SRF's discrimination against gays/lesbians - www.ezboard.com

>

SRF Walrus

Mt. Washington, Ca

Open discussions about SRF

SRF Walrus > Treatment of Members/Monastics > SRF's discrimination against gays/lesbians
	Next Topic >>

Author	Comment
Paramadas Registered User (2/22/06 8:33 pm) Reply	SRF's discrimination against gays/lesbians Dear old SRF is getting itself in yet another scrape, this time for its blatant discrimination against gays and lesbians. While the rest of the civilized world is discovering tolerance and understanding, SRF's leadership is mired in the past, allowing prejudice to mar their image as paragons of enlighened thinking. The following is a letter that I received from a friend who is concerned about this issue and wants the SRF community to know that this discrimination exists: Dear Friend, I am writing to you about an issue that is controversial. I certainly do not mean to offend anyone but I only ask that you read this with an open heart and then how you respond is really up to you. Libby Slocum has been a member of our group (Kalamazoo Meditation Group of SRF) since the late 70's. She has been a very generous, loving and loyal member for years. Years ago she served as our coordinator for the Kalamazoo Meditation Group. She was a service reader, secretary and was elected year after year. About 10 years ago Libby confided in us all that she was a lesbian. She also wrote to SRF Center Department and to Sri Daya Mata. When the elections took place again she was told that she could not serve in elected positions. Our group has continued to nominate and elect her each spring and then we are told once again that she cannot serve. This year we thought that because she has been living alone and celibate that Mother Center would approve her. They did not and many members of our group were and are very offended by this act of discrimination against one of our most loyal and wonderful members solely because she has stated her sexual preference. Several of us met with Center department this summer at convocation and we were told that currently the SRF policy on homosexuals is "don't ask don't tell". I personally find this to be intolerable and just plain wrong. The monks in Center Department were wonderful and they said it is not disloyal to hold a differing opinion from Mother Center and certainly not wrong to respectfully communicate your beliefs to the SRF Managing Council. There are those who are gay serving at many of the centers and groups...and Libby could still be serving if she had not wanted to be totally honest. One person said to me...well I don't have a problem with homosexuals but I do not support the gay life style. To respond to that I like to tell a little true story. Last summer my mother and sisters visited Washington DC. We stayed with friends of my sister and her husband...my sister husband was a high ranking military officer. As we drove into their neighborhood my sisters friend said" look...look at that John ...he is helping our elderly neighbor clean up the tree that was damaged by the storm. That John is so wonderful. John and John...they have been together 27 years and my husband and I feel so fortunate to have them for neighbors." So is that the "gay life style" my friend was disapproving? I do not want SRF to lower their standards but I do want all to be evaluated by the same standards. One of my concerns is that Yoga Journal or another publication may find out that SRF has this policy and they may included a very negative article about SRF being anti gay. Master wrote nothing on this issue.....and could easily have done so.....but he did not. I can assure you that young people would be outraged if they knew SRF had this policy. We have been told that Mother Center will be coming out with a policy soon . Perhaps the SRF Board of Directors assumes that most members would be happy with a policy that excludes gays from serving. I would not. All I know is that a wonderful , giving , loyal devotee is being rejected from serving in elected positions because she was honest. What I am asking you to do is to respectfully make Mother Center aware of your feelings on this issue ---soon if possible. Thank you for your time and patience. This letter comes from my heart. If you would like to pass this letter on to others that would be wonderful. Write to: SRF Board of Directors, 3880 San Rafael Ave. LA. Ca 90065 In Divine friendship,
Paramadas Registered User (2/22/06 8:38 pm) Reply	Re: SRF's discrimination against gays/lesbians Regarding the above letter, there is one more useful piece of information---apparently, this discrimination starts at the top with Daya Mata. The following is an excerpt from an email commenting on the above letter: "Isn't it confusing that Daya Mata's letters to gay & lesbian devotees always emphasize that there should be no discrimination based on one's sexuality and that all are capable of the same spiritual realization, etc.? Yet, in writing one of our sister (lesbian) devotees, Daya Mata tells her that SRF can not approve an openly homosexual/homo- spiritual person serving in a capacity that "officially" represents SRF, i.e. Service Reader, Sunday School teacher, etc."
Paramadas Registered User (2/22/06 8:56 pm) Reply	Re: SRF's discrimination against gays/lesbians For the record, SRF's inexcusable discrimination policies have NOTHING to do with the Truth, and everything to do with IMAGE. Someone on the Walrus long ago made the statement that SRF only acts to preserve its image, and the people they care about are rich, and conservative. Alienate the rich, and SRF is screwed. Sad to say, but this is all about money, and that is ALL this is about. Clearly, there is no religious justification for prejudice against homosexuals of any stripe. SRF is not taking a conservative stance because it is the religiously correct thing to do, because it is clearly not the religiously correct thing to do. SRF is only interested in keeping the rich folk happy, because they donate multi-millions to SRF, and they do tend to be politically conservative. No doubt some wealthy donors to SRF expressed their disapproval of homosexuality, and Daya Ma, eager to preserve the gravy train of donations, acquiesced to their