While Kramer and Alstad have good intentions in the Guru Papers, it is obvious that a subtle socialist view of religion is present.
They even attack Eastern religions, and thus ultimately disrespect the Buddha.
Possibly their work has influenced left-wing thinkers who conclude Buddhism is as authoritarian as monotheism because it is a religion, ignoring the fact that Buddhism was itself a critique of the Hinduism of the Buddha's time.
If the Buddha was originally authoritarian at the start of his popularity, he was not when he died.
At first, he refused to allow women to join, due to misogyny he inherited from his Hindu roots. Then he has a change of heart when he realized that gender does not truly determine who reaches Nirvana.
I know several sutras sound misogynist, but they may have been written by Hindus because by the time most sutras were written, they were written at the school at Nalanda and mainly were written by Hindus. The school at Nalanda was a Hindu-Buddhist school.
Thus, any Oneness religion from India is authoritarian because Hinduism is an authoritarian religion. For Buddhism is a lot more unconditional than Hinduism is.
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