Afshin Khorramshagol Responds to Gèrald Morèno’s Response

(Coming Soon:  Gèrald Morèno's 'Research' Attempts to Rake Muck)

 

 

Gèrald Morèno has written about me on his website at http://www.saisathyasai.com/baba/Ex-Baba.com/Witnesses/exbaba-witnesses.html

He did not contact me to hear my side of the story but chose to smear me, which has been typical of other devotees who want to defend Sai Baba.

 

His website uses the phrase ‘fair-is-fair’, but he has concentrated solely on negativity, never attempting to gain a fair picture of who I really am.


”Sanjay Dadlani, made personal attacks and erroneous allegations against me without even making a single inquiry or doing the most basic of research.”
http://www.saisathyasai.com/baba/emails-sanjay-dadlani.html

 

Is it not cowardly and inconsistent that Mr. Morèno wishes for a courtesy that he also does not extend to Glen Meloy, Sanjay Dadlani, Barry Pittard, and other former devotees? For all his protestations of fairness, he goes on the offensive - as his daily shower of releases on his website shows. Instead of saying, simply, “I should have asked you, sorry.”

 

(Morèno gives a link) …Glen Meloy's famous lie that SSB's "inappropriate sexual behavior confirmed by US officialdom", when in fact, the US Dept. of State said that the reports were "unconfirmed".

 

Perhaps doing the work of several researches, Mr. Morèno is getting too brain-fatigued to read with basic concentration. The gist of the information about the State Department (quite widely disseminated on the Internet) is that, in May 2004, the BBC contacted its officials and confirmed that it now names Sathya Sai Baba as the subject of its concern, whereas its earlier Advisory did not name him. The information gives the name and two numbers (one for the media, one for the public, by which this information can be confirmed. 

 

Like Bon Giovanni, Mr. Morèno claims that he is not a Sai Baba devotee yet puts vast daily effort in writing against those who question this guru. Gèrald Morèno is hard to trust, yet he thinks that the Sai Baba sexual molestation survivors should send their affidavits to him. 

 

Failure to expose Sai Baba as a child molester, among other terrible failings, is a dereliction of good community morals and ethics.   If he will consult his conscience, Mr. Morèno must know this. But he has not raised his voice in protest. Rather, via other website activity, he exalts Sai Baba, and goes to great effort to provide fine photos of him and his surroundings. 

 

Approaching many governments, national police forces, institutions, leaders in various religions and other belief systems, many former devotees have made tremendous sacrifices of time and energy, driven by conscience, to bring about independent investigations of Sai Baba and his leadership, but are dishonestly dismissed by pro Sai Baba activists as being disgruntled, liars, motivated by hatred, etc.

 

Despite what Mr. Morèno and other antagonists have said, there are many former devotees from many countries, and their integrity was not in question when they were devotees, and they stand high in their own communities, workplaces, and so on. Mr. Morèno and other pro Sai activists slander many wonderful people, one after the other.


My opinion regarding Said Khorramshahgol’s mental state is my own personal opinion. I never claimed it was a diagnosis. Is Said Khorramshahgol a psychiatrist or a psychologist who can diagnose sexual disorders? He gives his own opinions regarding SSB’s sexual disorders.

 

In common with so many others down the years, I was sexually molested by Sai Baba. He made sexual noises while playing with my penis and yet Mr. Morèno says that I am giving my own “opinions” of Sai Baba’s “sexual disorders.” Professional abuse professionals have told us that no therapy succeeds that does not regard the sexually abused client as experts, in our own way.

 

I am not diagnosing Sai Baba’s sexual disorder. I assert that he is not who he says he is.  Mr. Morèno says that he wishes to acquaint the “general public with both sides of the story”.  But virtually every day, the welter of words almost daily flooding onto his site suggests one overwhelming agenda:  to deflect attention away from the worldwide accusations against Sai Baba.  Strangely, Mr. Morèno believes that Sai Baba “has engaged in sexual acts with young men”. So when will Mr. Morèno direct his efforts to demand accountability from Sai Baba and his officials?

A link to my Internet account of how I felt guilty about not being able to live up to Sai Baba’s teachings proves nothing, but to Mr. Morèno it means that I am crazy for feeling guilty and letting guilt push me towards depression and paranoia.  Considering the immensity and age-old, continuing, widespread nature of the allegations, he grasps at straws.

 

He provides a link to an MSN group called SaiBabaMaestroeAvatar where I supposedly spammed over 1,200 times, but when you go to that group, you will not find any posts from me, let alone 1,200 of them.  He provides a link to a Yahoo group where I have been active off and on, saying that I have posted a lot of messages there. But what are such groups for?  Again, this link proves nothing. Mr. Morèno’s last link was to some posts that were supposed to be from me.  But the person posting under my name was not me, as Mr. Morèno is now forced to agree. Likewise, this last link proves nothing.  

