Dr. Erlendur Haraldsson & Robert Priddy

On a couple of Anti-Sai websites, Robert Priddy said:

"Further, just as one more example, my colleague Professor Erlendur Haraldsson of Rekjavik University, who investigated the Sai movement and alleged miracles very widely in the 1970s (though without controlled scientific results), was repeatedly told of Sai Baba's sexual interest in boys and young men and refers to some of these in his book 'Modern Miracles'."

The paragraph above is proof that Robert Priddy resorts to blatant exaggerations and complete misrepresentations of facts to mislead and deceive the general public.

First and foremost, Robert Priddy was never a "colleague" (as it is generally understood) of Dr. Erlendur Haraldsson. Although Priddy and Haraldsson worked at universities, they worked in different universities, in different countries, in different faculties (Priddy in Philosophy and Haraldsson in Psychology) and at different times.

"Colleague" is generally defined as:

1. A fellow member of a profession, staff, or academic faculty; an associate. See synonyms at partner. (Ref)


2. An associate in a profession or in a civil or ecclesiastical office. (Ref)

Robert Priddy and Dr. Erlendur Haraldsson were:

• Never fellow members, staff or academic faculty in the same profession.


• Never fellow members, staff or academic faculty at the same university.

Secondly, Dr. Erlendur Haraldsson was not at the Reykjavik University. He was at the University of Iceland (an important fact that a close "colleague" would not get incorrect).

Lastly, Dr. Erlendur Haraldsson was not "repeatedly told of Sai Baba's sexual interest in boys and young men" and did not "refer to some of these stories in his book 'Modern Miracles'". These claims are bold-faced and gutter untruths.

Erlendur Haraldsson only made one reference to "homosexuality" in his book Modern Miracles in the chapter entitled "The Critics". The sentence in question said: "One letter accused him of homosexuality." That's it!

It is also significant that Dr. Narasimhaiah (a critic of Sai Baba) said the following about the letters he received (among which was the letter alleging homosexuality):

"Dr. Narasimhaiah: 'I don't think we can find anything substantial there, otherwise I would certainly have used that material (against Sai Baba).' According to Dr. Narasimhaiah, there was nothing in the letters indicating fraud by Baba."

No where in Haraldsson's book did he talk about allegations (nor did he relate stories) pertaining to sexual abuse or sexual interest in "boys and young men" against Sathya Sai Baba.

Robert Priddy should immediately retract these fraudulent and incorrect claims from Anti-Sai websites and issue a public apology (as he and other critics can be seen demanding of others).

More Deceptive And Misleading Claims About Dr. Erlendur Haraldsson By Robert Priddy
On Robert Priddy’s Anti-Sai WordPress blog (which contains numerous defamations, libels and slurs against Sathya Sai Baba, Sai Devotees and Sai Proponents), he made highly misleading statements about Dr. Erlendur Haraldsson when he said:

“Professor Erlendur Haraldsson, who my wife and I have known since 1989 and who still visits us, has still not been able to get any evidence of endless vibuthi supplies, despite decades of interest in the matter.”

Although Robert Priddy continually attempts to use Professor Erlendur Haraldsson’s name to push Anti-Sai Material, Erlendur Haraldsson is not Anti-Sai Baba (as confirmed in private email correspondence with Joe Moreno).

Professor Erlendur Haraldsson first met Robert & Reidun Priddy in 1989 at Puttaparthi when Robert & Reidun were both Sai Devotees. Erlendur Haraldsson visits Oslo every two or three years and has met Robert & Reidun Priddy 3-4 times for an hour or two (mostly in restaurants). Erlendur Haraldsson also visits Sai Devotees when he visits Denmark. These visits are not indicative of a Pro-Sai or Anti-Sai position because the people in question are simply friends.

Dr Erlendur Haraldsson personally told Joe Moreno (in a private email correspondence) that Robert Priddy’s statement that he has been unable to obtain any evidence of endless vibuthi supplies was “a bit odd” because he “had a lot of anecdotal evidence but was not able to test the reality of the vibuthi phenomena under controlled conditions” (which he stated in his book).

Consequently, Robert Priddy’s references to Erlendur Haraldsson in his Anti-Sai writings and on his Anti-Sai blog are misleading and deceptive because Erlendur Haraldsson has not given permission to Robert Priddy to use his name to push Anti-Sai material.

Reference