Theos-Talk Archives (May 2005 Message tt00733)

Erica wrote:


> Recently Dr. Algeo published some letters related to the life of 
> Blavatsky. Him and others involved in this publication are now 
> targets of endless critics and attacks from the side of the 
> Blavatskyan fundamentalists. 
> 

John Algeo did not work alone on this; in addition to his wife Adele, 
Daniel Caldwell, Nicholas Weeks, and Dara Eklund were members of the 
committee that prepared this volume. The criticisms made by Deveney 
in Theosophical History re the final product, and here by Dr. Tillett 
re the process, have nothing to do with Blavatskyan fundamentalism. 
They focus on scholarly integrity.

However, the hate mail campaign based in southern California is, I 
believe, what you are describing above, with perfect accuracy. These 
attacks are unfair, uninformed, evasive of the real scholarly issues 
represented by the Letters, and entirely destructive without an iota 
of constructive criticism. They are motivated by fanatical 
fundamentalism, and are not just anti-intellectual but intellectually 
dishonest. They debase discourse about Theosophical history, and 
render it impossible to have civil discussions about these issues. 
They reject not just the work but those who produced it, in bitterly 
personal terms. Their rejection is not just intellectual, but 
spiritual and social (in the sense of having organizational support.)

I KNOW JUST HOW ALGEO, CALDWELL, EKLUND, AND WEEKS MUST BE FEELING 
UNDER THESE ASSAULTS FROM FELLOW THEOSOPHISTS. And while it doesn't 
give me schadenfreude in the sense of *pleasure* that these 
particular individuals are the targets of such abuse, I will confess 
to a sense of relief. Maybe people do end up getting a taste of 
their own medicine after all.