Re: Theos-World new member message for old members
May 02, 2009 01:19 PM
by Shel Steijl
Dear MKR and Eldon,
Thanks to you both respectively, for a. explaining the current situation, and b. attempting to redirect the energies of the discussion. Time will tell if your efforts bear fruit ..;-). Thanks anyway.
When I joined the forum, Dallas Tenbroek was a member who had the time, wisdom, energy and resources to post regular scripts on this forum. These were seldom, if ever, a link to another site or library, with the content of his post being embedded in the message itself. Reference would sometimes be made to external reading (eg. SD, VOS), but the reader could in fact benefit without having the source at hand. The messages were such to inspire any student of theosophy to more learning. I do not recall any opinions being offered regarding the politics of any organisation or study group, and seldom did he criticise or question the material offered by any one writer (historical or living); instead reference would be made to quotes which illustrated an alternative point of view. Like many other members, I looked forward to Dallas's writings and benefitted from them immensely. His death in September 2006 was a sad shock, but his work lives still.
I would welcome another "Dallas" to this site. If I had the time - and, more importantly, the knowledge - I would like to attempt this myself. Unfortunately, I have neither of these attributes (yet) ... perhaps there is another member out there who is willing and able?
Kind regards
Shel
----- Original Message -----
From: Eldon B Tucker
To: theos-talk@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Saturday, May 02, 2009 7:25 PM
Subject: Theos-World new member message for old members
Here's the message that new subscribers get on theos-talk. It would be good
to keep it in mind during the discussions.
One thread that seems to be getting a bit too personal seems to have
originated in a message of Ananad's where he says that Reed Carson, Katinka
Hesselink, and Daniel Caldwell were "some of the individuals who did much
damage to Theosophical movement by their online activities." This is the
"will you shut up" thread.
I think it's time for the "will you shut up" thread to itself shut up.
Let's enact a cease fire on all sides where all the "you're a bad person
because you did ..." talk stops.
We can talk about the relative merits of Leadbeater, Crowley, Bailey, Wood,
Ballard, Hodgson, Barborak, etc. without picking still-living people on the
list being personally put under the microscope and dissected.
It would be good if we shifted our attention from the weakness in our
opponent's position, looking to strike yet another stunning blow, and
instead look for something interesting, creative, and unrelated to personal
disputes.
There's an interesting short piece in the March 2009 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN.
"Taming the Madness of Crowds" on page 16 talks about hooliganism, about
"the melees ant international soccer matches are infamous for the intensity
of violence . . . Social scientists who study hooligan chaso think they have
fonud a better way to keep the peace . . . Portuguese security adopted the
researcher' recommendation to institute low-profile, not-aggressive
tactits--the most visible of which was to leave the riot gear behindfor
police officers closest to fans . . . [It] did not alienate fans in the same
way that legions of police in riot gear do. Shows of force . . . tend to
antagonize crows, especially if police display favoritism, as in the case of
a 2001 match in Rome when the officers stood by while Italian fanatics
pelted Mancherster United aficionados with full plastic bottles."
There are many short pieces of new discoveries, ideas, or approaches that
appear in popular magazines. Anyone else come across something inseresting?
---- Message to new subscribers: ----
> Welcome.
>
> You are now a subscriber to the theos-talk theosophical mailing
> list.
>
> Initially, your membership to the mailing list is moderated. You
> can lurk and read messages as long as you want.
>
> When you are first ready to participate, we would like you to
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> Shortly after that message and your first few regular postings to
> the list, you will likely be removed from moderation and free to
> post directly to the list.
>
> (The purpose of the initial moderation is to make sure that new
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> Thanks again for joining us and happy philosophizing!
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