ISKCON and Gays Part 5 - GBC and Gay Unions

Putting on my political pundit hat for a moment:

I think that the GBC is likely to adopt a "middle path" approach, if any, in response to Hrdayananda das Goswami's recent public blessing of a gay union, and Krishna Kirti das' polarizing response.

The GBC are aware that, as with the wider Western public, ISKCON contains people with strong opinions either way on the issue of gay unions / gay rights. As the recent experience .of the Episcopal church demonstrated, when a church hierarchy takes a hard stance on the issue, it can lead to a schism.

ISKCON is hardly of the size where it can afford such a schism.

Also, it is a social and political issue, rather than a spiritual one. History shows that the tendency is towards social "liberalization" - black people have been given freedom, women have the vote - both social realities that ISKCON has been able to accommodate spiritually. It seems clear that history will side with gay social rights. Gay unions belong to the social background that ISKCON's mission takes place against. Some will argue that the core Gaudiya doctrines of sambandha, abhideya, and prayojana and ISKCON's particular instantiation of them are threatened by this, but I don't think that the GBC will agree, especially given that many members will recognize the historical inevitability of this social force in the outside world.

As a result of these factors the GBC is likely to adopt a "no official stance" stance - one that leaves this issue as an individual conscience, local matter.

The actions of HH Hrdayananda das Goswami may be disavowed as representing official ISKCON policy or institutional approval, but it is unlikely that the GBC will come out with an official position on the wider issue.

Krishna Kirti's letter to the GBC treats the body as a homogeneous whole. However, it is is composed of a number of individuals, each with their own particular perspective, shared by a demographic portion of the wider organisation. The GBC members realize that in order to remain together, in areas where there is significant disagreement they must tacitly agree to disagree.

It is unlikely that they will allow the issue to turn into the lightening rod that will polarize ISKCON and cause it to splinter apart, mirroring the microcosm of the situation that Krishna Kirti has created by taking a public stance and rejecting Hrdayananda das Goswami as his initiating guru.

By doing this Krishna Kirti has placed himself in a position where either he is outside the tradition or Hrdayananda das Goswami is outside the tradition, and he is asking the GBC to make the pronouncement.

The GBC is likely to deal with this by treating it as a local, individual matter, rather than allowing it to escalate to an institutional one.