{"id":183,"date":"2020-05-18T15:27:58","date_gmt":"2020-05-18T22:27:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bescofield.net\/?page_id=183"},"modified":"2020-06-07T12:52:26","modified_gmt":"2020-06-07T19:52:26","slug":"9-the-damage-from-scofields-blog-post","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bescofield.net\/nl\/sections\/9-the-damage-from-scofields-blog-post\/","title":{"rendered":"9. The Damage from Scofield\u2019s Blog Post"},"content":{"rendered":"

return to section 8…<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/h2>\n

The Damage from Scofield\u2019s Blog Post<\/h2>\n

As ludicrous as her accusations were, Be Scofield\u2019s article insinuating that Aaravindha Himadra was somehow involved in Carla Shaffer\u2019s wounding and death succeeded in damaging his reputation.<\/p>\n

Although people who already knew Aaravindha continued to support him and attend his seminars, the malicious gossip that Scofield gleefully splashed over the internet caused strangers to shy away from attending his gatherings. And some students who embraced his teachings no longer wanted to be associated with Sambodha.<\/p>\n

After Scofield published her article, vehicles belonging to Aaravindha\u2019s associates were targeted. Tires were slashed on some, and screws were drilled into tires on others. The couple has received threats to set their home on fire and even to kill Aaravindha.<\/p>\n

Anyone who works in legal defense or in the legitimate media can tell you that it\u2019s very hard to recover from an accusation, no matter how nonsensical it may be. You can prove this yourself: paint a big RAPIST sign on your front door and watch people run away from you in droves. Even if your friends and neighbors and your employers are certain the accusation is baseless, a percentage of them will no longer admit they know you, and they certainly will not want their names associated with yours. You may even lose your job.<\/p>\n

In the same way that we avoid someone with a contagious disease, everyone is wary of being contaminated by a scandal.<\/p>\n

The damage done by even the most senseless accusation is real, and Be Scofield distributed her nasty insinuations against Aaravindha on the internet via her gurumag.com and bescofield.com websites, Facebook page, and her multiple online personas.<\/p>\n

As previously mentioned, the internet loves a scandal, and people who had never met (or even heard of) Aaravindha were happy to join Be Scofield in screaming \u201ccult!\u201d on a variety of social media sites.<\/p>\n

Sadly, it is human nature for a certain percentage of the population to join any organization that attacks others. Consider all the antagonistic organizations that persist around the globe. Go to Google and type the prefix \u201canti-\u201d in front of almost any noun or adjective, and you\u2019ll find groups that subscribe to that \u201canti\u201d message: anti-LBGTQ, anti-Semitic, anti-immigrant, anti-Black, anti-Islam, anti-Catholic, anti-atheist, etc.<\/p>\n

Any hate-monger willing to step into the spotlight will always attract enthusiastic followers, and as noted throughout this report, Scofield relishes the \u201cheroic\u201d \u201ccult-killer\u201d role she has designed for herself. She is always more than willing to shine the spotlight on herself.<\/p>\n

Be Scofield\u2019s writings are not journalism. They are ignorant, harmful gossip.<\/p>\n

What would you do if Be Scofield came after you?<\/p>\n

The Lawsuit<\/h2>\n

In April of 2019, Aaravindha and Ashayrah (Janis Briedis and Jil Peterson-Briedis) filed a lawsuit against Robert J. Scofield, now known as Be Scofield, charging that individual with libel.<\/p>\n

Scofield immediately retaliated by enlisting a law firm to defend her, calling the charge \u201ca frivolous lawsuit\u201d of the type \u201cdesigned to harass and intimidate journalists.\u201d She proudly posted the information on her website, gurumag.com, her Facebook page, and everywhere else she could think of. Be Scofield called it a SLAPP lawsuit, but she was apparently ill-informed or simply manufacturing the term, because the anti-SLAPP statutes in Washington State were declared unconstitutional by the state Supreme court in 2015, and her attorneys should have told her that she was not protected by those rules. Scofield writes about herself as if \u201cThe Guru Magazine\u201d were an independent entity reporting on the story, when as usual, it\u2019s again Be Scofield reporting on Be Scofield:<\/p>\n

Several attorneys contacted by The Guru Magazine stated the article in question is not defamatory\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

However, Scofield says \u201clike any other article I\u2019ve written, I used professional discretion, carefully researched the story and used critical judgment when interviewing people. It\u2019s standard journalistic method.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Scofield is confusing the \u201cstandard method\u201d of gossip publications like National Enquirer<\/em> with actual journalistic ethics. As Alexander Vera stated in his \u201cCult Mania\u201d article:<\/p>\n

Here are the 7 codes of ethics established by the Society of Professional Journalists which she (<\/em>Scofield) blatantly violates in her reporting:<\/em><\/p>\n