 

These things show that Said had "many problems" prior to coming to SSB.  This is just a statement of fact, backed up by Afshin Khorramshahgol’s own words.


As I said in my account of sexual abuse at the hands of Sai Baba, I felt very guilty for failing to follow ALL of the teachings of Sai Baba and as a result the guilt made me depressed over time. Mr. Morèno and other devotees make the point that this is an "evidence" that "proves" that I have mental problems. What does my state of mind before, during, and after seeing Sai Baba prove?  That I was not sexually abused?

 

What is Mr. Morèno’s agenda? Does not he recall the troubles of puberty and adolescence? In any case, does being “very confused” say everything about a person’s state of being? About his sense of purpose to existence? Does being “unhappy” or in “mental torment” or even “desperate” (my words) constitute mental illness?

 

Even if Gèrald Morèno thinks that others run a negative smear campaign, is it right for him to conduct his own?

 

I said that, in my opinion, Said Khorramshagol had "acute mental issues" due to his online activity and behavior.  I did not attribute his "acute mental issues" to his many problems

 

Mr. Morèno is not qualified to make any such conclusions and the fact that he insists on pushing his unproven opinions on his web site shows that he has an agenda to smear me. Is Morèno’s ‘fair’ really fair?

 

I quote from my first response to him, one that he remains very silent about. In my recent reply to him, I placed his attempts to discredit me in a tradition seen not least in two of the most renowned Sai Baba leaders:

 

“In case it is thought that such shameful psychologizing is confined to rank and file Sai devotees, let it be recalled that it has been used by top Sai leaders such as Dr. Hislop when he refers to the testimony of a boy devotee from Northern California as ‘teen anxiety and projection.’ (Memo, January 18, 1981, in possession of a former Sai leader Dr. Timothy Conway, of Santa Barbara, USA.) Similarly, the Rahm family relates how Dr. Michael Goldstein said that their son might be ‘delusional.’ Again, rather than provide, for example, an independent, third party professional assessment, there is the attempt to attribute mental symptoms.”

 

In any case, let all those Sai devotees who attempt to pin the madness slur know that even the mad are not exempt from being sexually abused!

 

If this ever went to a court of law, it is certain that Said Afshin Khorramshahgol’s online behavior would play a huge role in discrediting his integrity. Anyone who reads Khorramshahgol's posts will see the only person involved in a "smear campaign" is him. This much is absolutely certain.

 

Whatever tactics lawyers may use, the fact remains:  I was sexually abused by Sai Baba. What matters is my own truth to myself. Glance at the literature of sexual abuse. In some cases, the sexually abused are afraid to go to court, simply because they do not wish to be twice victimized, this time by antagonistic lawyers. No chance that ‘fair-is-fair’ – unless, of course, we survivors go out of our way to ensure that we are exceptionally well represented by legal counsel.


…my comments are limited to ExBaba.com. I have heard many accusations against the Sai Organization, yet these accusations seem to be nothing more than vitriolic attacks.

 

Mr. Morèno forgets fast that he admitted that Sai Baba has had sex with young “men”.  So, not all of our accusations are baseless, are they?

 

And since Mr. Morèno openly supports and defends, as an Indian guru, a convicted murderer and a rapist who is serving two life sentences in India, is hard for the rest of us to pay any attention to him when he says "these accusations seem to be nothing more than vitriolic attacks". My reading some time ago is that expert forensic testimony was received by the Indian court from a renowned British pathologist and it was very damning of Premananda.

Why have Mr. Morèno and so many Sai devotees refused to hold Sai Baba and his organization to the civil, moral and ethical accountability that are expected of the rest of us? Have they never stopped to consider the terrible battle sexual abuse survivors have to get their accounts listened to?

 

Why hasn’t Said Khorramshahgol refused to hold ExBaba.com, Robert Priddy, Randi Godager and the SaiPetition.net webmasters to the, "civil, moral and ethical accountability that are expected of the rest of us"?

 

This “you too” retort is most dishonest, and evades one of the foremost questions to be asked of Mr. Morèno: why does he show little or no concern for holding Sai Baba and his officials to the civil, moral and ethical accountability that are expected of the rest of us?

 

In any case, I am not out there writing articles about web sites. Nor do I represent Exbaba. It is a general website which accepts the expressions of a range of former devotees, not all of whom agree about ways and means by which to expose. Again, let Mr. Morèno stick to the point.

 

This is perhaps the reason why the Sai Organization has refused to talk to any of the anti-SSB activists. I believe my web pages about the online petition proves this beyond any doubt.

