Opinions become dangerous to a state (or an organization) ,only when persecution, makes it necessary, for the people to communicate their ideas, under the bond of secrecy. (British House of Commons, 1797)

In the chapter called Our Mission, the anti-intellectual atmosphere of ISKCON was discussed, and it was shown that Srila Prabhupada’s desire was to establish intellectual heads of society.

In other chapters, we discussed dogmatism, the authoritarian dynamic, and the absence of collegiality, and how that was in conflict with true Krishna consciousness. Censorship in the form of book banning, without adequate dialogue, is at once symptomatic of four negative signs,

1. Anti-intellectualism,
2. Authoritarianism,
3. Dogmatism,
4. And a lack of collegiality.

Historically, two types of books have suffered bans,

1. Promiscuous and unprincipled in sexual matters:or pornographic books.
2. Books that express intellectual ideas that are unpopular for the moment.

These intellectual books, fall into three main categories:

1. Scientific,
2. Solitical,
3. Religious.

The justification for religious censorship, was usually on the grounds that the idea being expressed is heretical. Sometimes heresy was broadly defined. In one vital instance, when the bishops of the Roman Church, wanted to strike down a political opponent, Origen, they excommunicated him.

With Origen, went the ideas he favored, and so transmigration of the soul was removed from Christian theology.

Sixteen hundred years later, Christianity’s inability to reconcile the doctrine of God’s mercy, with that of eternal damnation of the soul, has compromised the Christian faith, in the minds of most intellectuals.

The bishops probably had no idea how their expedient act, sixteen hundred years earlier, would affect their institution way into the distant future, in this case, with no end in sight.

The purport is that censorship, especially when enacted rashly, can be dangerous.

The topic is relevant, because a book was banned to the entire society by the GBC body, at the Mayapur meetings in 1995.

(Note to reader: Not only was “In Vaikuntha Not Even the Leaves Fall” was banned, all of the works by Kundali Dasa were banned; no worries, they are available on this website, for your consideration, and personal evaluation, to determine if they are Krishna-consciousness or not. You are now reading one  of books Kundali Dasa published in Vrindavana India in 1995, by the title “Our Mission”.  Not only were the books banned, Kundali was banned from preaching in ISKCON Temples as well.  Moreover, I the editor of these works for Saragrahi.Org, was also kick-out from my residence at the Krishna & Balarama Mandir, and fired from my appointment by the GBC, as The Vrindavana Master Plan Directory, which I had recently been selected, by a unanamous vote, of all head of all the various ISKCON projects in Vrindavana; the reason was because I was distributing all these banned books, personally or by mail)  

The reason for the ban, and the subject of the book notwithstanding, the very act of censorship raises a number of questions, that deserve careful consideration: Is ISKCON a closed or open society?

What does our leaders’ banning of a book implicitly, and explicitly communicate to us?

From the point of view of history, what sort of societies practice censorship?

Again, from the point of view of history, what has been the general fate of the banned books?

And finally, is there an alternative to censorship?

Let us take each question and discuss them in order.