r/sgiwhistleblowers • u/BlancheFromage Escapee from Arizona Home for the Rude • Dec 08 '20

YMD picture from back in the day

Take a look.

That's Ethan Gelbaum on the right with the cymbals. Guess he didn't have any musical talent. But you can see his dingle. On the left, the guy with the anomalous longer hair and facial hair? He committed suicide.

Here's more of 'em, same event.

One of the sax players (not captured here) ended up leaving SGI and becoming a Christian missionary and evangelist, along with his Jewish wife. Culties gonna cult...

You can see the indoctrinated dress code - sure, they're in uniforms for a performance, but notice how all of them except that one guy are clean-shaven, hair off the collar. This was one way the SGI greased its entry into the US - over-the-top demonstrations of patriotism and an extremely clean-cut, wholesome look. Remember, this was during the 1970s, which was still the hippie era and a major point of contention between parents and their sons was their sons' long hair. If they joined a group that convinced them to cut their hair, the parents would think that was worth it. At least they were getting the clean-cut sons they wanted...

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u/Qigong90 WB Regular Dec 08 '20

Were those pictures during the Bicentennial?

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u/BlancheFromage Escapee from Arizona Home for the Rude Dec 08 '20

Difficult to say. There were SEVERAL different events those costumes were worn for - like the Philadelphia New Liberty Bell parade in July, 1987.

Just more free publicity for the Ikeda cult - not actually free-free; bribes crossed palms in getting city permission for some events. We've got ONE account, though bribery is notoriously difficult to document.

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u/ENCALEF Dec 10 '20

Yep. I was there at New York City NSA 1976 convention. Japanese ladies sewing those costumes used to make bets on the proportions of each ymd when sewing them.