If the deviator refuses to accept the challenge, then he looses. Nothing else need be said. In religious circles silence means defeat.

A scriptural deviator cannot sell spiritual lire any more than a auto mechanic can sell himself as a brain surgeon. Such a fool will be detected the very first day, provided there is someone around who known what a brain surgeon does. Similarly, there are many persons who sell concocted religions and get away with it, until someone comes along who knows the real thing^ Then the deviator must defend himself or get out.

What if someone is selling a bogus religion, gees challenged to debate, but ignores the challenge. Does that mean he can continue to cheat others just because the US Government won’t step in? No! The Government has a duty to protect, it’s citizens from being cheated – all cheating. Their duty is not United to crises visible to the gross eyeballs only. There is a practical and scientific method to determine the authenticity of a religion and it’s seller. One simply has to know the basic ingredients of religion. Religious believe is the most subtle science, and therefore the scat difficult to regulate, but to say it is impossible, and thereby enforce no religious laws, is criminal neglect of duty. Psychology is also a subtle science that few people can comprehend but through it one can explain many things beyond the comprehension of ordinary men. Similarly, true religious scholars can see and understand the subtle motivations behind a charlatan and expose them in such a way that justice is served.

For example; a 16 year old girl can get physically raped and the government recognizes her rights as having bean violated. But young girls can just as easily be talked into sex with unscrupulous men Than the government does nothing. They do not acknowledge the mental end verbal lies used to exploit the girl. That is criminal neglect. The psychological rapist is just as guilty as the physical rapist. The only difference is that the one is smarter than the other which means he should be punished even more severely. Therefore the Vedas, being complete law books, have very strict laws regulating who, when, and where, one can even talk to women. A religious government must enforce those laws if they are to prevent gross end subtle rape in society. Just as the government should have laws protecting innocent women from fast talking rapists, they should also have laws protecting the citizens from fast talking ”religionist.”

There ere two kinds o£ bogus religion salesman. One selling cheap imitations and one selling expensive imitations. Both are criminals but the one can be considered a misdemeanour. There are many people who want to buy something cheap in the name of God since the real thing is very expensive. Many churches, ashrams, etc., charge very little and give very little. “You get what you pay for” holds true even for religions. But if someone is claiming to be selling real religion (love of God), and is charging the real price (absolute surrender of one’s heart and soul), but is selling a fake, then such a person is described in Vedic scripture: “These rogues are the moat dangerous elements in human society” (Isopanisad 12). Love of Cod is certainly the «oat valuable possession and the price for that is very high. If someone is charging that price but is selling a fake, then he must be stopped and it is the government’s duty to see that he is.

DEALING WITH SUCH CRIMINALS

Once these criminals are exposed, there are only two ways to deal with them.

Method one: They are given a chance to defend themselves by debate. If they accept the challenge but loom«, then they must surrender to the person who defeated them. If they do that, then it means they were not maliciously selling a bogus religion. All ox the sincere followers of the defeated party will automatically join the winning party and thus they nova up to a higher understanding. In this way society advances in learning and culture. Everyone is happy, provided everyone is sincere.

Method two: These men refuse to debate or surrender to the challenger. They know they are selling a bogus product but, they live only for their own pleasure and don’t care how »any lives they hurt getting it. They cannot sell real religion because they never possessed it. These are the lowest creatures on earth and they must be stopped. They are many times worse than murderers, thieves, or rapists. They take people’s lives, their money, their very heart and soul, and in the end give then nothing but a stab in the back. And that is not even the worse crime they commit. Far worse than all that is the crime of cheating the innocent masses out of the real product, which may be available elsewhere.

The destination of such rogues is stated in the Vedas: “They go to the moat obnoxious place in the universe when they finish with their guru business.“ (Isopanishad. 12). There are many levels of hellish existence awaiting sinful men, but those men who cheat others in the Name of God, go to the most obnoxious place of them all.

BUT WHAT ABOUT THE FIRST AMENDMENT?

When the average citizens are out religion shopping, are they being psychologically kidnapped or are they exercising their first amendment rights? That depends on the authenticity of the religion being purchased. If it’s the real thing, then the purchaser is exercising his right to select the religious practice of his choice. If the product is a fake however, then he’s simply being ripped off in the name of God. The general public must never be left helpless and unprotected at the hands of such charlatans. A responsible government must have a board of religion censors to protect the citizens from such criminals. Each and every citizen cannot possibly be expected to discriminate the real thing from the fakes. Religious science is the most subtle and complex science of them all and therefore the countries most intelligent scholars should be given the facility to settle all religious discrepancies by formal debates.

PSYCHOLOGICAL KIDNAPPING

What term could better describe religious thievery than psychological kidnapping? People era being lured into giving their whole lives to men who have nothing to give them in return. This is actually subtle rape out since it’s being done it in the name of God, the government does nothing. Practically speaking, every salesman uses psychological tactics to get a person to part with his money. In that sense everyone is psychologically kidnapping other people all the time. Television is the greatest kidnapper of all. But such psychological kidnapping is not criminal as long as the product does what is says it will. For religions there is only one way to stake such a judgement and that is by scriptural debate. Every government must have a board of religious scholars who can legally enforce that the sellers of religion can back up their product by scripture.

If one party refuses to debate, then automatically the Government has grounds to close down that operation. Over the years, many anti-cultists have accused members of ISKCON o£ being “brainwashed” or “psychologically kidnapped.” In some of those cases there may have been merit to the accusations since many of ISKCON’s leaders are deviating from the scriptures. But because the vast majority of professional deprogrammers  don’t know scripture themselves, they cannot judge or accuse others o£ psychological kidnapping. For the most part, these deprogrammers are simply prejudice toward any religion that doesn’t exactly resemble their own. In many cases, they themselves are the ones who are “brainwashed.” So only a man who knows what real religion is, can accuse another o£ selling a fake.

ISCON’S “GURUS”

If an ISKCON “guru” thinks that he is selling the real product, than he simply has to present his arguments according to scripture. If he is right, then he will be able to prove it. This is the unique beauty of debate. The truth must come out. Whoever has truth on his side will be victorious. Only a man who knows he’s cheating will refuse a challenge to debate which brings us to the fact that these ISKCON “gurus” have bean challenged countless times to debate but they blatantly refuse to accept. In 1980 Jadurani dasi singlehandedly challenged Kirtanananda to debate but instead of accepting her challenge, ha had her beaten and sent to the hospital with a warning never to challenge the “guru“ again. Her case by no means is an isolated incident.

WE DEMAND JUSTICE

We represent the vast majority of Hare Krishna devotees who have had their lives severely upset by the currant corrupt ”1eadership” of the Hara Krishna Movement. We have challenged these men to debate on the basis of cur own scriptures but they refuse to accept the challenge. We have already proven that they are nothing but criminals but they respond by stonewalling and mud throwing (They would kill us if they could). Therefore, on the basis of the logic presented above (silence means defeat), we declare victory. Bui declaring and enforcing victory are two entirely different things. If the U.S. Government will not step in to establish the guilt of these men and punish them accordingly, then it will be necessary us, the victims, to take the law into our own hand This paper is only to give some advance warning, e that later, after the event, the courts cannot say didn’t try everything in cur power to get justice first.

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The Religion Peddler of IskCon