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EDITORIAL January 8, 1999 VNN2808 See Related VNN Stories In Hope Of Setting The Record Straight (Part 1) BY JAYA TIRTHA CHARAN DASA EDITORIAL, Jan 8 (VNN) — I've sent this out to a number of conferences, none of which I'm on, but where I've heard I'm being criticised. I've also sent this out to a number of devotees whose names have been tied in with mine in this connection, or who I'd like to see my point of view on this topic; I've also sent this out to VNN; to Chakra; and to PADA. SATYAM EVA JAYATE: The Truth Will Prevail This presentation is directed to those devotees who are somewhat open-minded, rather than to those who (for reasons best known to themselves) prejudge every word they hear according to their own values and karmic experience (be it good or bad). First, I would indeed like to apologise to those soft-hearted and noble souls, the mothers and backbone of our movement. Being married for the past 20 years to the same good woman who has mothered and cared for our three children (and me), I have deep appreciation for such sincere, gallant, hard working, chaste and devoted souls. I know that there are many such women devotees throughout the world of ISKCON, and to them I offer my respectful obeisances: My dear mothers, it is NOT YOU whom I have addressed in private mails to GHQ and which someone publicised without my permission. NOR IS IT YOU who I address with strong terms in this posting. Also, to the male devotees (fathers, husbands, and elder sons) who defend, protect, and support such glorious women, I offer my respectful obeisances. On occasion I too have been a defender of such chaste, faithful, and devoted women--they are our mothers, wives, and daughters, and I vow to continue to honour them as such. I too spend my time in mutual protection of my good wife, as she protects me from the onslaught of outside influences. I've tried to cover as much as I could in this presentation, there are still so many faults and grey areas that may need further explanation for some. Sadly I have little inclination to do that, being busy, and mostly involved in other departments of Krishna consciousness. So I apologise for that too. The REAL issue at hand is the misrepresentation of the truth by a few devotees who stole my private mail from a private conference and then took upon themselves to use my private mails-which neither the receiver nor I had given permission for to be made public--in the most politically motivated and unsavoury manner, to cunningly gain public support against GHQ. In my judgment this is a serious breech of privacy and all etiquette (breaching netiquette too) and is very deceitful and unvaisnava and is subverting the proper course of decision making in ISKCON. I therefore feel violated and cheated and angry to be treated this way. Has any one reading this ever, as a devotee, expressed to another devotee in private that you didn't like another's attitude or behaviour? Actually, that's all that I meant to convey via those now "infamous" remarks. In some ways, the pirating of my private mail has re-confirmed and reinforced those same sentiments. Now, those persons masked by the pseudonym of "Ardhabuddhi Dasa" took liberty to extract portions from a private discussion group and then proceed like a cheap, gossip tabloid, by spreading my words and those of others-all taken heavily out of context. In so doing, they have grossly misrepresented the truth in order to make a defamation campaign, with the aim of strengthening their own case for introducing among other things, feminism, into mainstream ISKCON. Where I'm really surprised and upset is that even "big shots" in our movement are shooting without consideration. It's not even "shoot first and ask questions later" but just "shoot, shoot and shoot", then talk of "personalism, equal rights", etc. For you the innocent, who have been strategically and purposefully subjected to this misinformation to stir up your emotions, I humbly beg you at least to consider the context through which I made certain remarks, rather than snap-judge me in the kangaroo court of bigotry and hang me, branded as a misogynic demon. I also request the reader to consider those comments from a broader context of reality and not only from that of North America and the social issues you face there. I myself spent almost 20 years growing up in England prior to joining ISKCON, a time of much material and social change. Despite so much media propaganda meant to amalgamate the Europeans, still "our culture" remained in many ways distinct from the American. Parlance and emphasis was and is different there than in the US; much of the terminology we used and the backgrounds from which we came via England, Australia, and New Zealand are so much different than that of the US. If you will allow my using the observations of George Bernard Shaw, who said "The British and the Americans; two great peoples