PatD, I do not see anything wrong with trying to maintain friendship with people who continue to be in the cult. I am aware that there may be practical impediments, such as diverging interests and in my case, I felt devastated and wanted to process and understand my experience which was something I could of course not do with people who continued to have faith in SSB.And it can make defection less painful if you can still remain friends with some followers.
Also, followers may come to the conclusion that critical ex-followers do not unfairly persecuted the cult, or are part of a hate group (in the case of Rawat), or were bribed to spread calumny (in the case of SSB).
Andries
