Not so fast, it’s not that simple. ISKCON gets cult status not merely because they’re runned primarily by whitefolks, BUT, they have a history of abuse, insularism, and downright arrogance towards those that do not adhere to their way. There are many other Hindu organizations that do not get labelled cults and they have their fare share of the pale-faces: Self Realization Fellowship, Sivananda Ashrams, Vedanta Society (in the US), Raja Rajeshwari Peetham, and many others.

I know it’s easy to lambast our predecessors as anti-white, closed minded kramers racists that want to continue burning babies – but let’s not do that.

http://www.kazakhkrishna.com./en-main/

So, my two cents:

TRUE: Human rights abuses: frequent; based on my observation, the bulk of the abuses seem to be centered around speech, politics, etc.

FALSE (or not so TRUE): Constant religious strife. Ummm, not where I was. I spent some time in Almaty and then flew up north to Petropavlsk (sp?) in Siberia. It was stunning to see Mosques next to Orthodox Churches and Synagogues. During our time there, I mildly (looking back, maybe a bit annoyingly) inquired with my translator and interpreter about any possible tensions between the faiths. They rolled their eyes and laughed. Both of them were Muslim and attended a wedding at the Church the weekend prior. He then said something around, “…what is it with all of your news stations, hysteria, etc…?”

TRUE: Based on GRAPENUT’s comment, the people of Kazakhstan are by no means a homogenous looking group – the ethnic diversity (based on traditional classifications of Asian, European, etc.) is astounding. Remember, it borders China, Russia and several ‘Stans.

Finally, FALSE: Backwords., etc. Borat’s great, and I’ve been a fan of Sasha for about 4 years now, but I’m pretty sure even he realizes that his caricatures of the Kazakhs are so over the top, he created a new mold. I have to admit, I laughed when I saw it but wasn’t pleased about the use of poor, Romanian villagers in the film. Because I don’t want to be disappointed, I’m going to chalk it up to a production company decision, not Cohen’s. That being said, the Kazakhs were some of the friendliest, most outgoing, inquisitive, engaged and caring people I have ever met. I’ll leave at that.

Here is a link…to clear things up (you might want watch it…uh…about a 100 times…since you seem to forget how shitty things are!) http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2063667852598904740&q=India&hl=en

BTW, my whole point is that we are human…in making mistakes. The idea is to accept the faults and fix them. Instead of say, telling people how great things were 2000 years ago…and day dreming….oh look I screwed up again…dreaming.

Love Chris

Potentially, yes. Why not?
The Borat movie wasn’t as funny as the show, where he succeeded in showcasing the stupidity and racism of a lot of people; in the movie, you sometimes feel sympathetic for people in it. However, the movie is still funny.

I hope I would be upset about anyone’s house being destroyed because of their religious beliefs, regardless of whether the were “real” Hindus, ISCKON Hindus, or Moonies.

You quoted “the remanants of ancient Indian civilization will slowly be swollowed by the global cult” in your response, which was taken from Post#10 I wasn’t aware that Prasad made any other posts. Based on post#10, I don’t find anything he said offensive, other than misspellings.

Bleh. I fail to see what’s so funny about Borat. Not because of the “offensive” nature of the material, but because Sasha does a particularly horrific job of capturing the Kazakhi accent and mannerisms. Its hard to laugh when the essence of the character is inaccurate.