separated by a common language." Actually many of us "Anglos" have roots going back to India a century or more and so have a different expressionism than that of the slave trade days in the US, etc. But some "American souls" (no need to hang me for this term--it is a joke) have learned to mix and integrate with those of the olde British Commonwealth who have a similar sense of humour, etc. My own family, for instance, had four members in the British Raj, each spending from ten to fourteen years in India. So this is my conditioning. ( I don't expect everyone to understand what I'm saying here, or what I said on GHQ or why I said it. THE FACT OF THE MATTER IS THAT MY WRITINGS WERE NOT MEANT FOR YOUR EYES.) Would anyone dare to deny a woman who had been exploited or abused by a man (or men) to express her feelings of disdain, mistrust, dislike, etc., towards him or them? No, I don't think so! Or if a child had been abused and was later expressing that he/she doesn't like a certain element: pedophiles, etc.! Or for that matter, someone from an indigenous race who had been mistreated or branded with derogatory terms--as some are claiming I have done--would there not be outrage? (Is there not outrage toward me?) But when we (the members of an informal, private discussion group, of which one member simply adopted the acronym "GHQ" to reflect that we were in a fight for our rights) are openly and publically ridiculed by any one who feels like taking a shot--from bhaktas to GBCs--IS THAT FAIR? Can one devotee, or a group of devotees not have strong feelings of concern toward others, especially when we see that the later are trying to introduce something that our Founder Acarya spoke so strongly against (feminism, equal rights, functionality of men and women, same sex marriage, homosexuality, etc.). Or maybe it is only the Women's Ministry who can do that??? As "Equal Rights" has become such a major ISKCON issue, maybe we of GHQ should then ask, then "WHERE ARE OUR EQUAL RIGHTS?" The fact is that a group of devotees (mostly dysfunctional divorcees conditioned to bear grudges against men) have been directing their anger--stemming from previous failed relationships, abuse, misogyny, etc.--towards any male devotees who disagree with their program to incorporate outside ideologies into ISKCON. More disturbing to me is that so many devotees readily and even eagerly accepted the doctored presentations of "Ardhabuddhi Dasa" as absolute fact, without having the decency even to contact us in order to hear our side of the story. Some devotees, those more open-minded and with genuine integrity, did contact me to enquire and not accuse. And in most cases, they were satisfied to realize that I am actually very much similar in thought to their good selves. Some might have noticed that I purposefully have not entered into the volatile arguments and slanders that have been happening on COM, VNN, and CHAKRA. And despite the volumes of hate-mail that I have received from feminists and their supporters, I have not taken to blaspheming anyone--unlike what I have received. (And to those of the "vox populi-vada": I've received many supportive letters from nice devotees too). What is most disturbing to me is how the "shouting brigade" (a term used in the Indian press, describing when opposition parties want to stifle a debate in which they are hopelessly outnumbered, and so engage their loudest and most shameless members to "shout down" the officially recognised speaker, thus causing the proceedings to grind to a halt) has compelled even leading devotees of influential status also to speak and write publically, criticizing GHQ as if they knew all the facts. The above suggests political tactics of a smear campaign as well as social pressure from a group of highly motivated people with a definite agenda. The unfortunate side of the situation is that by now their campaign has had so much exposure that one is left to wonder who among them are honest enough and free enough from false ego to admit that they have "jumped the starting gun"? Fortunately, devotees are more philosophical than emotional and are naturally forgiving. This gives me hope that when both sides are heard properly, and in proper context, similarities will be found. And so, with objective minds, devotees can then further proceed to work together to find what problems exist and what feasibly can be done to solve them, without compromising either the Krsna conscious philosophy or noble intentions to protect and secure an ISKCON now showing signs of self-disintegration. Introduced as: "Selected GHQ texts are presented below, so that the readers can judge the mood of these men for themselves:"(Ardhabuddhi dasa. 18th November 1998. Conspiracy To Terminate The ISKCON Women's Ministry, VNN.) See Related VNN Stories | Comment on this Story This story URL: http://www.vnn.org/editorials/ET9901/ET08-2808.html
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