wishes and quietly began her campaign of discrimination. I imagine that this started decades earlier, and is only coming to light now, as attitudes in the US and Europe become more tolerant and enlightened. Needless to say, not everyone is so understanding, and the rich have a nasty habit of being conservatively behind the times. No doubt some of them put the squeeze on Daya Ma---how else can you account for her two-faced approach, writing in letters to homosexuals that God doesn't discriminate, and then publicly discriminating in her own church practice? What else would account for such hypocrisy? I know that in my recent postings I've been harping on this subject of SRF's coddling of their rich donors, but I think that exposing this sordid sucking up to the rich is the key to reforming SRF. Maybe what we need is a smaller, more honorable SRF, one that is supported mainly by its general membership, and not by the super-rich who can dictate policy to SRF. This unholy alliance must be broken up if Master's message through SRF is to survive.
metheuse Registered User (2/23/06 1:07 pm) Reply	Re: SRF's discrimination against gays/lesbians New SRF motto: MONEY TALKS
maggie mcclintock Registered User (2/24/06 12:54 pm) Reply	Re: SRF's discrimination against gays/lesbians Dear Ones, It saddens me to think that you believe that I am against gays, lesbians, and by the way, even straights who have lived together for years without marriage, but I assure you that that just is not true. It may seem to you that I am discriminating, but I really love gays, and to me it doesn't matter if they are living in sin and are going to hell. I still love them. Master loves them too. I mean, we don't stop people from doing service just because they are gay, not married, or lesbians. It is always for some other reason, such as beng too honest. We don't allow honesty in our organization. Master would not like that. He has always said that we can lie to protect the organization, and so we do. And there are so many others in the organization that are against these things that we have to take their feelings into consideration. Maybe when the kaliyuga is over with people will be more open to these matters. So anyone who admits their sexual preferrence is disloyal because in being honest one is not protecting the organization. You must also realize that Master is against sex of any kind, so to just come out and admit that you are having sex, is really not a thing that makes us very happy. You just don't realize the lies that we have to tell in order to protect our organization even though it saddens us all. And it isn't true that I only like people with money. The fact is, I like people with whom I can relate, and people with money just tend to be smarter, and in being so they keep me and my staff entertained. You will never know how entertaining Lynn was. In Master's blessings, Dynasty Mata Edited by: maggie mcclintock at: 2/24/06 1:08 pm
metheuse Registered User (2/24/06 5:26 pm) Reply	Re: SRF's discrimination against gays/lesbians Bears repeating: we don't stop people from doing service just because they are gay, not married, or lesbians. It is always for some other reason, such as beng too honest. Edited by: metheuse at: 2/24/06 5:31 pm
Paramadas Registered User (2/24/06 5:32 pm) Reply	Re: SRF's discrimination against gays/lesbians In my last post I used 344 words to say what I wanted to say. Another Walrus member wrote to me privately and summed it all up in two words: Prejudice Sucks.
moyma Registered User (2/26/06 4:32 pm) Reply	Re: SRF's discrimination against gays/lesbians I agree, People need to serve...I can even see SRF coming out and saying they do not condone the "Gay" life style...but you have to let people serve the work..... Gay, or whatever.... as long as SRF has a policy in place.and people realize what the point of coming to SRF is......To find God, {RIGHT}?? then everyone should be able to serve in ANY way that they can.....I don't think telling SRF that your Gay is a smart thing to do....to them it will sound like your pushing your life style....and it should be about dropping all labels that you attach your ego to....Right ? don't tell is not that bad of a Idea...
maggie mcclintock Registered User (3/1/06 1:16 pm) Reply	Re: SRF's discrimination against gays/lesbians Dear Ones, You must realize something: We run SRF like the U.S. runs the military, and in the military you have to realize that you will be asked to leave if you announce that you are gay. Period. If you want to serve, keep quiet. We all think that Master would approve of this because we channel him when we meditate, and he told us just that. I am certain it was Master coming through me, just really certain. In Master's wisdom, Dynasty Mata Now I would like to say, as Maggie, that Prejudice does suck!! When I first came to SRF I had thought that gays and lesbians were accepted there. After all I had read or heard somewhere that gays and lesbians go to the Eastern religions where they were accepted. Perhaps, it wasn't the Hindu religions that they were referring to. But I recall feeling pride in just knowing that SRF was not prejudiced in any way. Anyway, I remember being told that unmarried couples could not serve in certain positions, but without thinking any further about that, I just accepted it. Perhaps because I was new and loved Yogananda so much, that I just decided that they had to be wise in doing this. I never thought about the implications of this, which would be that it didn't matter how long you were married, or if you were faithful to your partner, and next, I didn't realize that that would mean that gays and lesbians couldn't serve because we all know that they can't marry. Not that those are the reasons why SRF is prejudiced. I recall reading somewhere that many Hindus do feel that being gay is negative. And now I even wonder how SRF treats persons of a different race?

Add Reply

Email This To a Friend

Email This To a Friend
Topic Control Image

Topic Control Image

Click to receive email notification of replies

Click to stop receiving email notification of replies

jump to:

- SRF Walrus - Treatment of Members/Monastics -

Powered By ezboard� Ver. 7.32
Copyright �1999-2005 ezboard, Inc.