Theos-Talk Archives (June 1997 Message tt00092)

Rodolfo Don wrote:
> Section is one of many. I never intended to assume an official position in
> the TS because I don't believe in official positions. In matters of
> theosophy positions mean NOTHING; and that is something that the author of
> the letter forgot!

	However, the Theosophical Society exists in the real world.

	This morning, I thought of a far more concrete example of why the TSA
might be upset with your page. Now, as far as I can see, there is
nothing untruthful on your page, with the exception of by omission.
However, even the truth can be harmful in the right circumstances.
Whoever said that an honest person had nothing to hide had no dealings
with dishonest people; an honest person, or organization, has MUCH to
hide from dishonest people. For example, I assume that you are a
reasonably honest person. Would you post the password to your ftp
account for your web page in an Internet Newsgroup (or even on this
list)? I would guess not, because the wrong person could use the
password to get you into a lot of trouble.

	Now, let's say that every Wednesday morning at 9:00 AM, John Algeo took
the proceeds from the previous week's take at the Quest Bookshop, and
carried it to the bank on foot. Now, this information might be available
to anybody who took the care to observe, but if you publish it on the
web, you greatly increase the chances of John Algeo being robbed, and
possibly severely injured or killed.

	Now, there is some information on your web page which is out of date,
but there is also information of which most TS members are aware, but
not many outsiders know: That there are relatively few members, while
the Society owns a relatively large amount of valuable property. By
putting it all together on a web page, including the fact that the
leadership is democratically elected, you can put ideas into people's
heads that might not have been there otherwise. And while the declining
membership is a matter of fact, perhaps National Headquarters would
prefer it be kept private, within the Society, rather than trumpeted all
over the place.

	Finally, the TSA, like all organizations, has a reputation. The
leadership feels that, as those elected by the membership, they should
be the ones who represent the TSA to the public, not some person who has
never even run for National Office. There is a BIG difference between
acting as a person, and acting as an official representative for an
organization. For example, I am the Systems Administrator at the New
York Theosophical Society. Among other things, I run the NYTS's Internet
account, and act as their representative on the Internet. I was asked by
National not to send certain kinds of messages from the NYTS account,
but they place no limits whatsoever (including not voicing disapproval)
on what I do with my personal account, even if it is known that I
represent the NYTS on the Internet in its own account. It is the
difference between acting as a representative of an organization, and
acting as an individual.

	Bart Lidofsky