It's hard to say, and it depends, and that's why I think you can't really make blanket statements one way or the other about it.

This place is great because you can access information and "support" from the comfort of your computer screen, but it doesn't really provide for follow-up and that sort of thing.

I was out of the cult 15 years when I found EPO, and I was really scared to post here, because there is residual stuff that still needs to be worked out.

The other point I was trying to make, is that being brutal, or seeming to attack, is in the eye of the beholder, and to a premie, if you attack Maharaji, or criticize him, or his belief system, that is very threatening to many premies and that is seen as a huge insult, or a put-down, or a vicious attack, when in other discussions on other subjects, it would just be seen as disagreement.

I do think there is value in the shock of just being bluntly told the truth.  One some level, the premie knows it's true, and that's why it is so scary.  If they just don't see it at all, and live in their closed system of beliefs, it doesn't matter whether you are rude or kind.  It won't have any effect.  They might get pissed off (and talk like your premie friend did), but they were in no condition to listen to anything anyway.