Feminist Theories and their Effect on ISKCON
BY: CAITANYA DAS (BVKS)
May 04, INDIA (SUN) — Hare Krishna Diary - www.sankirtandiary.blogspot.com.
The devotees who support the theory of gender equality, or what is commonly known as feminism, sometimes put forward the argument "Since we are all souls, we are all equal on the spiritual platform". Do they not see what a monumental expression of arrogance this argument is? Are they actually daring to claim to be fully liberated, fully situated on the spiritual platform? If we are on the spiritual platform, then why are we falling down? If we are on the spiritual platform, why do we get divorces (even though Krishna Himself says that to divorce your husband means to give up all hope of liberation in this life or the next), why do we have illicit sex, why are we still attached to western culture, why do we
neglect and disobey Srila Prabhupada's instructions? We see feministically-inclined devotees wanting to change, edit, or add their own footnotes to Srila Prabhupada's books, especially the parts that speak against the theory of gender equality, or feminism. Is this not a rejection of Srila Prabhupada's authority?
Another theory we sometimes hear feministically-inclined devotees propose is the idea that women have been suppressed and oppressed since mankind first began, and we can fix this problem by giving equal rights to women. Where did they get such an insane idea? One thing I am sure of, they did not get it from Srila Prabhupada's books. Therefore, where did these ideas come from? They came from the outside karmi secular liberal society. So how did these devotees get contaminated by the outside karmi society? One big cause may have been because many of them went to (or went back to) karmi universities, of which humanism is a large foundation of their teachings (modern feminism being an offshoot from the humanistic philosophies).
Another reason might be because many of ISKCON's members are westerners, and they are still carrying with them their past conditioning, western cultural conditioning, of which gender equality or feminism is a big part of. One other reason might have been because they have had too much association with non-devotees, which has eroded their faith in Srila Prabhupada's teachings, and thus they have begun to subscribe more to the secular liberal non-devotee society's ideas than that of Srila Prabhupada's teachings, which oppose the modern western society.
Actually, Srila Prabhupada's teachings say the exact opposite. In the past, women were protected, not abused, because they were acting in their natural roles as mothers. It's only recently, in the past 100 years or so, that abuse of women has risen dramatically in the form of the modern demoniac society that has thrown away all concepts of gender difference or gender segregation. Even 100 years ago, in most parts of the world, women would not mix freely with men. It is the modern western society that abuses women by giving them the freedom to mix equally with men, turning them into prostitutes. The modern western society destroys a woman's role to be a mother, and gives her the so-called freedom to kill her own children, abortion. 100 years ago, women didn't mix freely with men in public, and they didn't murder their own children. So this idea that in the past women were abused and oppressed is completely opposite, actually. Rather, only with the invention of the modern western society has tremendous abuse of women begun and it will only continue to increase, the more "liberal" we become. The secular liberal humanism philosophy, on which the modern western society is based, is completely backwards. Instead of increasing people's happiness by giving everyone equal rights and freedoms, as it claims to do, it has only succeeded in sending millions of people to hell. So this idea that in the past women were abused is completely wrong. To give women equal rights is the greatest form of abuse against women.
The main problem with gender equality or feminism is that it propounds that men and women are equal, and so men and women can mix together freely without restriction. This makes spiritual life impossible because if men and women mix, there is sure to be falldown. What about the hundreds of statements made by Srila Prabhupada warning against men and women mixing together? Srila Prabhupada's instructions about restricting or separating association between men and women seems to have become completely forgotten in the atmosphere of today's ISKCON. I have practical experience
of this. I was living at one temple in the USA, and the brahmacaris (celibate male monks) and brahmacarinis (unmarried female devotees) were mixing too much and too freely. I started insisting that the brahmacaris and brahmacarinis be kept more separate, that they shouldn't associate so much together, and everybody looked at me like I was crazy or some fanatic. And what was I doing? Simply trying to follow Srila Prabhupada's
teachings strictly.
How many gurus have fallen down because they did not follow Srila Prabhupada's orders to not mix with women? How many thousands of devotees's spiritual lives have been destroyed because they disobeyed Srila Prabhupada's orders to not mix freely with the opposite sex? And now, rather than trying to fix the problem by instituting strict separation between men and women (which is what Srila Prabhupada ordered for us to establish - Vedic culture), many leaders are doing the exact opposite - introducing ideas such as feminism that allow men and women to mix freely and unrestrictedly. So we can be certain that this is a recipe for increased falldown rates, and an ever-increasing compromise with the demoniac secular non-devotee modern society. This will make serious and strict spiritual life all but impossible in the "new and ever-changing"
ISKCON. This is the result of the feminist ideology in ISKCON.
