Why do people criticize Keith Raniere?

1024x1024 (4)
Keith Raniere, wending his way along the path of life, suing and pursuing  enemies, while preaching love and ethics.

 

So what should we make of the constant criticism of Keith Raniere?

He has said that “the brighter the light, the more the bugs” in reference to his many critics.

Is it possible that the gentle Raniere is misunderstood?

Are the teachings of love and ethics that dominate his published writings the real Raniere?

He has said, “Humans can be noble. The question is: will we put forth what is necessary?”

“Each rise, each act of human excellence raises mankind to new heights. Each fall, each act of destruction is a mindless regression,” his NXIVM philosophy reads. “While many have sensed a need to break away from the primitive patterning that keeps us from a path of continuous progression, few have thought it possible.”

Is his path one of continuous progression?

The Raniere trail leads through acts that, on the surface, show at best a sort of sanctified shopkeeping. Raniere makes NXIVM students sign confidentiality contracts so that unless one pays substantial money, they cannot obtain his healing wisdom, nor can they share it.

Behind the scenes there seems to be utter hollowness. A promiscuous cult of gullible followers who, when they wake up and leave, are hunted down by Raniere with vengeful millions of dollars at his disposal culled from his warped Seagram heiress-devotees, Sara and Clare Bronfman, from whom he has plowed through more than $150 million of their easy-come inheritance.

He has a decades-long record of what seems to be mindless regression, dating back to  when his multi-level marketing business was closed by the New York State Attorney General.

When was it ever seen that a true teacher of religion or founder of a healing philosophy – a true vanguard – sued so many, went after so many, investigated so many, punished so many, tried to indict so many, and used the wealth of his followers to haunt his enemies?

So many enemies.

Raniere’s followers make a pledge to create a world where there are no enemies, where “people will no longer try to destroy each other… or rejoice at another’s demise.”

Strange, and perhaps this is the secret of why Raniere is despised by many, is, while his actions show he hates, literally hates, his enemies – his honeyed words preach love and forgiveness, and speak of a dream – a world where no one hurts another.

A world, in fact, that could not include Keith Raniere.

 

 

About the author

Frank Parlato

Add Comment

Click here to post a comment

About the Author

Frank Parlato is an investigative journalist.

His work has been cited in hundreds of news outlets, like The New York Times, The Daily Mail, VICE News, CBS News, Fox News, New York Post, New York Daily News, Oxygen, Rolling Stone, People Magazine, The Sun, The Times of London, CBS Inside Edition, among many others in all five continents.

His work to expose and take down NXIVM is featured in books like “Captive” by Catherine Oxenberg, “Scarred” by Sarah Edmonson, “The Program” by Toni Natalie, and “NXIVM. La Secta Que Sedujo al Poder en México” by Juan Alberto Vasquez.

Parlato has been prominently featured on HBO’s docuseries “The Vow” and was the lead investigator and coordinating producer for Investigation Discovery’s “The Lost Women of NXIVM.” Parlato was also credited in the Starz docuseries "Seduced" for saving 'slave' women from being branded and escaping the sex-slave cult known as DOS.

Additionally, Parlato’s coverage of the group OneTaste, starting in 2018, helped spark an FBI investigation, which led to indictments of two of its leaders in 2023.

Parlato appeared on the Nancy Grace Show, Beyond the Headlines with Gretchen Carlson, Dr. Oz, American Greed, Dateline NBC, and NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt, where Parlato conducted the first-ever interview with Keith Raniere after his arrest. This was ironic, as many credit Parlato as one of the primary architects of his arrest and the cratering of the cult he founded.

Parlato is a consulting producer and appears in TNT's The Heiress and the Sex Cult, which premiered on May 22, 2022. Most recently, he consulted and appeared on Tubi's "Branded and Brainwashed: Inside NXIVM," which aired January, 2023.

IMDb — Frank Parlato

Contact Frank with tips or for help.
Phone / Text: (305) 783-7083
Email: frankparlato@gmail.com

Archives

Discover more from Frank Report

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue Reading