Theos-Talk Archives (March 2005 Message tt00356)

My feeling on the matter of CWL is that he was probably a dreadful human 
being, but he was charming company and wrote fun stuff, even if most of it is 
nonsense.

I am more that willing to put up with dreadfulness in people if they are 
charming. After all, just because a person is a professional murderer is no 
reason not to enjoy his jokes.

I rather enjoy Ezra Pound's poetry even though he did propaganda for 
Mussolini.

I go into near ecstacy listening to Wagner and all the nastiness of his 
personal life is never going to change that.

I was, for a brief time, romantically involved with the great-grand-daughter 
of Oswald Boelke, who sort of invented aerial combat.

And you don't even want to think about what my friends do at the local 
dungeon every Saturday night.

So, do I think that Leadbeater was a pedophile and general, all-around bad 
guy? Yes. Do I care? No, not really and there is really no good reason why I 
shoud. Will I go out and burn his books? Of course not. Would I say to 
anyone, "Don't read Leadbeater because he was a bad person?" Don't be ridiculous.

Yes, his stuff is mostly nonsense, but we would be the poorer for not having 
had it. (Think of all the jokes at the expense of the Masters I would not 
have!) 

He took the overblown, overly revered, Trans-Himalayan Demigods of HPB and 
transformed them into absurd figures to provide comic relief. For that alone we 
should all be grateful.

Chuck the Heretic