To Name or Not to Name

“Srila Prabhupada instructed both to avoid naming philosophical adverseries and charlatans, and also to openly name and attack certain cheaters. Which of these approaches to follow poses a dilemma. On the one hand, not naming them helps to keep the discussion more philosophically focused, which is actually the point, since devotees have no personal contention with anyone but wish to expose everything that is misleading. By keeping a philosophical focus, devotees’ rebuffs become templates that can be applied in the future, regardless of who the forthcoming propounders of similar errors may be. On the other hand, by naming persons whose position we wish to assail, the immediate issue comes unmistakably into focus (persons and issues being inextricably connected) and tends to generate significantly greater interest than the more discreet approach. However, naming of persons is usually taken as a personal attack, which in contemporary culture is considered reprehensible and hence, the actual issue commonly declines into emotional altercations on the platform of “friends and enemies,” rather than consisting of constructive philosophical exchanges.

Still, followers of Srila Prabhupada should be known to oppose all kinds of bogus persons and ideas-which inevitably means that we sometimes directly engage or name them. Many uninformed people consider devotees of Krsna to be similar to “other Indian groups” but it is deplorable that Vaishnavas be lumped in with impersonalists and other sundry charlatans. So devotees should make the difference known by loudly broadcasting it. However, it is best not to publicly name persons who are widely respected if doing so is likely to create popular outrage against devotees to the extent that almost everyone becomes unwilling to hear our message. It also is generally inadvisable to overtly name powerful persons who could create serious difficulties for devotees.

On the whole, devotees should be cautious about openly criticizing prominent persons, but if they do so, they should not simply slang others but should present cogent arguments to demonstrate that those personalities deserve to be attacked.”
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Book by HH Bhakti Vikasa Swami, “On Speaking Strongly in Srila Prabhupada’s Service”, Chapter:’ To Name or Not to Name’, Page 209-210.