"Religious Freedom vs. Parental Care," from the New York Times "
A letter arrived today from Adi Kesava Swami recommending one of the RDTSKP boys for initiation. With it he enclosed a feature article, "Religious Freedom vs. Parental Care," from the New York Times "About New York" section, about the upcoming court cases. Printed on November 1st, it presents on one side the view of Queens Assistant District Attorney Michael Schwed, and on the other, that of Merylee Kreshower, Murtivanya dasi, the girl who was kidnaped from the New York temple and who is now free after being held by the court for two weeks (as, ironically, a "material witness"). Written by Francis X. Clines, the article is a succinct and well-crafted representation of the case, and on the whole, it comes out in favor of religious freedom.
"The people passing by the chanting group of Hare Krishna religious devotees had never seemed threatening to Merylee Kreshower, one of the chanters, as she danced and celebrated the name of God within the strangely joyous, saffron-robed sidewalk throng. But now the people, by way of their elected representative, the Queens District Attorney, have taken sides and charged that Merylee has been brainwashed by her religious leaders, a victim of 'mind control' at the age of 24 years. The charge is ludicrous to Miss Kreshower . . . "
Briefly describing Murtivanya's kidnapping, attempted deprogramming, and restraint by the courts, Clines states, "The case is an extraordinary one because here in middle-class Queens, it poses one of the country's founding issues, religious freedom, against one of its perpetual concerns, parental care. And in the process it seems to get at whatever disturbing suspicions ordinary passers-by might have at the sight of the distracting, monkish, bands of religious believers who stand like happy aliens in the middle of the city's great commercial tides of pedestrians."
Stating that the district attorney hopes to create a legal precedent for parents worried their children have "gone off to brainwashed lives," the article quotes Schwed as saying, " 'The thing that frightens me is that a group like this or any other group can use mind control to create an army of zombies or robots who could undermine the government or law enforcement.' "
"But," Clines goes on to observe, "one era's 'captive' can be a later era's saint, critics of the charge say, noting for example, that Francis of Assisi and Thomas Aquinas stirred strong resistence from disappointed parents and social clamor too when they launched their saintly vocations."
"Whatever the outcome of the charges and the reader's opinion of the issue," Clines states, "the case undeniably is rooted in the mind of Miss Kreshower and of the second alleged brainwashing victim, Edward Shapiro, who at 22 years of age, has been taken by his parents back to Massachusetts for treatment in a mental hospital where he is also fighting to return to the temple.
"Were they brainwashed?
" 'Certainly not, that's ludicrous,' Miss Kreshower said in an interview . . . 'My mother got the idea I was brainwashed. She can't accept the fact of my developing a love for God.'
"Miss Kreshower, who has lived apart from her parents since she was 20, said her mother had her kidnaped after setting up a doctor's appointment back in the Fresh Meadows neighborhood where her parents still reside. Mr. Schwed, the prosecutor, concedes she was taken from the street by people working in behalf of her mother, but he notes the grand jury did not view this as kidnapping. Miss Kreshower, who got loose five days after being taken, does."
Clines quotes Schwed as accepting that the charge of "unlawful imprisonment through mind control" is an unprecedented charge and then goes on to state, "Mr. Schwed says that religious freedom itself is not part of the mind-control allegations and that this will be demonstrated in court."
In reply to this, Clines quotes Ira Glasser, the head of the New York Civil Liberties Union. "Mr. Glasser says the prosecutor has made 'a laughing stock' of his office by taking sides with parents trying to regain control of the lives of sons and daughters in their 20's and 30's. He feels the indictment was made possible, in part, because there may be less public sympathy for Eastern religions than for more familiar Judeo-Christian religions, which have their own monasteries, chants and dictates about life from leaders."
Clines dedicates the last three paragraphs to quotes from Murtivanya, leaving for the reader a positive impression of our side of the dispute. " 'My mother says she was acting in the best interests of my health and happiness,' Miss Kreshower says. 'I've tried to explain I've never felt healthier and happier. The purpose of life is to inquire into absolute truth. That's what I'm doing.'
" 'Love is voluntary,' she said, adding that in her religion, 'it's called surrender to God. Nobody forces us. That's why there's love there.'
"Having been held against her will by two different strains of authority-parental and state-Miss Kreshower is not entirely free. She cannot return to live at the Hare Krishna temple until the case is settled, so her own religious freedom is abridged in the meantime. The closest she has come to brain control, she said, was when the 'deprogrammers' were shunting her from motel to motel for five days, asking her to recant. 'It's a simple issue,' she said. 'Nobody can make me change my mind.' "
Previous reports from our devotees have suggested that most news coverage in New York has been negative, but the New York Times is undoubtedly the most influential paper, and this editorial, although presented as a neutral observation, shows that there is sympathy for religious rights.
Prabhupada liked the article and asked Jagadisa to keep it in the standing file. He is continuing to rouse support here in Vrindavana, and his Godbrother Dr. Kapoor has been meeting regularly with him to discuss a time, date, and list of invitees for a general meeting of local dignitaries.
Reference: Transcendental Diary Volume 5 by Hari Sauri Dasa
Recently Added
Trending Today