Theos-Talk Archives (October 1997 Message tt00143)

Richard Taylor:

> Surely John Crocker jests! I can think of umpteen people who had
> a negative reaction to K.  Paul Johnoson's book, including
> myself.

Umpteen out of several thousand readers isn't much; I suppose
hundreds reacted negatively.  But John was talking about
reviewers.

> They are speculative, hyperbolic, and promote the reduction of
> HPB's teachers to mere politicos who sought personal influence in
> the world.

Politicos? Sought personal influence? True of just a handful of
the 32.

> I am all for discussion of his books, but we need to state for
> the record that the people outside of TS (and especially ULT) who
> enjoyed Paul's books enjoyed them because they didn't have the
> background to be critical and because they had already debunked
> the spiritual possibility of advanced beings on the planet before
> they even read the books!

Now Rich, really.  "Didn't have the background to be critical?"
You know that's totally unfair and could be mirrored in a
back-at-you along these lines: "the people inside the TS (and
especially ULT) who disliked Paul's books disliked them because
they didn't have the background to be critical of Theosophical
orthodoxy of the Masters, and because they envisioned spiritually
advanced beings in a way that precluded their engagement in the
affairs of the world."

To sweepingly dismiss thousands of people you don't even know
based on an a priori assumption about their attitudes is
groundless.  Most positive feedback I've gotten from readers has
suggested that they believe in spiritually advanced beings, as do
I, but also that they are not just comfortable but pleased to see
them in terms of real life political and religious struggles
rather than as "higher plane" hierophants.