Firstly I was responding to a post about why premies don't leave which made it sound as if fear was the compelling reason. I think that these days being a premie is not particularly difficult for most premies, they enjoy "practicing nollidge", it's just like any other religion. They don't leave because they've believed in Rawatism for decades and their lives are comfortable as is. I only know a very small minority of premies from one country and I'm not claiming that all premies fit this bill.

Second I was talking about premies who haven't left and whose lives appear "successful". Their up to 30 years' practice doesn't seem to have affected them badly as their lives are going on quite normally when compared to their social and cultural peers. Of course if they do lose their faith and exit they may suffer acute psychological problems once they realise they've been serving a scumbag rather than a "realised soul". The few ex-premies I know, including myself, have fitted into this category.

I haven't said nobody got hurt or isn't being hurt or will never be hurt. Read my posts. I'm talking about most of the people I know and I'm not saying eg that the LA EX post was wrong, false or incorrect in all its details. I said it was smart and deep but too dark. Sure many people got hurt when they realised they'd been conned, I was one of them. I left because Rawat's true personality became obvious to me and practising nollidge was "blissful" but not life transforming (I got to know some honchos and I looked a little more carefully into myself).

But overall compared to many other bad cults the effects of Rawatism don't seem that bad to me for one other compelling reason. Where are all the ex-premies? Anybody who spent much time in Rawatism knows that the great majority of once-upon-a-time premies leave. We are talking about hundreds of thousands of people in the West. As far as I know (and I am happy to be corrected) these people are neither involved in public anti-Rawat activities (ie this forum) nor have they come to the attention of social workers, counsellors or psychologists who have been swamped by ex-Rawaters needing intense therapy and help. Therefore I have to conclude that Rawatism is not a major danger to the majority of those people who become involved. I think I sit in the middle between the evil cult people and the harmless NRM people - it depends upon the individual.

I don't believe attempts to publicly oppose Rawat are helped by portraying the situation as worse than it is. Rawat will always be able to show some "beautiful people" premies as examples who prove that claims that Rawatism is always harmful are wrong.

This Forum should be able to tolerate multiple viewpoints. Remember, we're ex-cultists.