Not even the rudiments of humanity and propriety are practiced in the Soka Gakkai

If the SGI was a warm and caring family, I might still be in SGI today. I would have remained under the illusion that leaders meetings were necessary to attain Buddhahood, that malicious gossip and condescention was actually caring and compassion. I might still believe that statistics, fund raising, and interfaith dialogue, are the practices of the Lotus Sutra. Were the Lotus Sutra and the Gosho  discussed more, I might have remained in the SGI under the illusion that there is a "super" Gohonzon more venerable than all the others inscribed by Nichiren and that Nichiren [not  Shakyamuni] is the Original Buddha. I might have remained in the Soka Gakkai believing that Nichiren actually chose Nikko as his sole heir and that the Human Revolution is "the Gosho for modern times." Were the SGI more like a warm and loving family, I might still believe that the Lotus Sutra had lost it's power today. So, if even the rudiments of humanity and propriety were practiced in the Soka Gakkai and the organization had anything to do with Buddhism rather than self promotion, I might still be a member of the Soka Gakkai..

If the SGI was true to the spirit of repaying debts of gratitude towards the masses of beings, towards the fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, friends, and the teachers of the Lotus Sutra, I might still be a member of that  family.

Nichiren Daishonin teaches,

"Old Foxes never forget their native home. When they are dying, they lie with their heads turned toward the hill where they had been living.... Those who learn and practice the teachings of the Buddha should never forget the kindness of their parents, masters and sovereign..... What is the best way for Buddhists to express their gratitude for unfathomable kindness which they have received? Mastering Buddhism completely and to be sagacious is the way."

One can never master Buddhism through the worthless or even counter productive study and activities of the SGI.

Nichiren goes on to teach,

"How can anyone guide blind persons across a bridge, if he himself is blind?... Mastering Buddhism, however, remains impossible without enough time to absorb it. And if you are to have enough time to study, it is impossible to obey one's parents, masters and sovereign. Those who aim at attaining Buddhahood cannot afford to be obedient to parents masters and sovereign until they reach the ultimate way to cut the chain of birth and death....

Most people consider disobeying ones parents and sovereign to be against the morals of society and wishes of the Buddha. In one of the Confucian canons, however, it is stated that sometimes one can remain loyal to one's lord and filial to his parents even if he does not obey them and even if he admonishes them. A Buddhist Sutra states: 'The true way of recompensing indebtedness to parents is to stop obeying them and enter the true way of Buddhism.... In Buddhism, prince Siddhartha, who disobeyed his father, king Suddhodana, became the most filial son in the the triple world."

In order to truly repay our debts of gratitude, we must leave the Soka Gakkai, attain the Way, and lead others to do the same.