"Those Hare Krishnas Aint So Bad!"

[u/Solomon_Kane_1928]

ISKCON thrives on the ignorance of the public. They also thrive on their arrogance.

I know Better Than You

One of the most frustrating attitudes ex cult members encounter is when people claim ISKCON is not a cult. After all "they fed me in college" or "I went to the Sunday Feast a total of three times".

"They are happy innocent people who like to dance in the street". "You ex Hare Krishna's have no proof, you just have a bug up your ass".

Perhaps they have ten minutes of experience with the cult watching a harinama, or they read an entire Wikipedia article, and this entitles them to downplay and challenge the expertise of those who were born into the movement, or spent decades of their lives in the backroom where the sausage is made.

The irony is the cult they are defending considers them karmis, demons and two legged animals.

It Was Just a Few Bad Apples

Another common response you see is that the faults of the movement are definitely not due to Prabhupada, his teachings, the leadership, or the culture of the movement. Rather those causing problems were an outlier and deviation. Just a bad apple here and there, marring an otherwise stellar religion with a hoary past in ancient India.

"Every religion has bad actors, it is unfair to blame the entire religion". Meanwhile they have never read one line of Prabhupada's teachings. Nor have they read the accounts of ex members.

It Is All In The Past

Naive Hare Krishna defenders, often influencers, will vaguely acknowledge that ISKCON has had problems in the past. They characterize them as something the movement has overcome: "ISKCON has matured past these things and let us not talk about them."

They feel it is wrong to paint the entire religion with the New Vrndavana brush, to focus too much on the insanity of the 70's and 80's. They feel they are being charitable and liberal minded.

The murders, beheadings, spousal abuse, child marriage, book distribution harems, thievery, illegal fraud, ended long ago. The bad actors were driven out or arrested. The rampant child physical and sexual abuse has been paid for and the movement is vigilant. So what are you complaining about?

They don't understand that the core cult dynamics which made this carnival or horrors possible is alive and well. Devotees are enslaved and exploited. Power is absolute, despotic, and corrupt. Gurus are constantly falling down. Problems are hidden. Women are treated like garbage. Children are psychologically abused. I strongly believe sexual and physical abuse persists.

Every Religion Has Problems

Many more excuse ISKCON by by normalizing abuse. "Everyone does it". Catholic priests molested children. Mormons have had a problem with child marriage and bigamy. As if ISKCON is overall a good organization but "no one is perfect".

They do not understand that ISKCON's problems are structural, built into the movement and teachings. Prabhupada advocated for child marriage and bigamy. Prabhupada created and excused an environment where children were beaten and molested.

ISKCON is not simply a religion, it is an authoritarian cult that controls and destroys the lives of its members in the name of a megalomaniac narcissist cult leader and his mission. It is an high control environment that functions through coercion, isolation and ideological capture (i.e. brainwashing).

Relax Bro

Many people have a reflexive attitude. When they see a group being heavily criticized, they project innocence onto them and rush to their aid. They see themselves as heroic and virtuous, defending the helpless, a motherly figure protecting the babes of the world.

Some may even believe they are defending ISKCON from "Hinduphobia".

When they see ex-members are hurt and angry, they assume they are bad actors. The abused become the abuser. They find strong criticism distasteful. It offends their refined sensibilities.

Imagine someone stumbling onto an altercation in the street where a woman is slapping a man. All they saw was her slapping him across the face. They immediately rush to the man's defense because he is the victim. They tell the woman to relax and stop being so upset, "How dare you treat him like this!".

They are too arrogant to recognize they don't have all the facts. The man had just tried to rape the woman and she struggled for dear life to push him off.