Theos-Talk Archives (January 2002 Message tt00447)

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> From: Larry F Kolts <llkingston2@juno.com>
> To: theos-talk@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: Re: Theos-World Religious fundamentalism and theosophical
mailinglists.
> Date: Monday, January 28, 2002 7:01 AM
> 
> Hi Bill,
> 
> Thanks. Your comments have always been welcome and informative. You are
> certainly right on this one. I guess I forget that, having been so
> numbers oriented in the past. I live not far from Woodstock, NY, which is
> one of the New Age Centers in America. About the same time I became a
> Theosophist I also gave up my rat race commute towards NYC and started my
> own contracting business. Many of my clients, while not actual
> theosophists, certainly do share our overall vision.
> 

Exactly. And if we look at HPB's definition of a theosophist, I believe
these folks fit the bill nicely.

> This liberal/fundimentalist trend is not unique. In Protestant
> Christianity, all the old mainline churches which now view themselves as
> liberal, are in decline. Methodists, Lutherans, Episcopalians,
> Presbyterians, Reformed, all these have lost significant membership in
> the last thirty to forty years. On the other side, the Southern Baptists,
> Pentacostals, Holiness and other more conservative sects are still on the
> rise. Once, the Methodists were in that position. I guess that's cycles
> in action.

Recently Paul has offered some insight on the modern labeling of liberal,
conservative, and fundamentalist. Essentially all conservatives are not
fundamentalists, but all fundamentalists are conservative. Maybe he will
repost the Karen Armstrong link. I have done some file cleanup and can't
find where I put it.

There is either a church or a convenience store on nearly every corner. 
Each sells to the public at the highest price the market will bear. I grew
up steeped in Southern Baptist traditions. I am very aware of the KJV
bible and the hell's fire and brimstone preacher. 30 years ago, as a young
man, I left Church one Sunday morning and for all practical purposes never
went back. As I walked determinedly through life, I kicked over one rock
after another. Recently, I have concluded that the Truth is not under a
rock either. :)

Bill
> Larry
> 
> 
> On Sun, 27 Jan 2002 21:21:44 -0500 "Bill Meredith" <bilmer@surfsouth.com>
> writes:
> 
> >
> > The number of card carrying members is probably not an important 
> > measure of
> > the theosophical movement's success. We will probably never catch 
> > the
> > world wrestling federation in that department. However, amongst 
> > thinking
> > people (lots of talk lately about being free thinkers, thinking 
> > outside
> > the box, etc) theosophy is by definition already a way of life. 
> > Many
> > practical theosophists have never heard the word 'theosophy' and as 
> > a
> > consequence would not readily label themselves as such. In many 
> > ways these
> > 'unlabeled' theosophists are my favorites to talk with, listen to, 
> > and
> > learn from. When we put theosophy in a box and label it Theosophy, 
> > we may
> > be making it more marketable, but not necessarily more valuable. 
> > 
> > regards,
> > Bill
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to 
> > http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ 
> > 
> > 
> 
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