The International Society of Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) is opening the gates of its Golden Temple near Hillsborough, North Carolina later this month for a night of celebration reports The Herald Sun.
A spokesperson for ISKCON says this will be “a wonderful opportunity for the public to experience cultural diversity.”
But critics of Hare Krishna often call the movement a “cult” not a culture.
ISKCON has a troubled history, which includes a top leader’s arrest and imprisonment for mail fraud and three counts of racketeering, including conspiring to kill a former member. And that leader once controlled one of Krishna’s most important Temples in West Virginia.
ISKCON has also admitted the horrific abuse endured by many of its children held within its private schools.
Some of these childhood victims joined in a class action lawsuit claiming they had never received meaningful consideration or compensation for what was done.
Rather than take the case to trial ISKCON declared bankruptcy to protect its assets.
However, that lawsuit was dismissed recently by a federal judge in Texas reports clickwalla.com.
Many say Hare Krishna leaders ignored abuse allegations for years. And some of those same leaders still rule over the organization today.
ISKCON continues in an apparent public relations effort to convince people they have changed. So it’s open house in North Carolina with pretty flowers and a picnic area.
But despite the decoration and public party has anything really changed within the Hare Krishna movement?
It should be noted that many Hindus reject the Krishna’s claim that it represents a legitimate branch of Hinduism rooted in that religion’s long history.
According to the mainstream magazine Hinduism Today, “There are reports of Hindus who joined ISKCON only to be taught to reject their family’s religion…so many have assumed they are Hindus. To find out they are not will certainly surprise many–Hindus and non-Hindus alike. It may even surprise a few Hare Krishnas themselves.”
ISKCON has certainly learned the hard way that they are vulnerable to the courts and public opinion and they seem intent upon changing their sordid image.
A Krishna monk is now traveling across Canada in what he calls a “spiritual healing walk” for that country in yet another apparent image-improvement effort reports The Sault Star.
But what has really changed other than appearances?
One visible sign of meaningful change might be no more chanting Krishna devotees peddling books at airports.
But ISKCON lawyers continue to litigate against any restriction that might stop that business endlessly.
Some things never change.
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