Meirs; I don’t think anyone outside the inner circle can tell how dar reaching the ideology of a rebbe being divine has affected chabad.
I can point to several frightening examples of prominent figures in chabad which give a picture, like Shlomo Cunin, who on video said proudly that after mumbai “the whole world will know that it’s the rebbe who runs the world!” in the presence of many chabad rabbis – not one person protested. He said that the rebbe has some sort of dominion over the world. That might be a type of avodah zara which is a belief that Hashem gave over shlita to a certain malach or kochav independently, or it might be worse; it might be embracing atzmus elokus ideology in all its man-god depravity. That video can be found by googling “shlomo cunin chabad rebbe runs world” as the first result on Google.
Anecdotal encounters with chabad individuals include them trying to justify praying to their rebbe, who apparently can hear them from shomayim, granting him a certain omnipotence that is supposed to be Hashem’s. They have felt safe walking in the dead of night because they are carrying a picture of the rebbe. They believe he was a bonafide navi – I would be remiss not to mention the gravity of claiming to be a navi when one is not in fact… I would not want my rebbe accused of such grave sins.
Quick reading of chabad children’s literature is also frightening. I’ve seen the idea of doing a mitzvah because the rebbe said to do it. This was not in an overtly messianic publication. Go on a chabad forum and you will find many mentions of a “kiddush chabad” instead of a kiddush hashem.
It is for these reasons and more that many…many choshuve rabbonim will not eat chabad meat or drink their wine, including my rebbe, who was one of the leading poskim in America. I’m not sure if I should post his name.
Chabad has many poskim and rabbonim. I hope these ideologies have not reached everywhere, but nothing is certain. What is certain is the hadracha of the gedolei yisroel who distanced themselves.
It is my hope and prayer that the great chabad legacy be revived and that all false philosophies be forgotten.