Pariprashnena — Q&A Archive

Nobody excommunicates women in ISKCON, we only excommunicate male devotees, honestly that is the truth and I hope that does not make women inferior -- just the opposite, maybe with a tendency for inverse discrimination. It is hard to speak of consequences in general, I guess it is decided on case by case basis. Normally if you are raped you should go to police, council etc., depending on the country and regardless of being male or female. In ISKCON we had a way of protecting women by arranging a marriage rather soon, in 1970s. It was a belief that being under protection of a husband or a father a woman is better protected. But many things are depended on time place and circumstances, I have not seen and iskcon law to this effect, just iskconresolve, nor do I know of consequences of false allegations, exhaduration, statute of limitations, who bears the cost of council, legal costs etc., Since it normally illegal in every country I know there is no reason to involve anything more than the law of the land in my opinion, unless minors are involved, then the case goes to CPO.

Nothing about rape in GBC resolutions, aside a suggestion in 2008 to explain such mentions in endnotes or in appendices. BBT turned this down after a wide disagreement from devotees.

What were the disagreements about?

Devotees do not like to see any changes done in any form to Prabhupadas books, in overwhelming majority it seemed, and BBT did not go along the GBCs recommendation to annotate the books (original proposal came from Madana Mohan das).

Instead, this was done: http://bbt.info/information/toughones

(Seems the page isnt getting expanded.)

> (Seems the page isnt getting expanded.)

I wonder why;=)

Maybe lack of feedback/demand.

[quote][cite] VEDA:[/cite]Instead, this was done: http://bbt.info/information/toughones[/quote]

This is an interesting resource, thank you.[br]
[br]

In the Catholic church, for example, a woman who has had an abortion can expect to be excommunicated, regardless of the circumstances in which she conceived the child. - http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2009/03/07/catholic-abortion.html[br]

[br]Traditionally, unwed mothers were at least stigmatized in Christian churches.[br]

[br]I imagine that in ISKCON and GV, there are restrictions as to what privileges a raped woman or an unwed mother has, in comparison to other women?[br]
For example, I imagine that a raped woman or an unwed mother is not considered eligible for marriage anymore. Is this so?

abortion quotes: http://www.veda.harekrsna.cz/bhaktiyoga/issues.htm#1

Re your question, I dont have any quotes on my fingertips. But traditionally her chance to marry would be quite small.

SPs letter to Bhagavan das (yes) (1975)

Everyone wants more than one wife. That is human nature. This means their mind is not being diverted to Krishna. Because they are not madan mohan, they are madan dahan, they are in the Cupids fire. You want them to have more wives under GBC supervision. You will supply the maintenance? What is this nonsense? They must go outside the Society to do it. And, the sort of marriage where they are not satisfied cannot be allowed. Nor can women with child strictly she cannot marry again

Here is another letter:

You are a very sincere devotee, that I know, and there are many nice girls here like Silavati who you can associate with. We have just had our Rathayatra here down Fifth Avenue and it was a grand success. It is a very nice field for expanding Krishna Consciousness and you will be very happy here I know. It is not advisable to marry again as this may disturb your former husband who is now engaged in preaching activities.
.

[quote][cite] VEDA:[/cite]Re your question, I dont have any quotes on my fingertips. But traditionally her chance to marry would be quite small.[/quote]

What about a raped womans privileges regarding service to the devotees? Are they allowed to serve prasadam to the devotees or bring flowers for the deities at the temple, for example?

God save! Where in ISKCON does anyone discriminate against rape victims? If anyone does he must be a servant of Dusasana. We are not Catolics, we are Vaisnavas and there is no place for such discrimination. Krsna personally marries 16000 of pure souls that were kidnapped or raped. What will make any Vaisnava to discriminate against anyone who was met with misfortune be it rape, seduction or any other form of manipulation? If anything the person in such situation should have additional privileges, otherwise the rape will go unpunished.

I guess some of us must be living in Pluto.

[quote][cite] sg:[/cite]I guess some of us must be living in Pluto.[/quote]

What do you mean by that?

My reaction to ccds God save ! Where in Iskcon does anyone discriminate
against rape victims?..............

Baker, theres no rule about it. Generally speaking, being raped means the person needs extra mercy and help.