Vikram Ghandi is an American of Indian descent. He was a film school student who
ID: 3463150 • Letter: V
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Vikram Ghandi is an American of Indian descent. He was a film school student who wanted to make a hit documentary and was curious about religion, so he grew a long beard, pretended to have a stronger Indian accent, dressed in robes similar to Hindu or Jain ascetics (similar to a monk) and "became" the Guru Kumare 9 His Actions: Pretending to be a guru from India, he started a community in Arizona made up of mostly middle- class, white, middle-aged spiritual seekers, and filmed everything that took place using mostly hidden cameras His followers were sometimes filmed without their permission, sometimes revealing very personal things. He taught yoga, made up a variety of original spiritual exercises (ie, "imagine a blue light coming at you...now imagine it inside you..." His followers were extremely devoted, opened their homes to him, claimed that they felt profound spiritual joy through his community. He refused to accept money from his followers. The consequences: His career has exploded; "Kumare" was a hit at film-festivals and on Netflix, and he has several other projects in the works. Some of his followers feel very angry and very humiliated; after all, he lied to them, every day, for months. A small number of people have probably been permanently psychologically harmed by what he did. Other 'believers' believe that, whatever his intentions, he really taught them something and they still consider themselves his disciples. Millions of people around the world have now seen the film and are mostly fascinated and entertained by it, it has added something entertaining and quite original to conversations about religion and conversionExplanation / Answer
First case:
Premise 1: The act of pretending to be a spiritual guru is immoral.
Premise 2: Vikram Gandhi pretended to be a spiritual guru and secretely filmed his disciples, even their personal things.
Conclusion: Vikram Gandhi's actions were immoral.
Second case:
Premise 1: The act of innovating one's original spiritual exercises is moral.
Premise 2: Vikram Gandhi's ideas were original and his followers felt a spiritual joy through his community.
Conclusion: Vikram Gandhi's actions were moral.
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