 

As many media, institutions and even more thoughtful Sai devotees well know, the Sai Organization is a monolith. Famously, like many an authoritarian cult, it does not respond to queries or criticisms. Many former devotees have tried to broach their concerns with the Sathya Sai Organization all the way to the top. E.g., Mrs. Gypsie Chapotin, Mrs. Ella Evers, Mrs. Shirley Pike, Mrs Elena Hartgering, the Rahm family, Rick Raines, Glen Meloy, Dr. Timothy Conway, Serguei Badaev, Stephen Carthew, Hans de Kraker, Barry Pittard, Robert Priddy,  ….. In some cases, the approach was made while still members of the Sai Organization, which they had wished would show compassion, duty of care and courageous truthfulness.

 

Mr. Morèno fails to be fair and honest, even in the act of accusing others of being unfair and dishonest… He flees the question. He avoids the moral and ethical duty that former devotees have accepted:  that is, to expect accountability from Sai Baba and his Organization.

 

I simply provided links, with comments, for others to research so they can form at their own independent conclusions.

 

The links are proof for the points I made about Said's spamming and comments, unless, of course, Said is denying he made the comments and "la_quake" isn't his online name either.

 

Mr. Morèno did not mention anywhere in his article that what he wrote is his opinion, which is dishonest.

 

He also did not provide any links in his last response to prove or disprove anything.  A link to my account of how I felt guilty proves nothing.

 

He provides a link to an MSN group called SaiBabaMaestroeAvatar where I supposedly spammed over 1,200 times, but when you go to that group, you will not find any posts from me, let alone 1,200 of them.  No ‘proof’ there! 

 

He provides a link to a Yahoo group saying that I have posted a lot of messages there. Again, this link proves nothing.

 

His last link was to some posts that were supposed to be from me.  Except that the person posting under my name was not me.  In his response, Mr. Morèno now agrees that the person is not me.  So again, this last link is not proof either.  

These things show that Said had "many problems" prior to coming to SSB.  This is just a statement of fact, backed up by Afshin Khorramshahgol’s own words. 

 

When I read my account that he refers to (which he conveniently posts), nowhere did I find the words “many problems” that he says I uttered. 

 

Mr. Morèno forgets that truth shall always prevail.  He had the same feelings as I did before I met Sai Baba.  And yet acts as if he has no idea what I was feeling.  Dear reader, would you imagine it? - a little research discloses that Mr. Morèno’s experience below is very similar to my own, before and after I became a devotee of Sai Baba. 

 

“During my teen years, I was searching very intensely for God. Everything seemed "empty" to me and I felt that the only way I would every experience being whole or complete, was if I could find God or Truth.”

 

“I cried all night. I felt like I made a huge mistake in coming to India. Everyone was right, I wasted all of my money and time coming to India and it was just a total failure. I could not take it anymore. I decided that the next day, I would get my return flight back to my country. I was terribly distraught and disappointed. I cried and cried and finally got a couple hours of sleep around 4a.m.”

 

“Baba said, "Go." I was completely overwhelmed. I could not stop crying. For the first time in my life, I felt like my prayers had been heard. I am sure everyone thought I was dying because I could not stop crying!”

 

http://www.geocities.com/www0db0www/ExperiencesSai.html

 

…my comments are limited to ExBaba.com. I have heard many accusations against the Sai Organization, yet these accusations seem to be nothing more than vitriolic attacks.

 

There are many serious articles on sites like:

 

http://http://www.exbaba.com/

http://home.no.net/anir/Sai/enigma

http://bdsteel.tripod.com/More/index.html

 

 

These raise many compelling questions about serious anomalies, historical distortions, contradictions, time-falsified prophecies by a supposedly all-knowing Sai Baba, and evidence that suggests massive cover-ups by some of his closest leaders, and by the Indian authorities. They ask questions that Mr. Morèno and other Sai Baba-struck propagandists and apologists simply will not answer, or at least answer truthfully.

 

No one is helping me.

 

What?  No one contributes to the massive amount of research that Mr. Morèno is able to martial in a matter of hours, day-by-day? This is not to mention all the technical work that he puts into the construction of his critical website.

 

I just found it very strange that he reacted with such profound mental anguish, to the point of feeling "crazy" and having "paranoia".

 

I think Mr. Morèno does find the feelings of others strange. Hence my remark about ‘heart-absent labyrinths’.  I can assure him that the manner of his critical onslaught has not won the trust of a number of Sai Baba sexual molestees and their families whose response I know of. Therefore, we certainly will not share with him details of our deep sense of hurt and betrayal, nor the steps that are slowly, rather painfully being taken to properly witness to the abuses, and to obtain some sort of closure for ourselves. I am not sorry that I have attempted to make public my sense of betrayal by Sai Baba, but I do pray that as I grow older and wiser I will find better ways to channel my hurts and anger, and yet still work hard to expose this great spiritual fraudulence that has stricken the world.