Theos-Talk Archives (November 1997 Message tt00103)

According to Mark Jaqua:
>
> On Paul's and everyone else's comments on "fundamentalists", et. al.
> The fundamentalists get hassled, harrassed, persecuted, etc. also. The
> point being is that it doesn't matter what your viewpoint is - EVERYBODY
> gets the ca-ca end of the stick!!
>
> - M. Jaqua
Dear Jake,

As long as you restrict that "EVERYBODY" to everybody within
the Theosophical movement, I guess there may be some truth to
it. But not every movement has the kinds of hassles,
harassment and persecution that ours does, and I wouldn't say
they're "normal" or acceptable. Is there a *non* ca-ca end of
this particular stick?

My observation, which I'd like others' views on, is that the
leadership of the Adyar TS in America now is closer ideologically to ULT
and Pasadena than to its own membership. Twenty years ago,
there was definitely an "anything goes" tolerance and very
broad definition of Theosophy in TSA. But while the membership
doesn't seem to have moved from that position, the leadership
certainly has. We have seen a fairly strong "Back to
Blavatsky" move in these years-- something I once imagined
would be wonderful but which has turned out to be a new
orthodoxy that tends to regard heterodox members as "not
real Theosophists."

In other words, I think Theosophical fundamentalists are far
less subject to criticism now than they were 20 years ago, and
Theosophical liberals who used to be mainstream are now out on
a limb.

Cheers,
KPJ