Theos-Talk Archives (November 2002 Message tt00948)

Someone who no longer posts here but still reads wrote me indignantly about my remark that two dueling owners of websites are"manifestations of the same thing." That provoked indignation from her counterpart too. She told me not to reply to her privately, but to do so here. So...
Of course there are relevant differences, like gender, nationality,and attitude toward Blavatsky and Theosophy. But the "same thing" is evident in several dimensions:
1. Refusing to communicate with me privately (in one case consistently over a long time, in the other variably depending on circumstances) while often referring to me publicly.
2. Adopting a tone of communication that for years has consisted entirely of relentless, one-sided interrogation.
3. Using "my" books solely as weapons with which to attack and discredit someone; in one case their author, in the other their subject.
4. Having vastly greater interest in that subject than I do or have had for many years.
5. Having advantages of free time, institutional support, and access to their own websites, all of which I lack, to shape discourse on the subject of those books.

"My" books on the Masters were written to promote a balanced, objective, impartial approach to the study of Blavatsky and her associates. The fact that online discussion of the Masters since then has been dominated by approaches just as polarized and vituperative as previous treatments in print has been a big disappointment. But there is no point in my holding either of the dueling website owners responsible, or fretting about things not having turned out better. Because, ultimately, they are not "my" books. They're just as much yours to use as weapons as they are mine to promote reconciliation of polarized perspectives. As time and experience has shown, and as I must accept.

Paul