Theos-Talk Archives (May 2009 Message tt00560)

Cleavage in TS GC Members
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It looks like members standing in the sidelines are slowly starting to
realize what is going on in TS since the start of the election last year.
The divisions in the GC that started in the electioneering, became very
clear in the cleavage displayed in the of voting against the long term,
dedicated and highly regarded TS members who were nominated to positions.
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The activities starting with the electioneering, culminating with the now
famous super secret attempt to quickly disenfranchise members world-wide
(you and me) and take over the selection and appointment of the president
was easily seen as an attempt to work against the interests of the members.
This coming on the heels of the defeat of the candidate this group tried to
get elected, is also seen by many as not a smart end run.
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In this day and age where democracy -  one person one vote - rules in most
parts of the world, disenfranchisement attempt has seriously damaged the
trust that members have in their leaders. I do not know if the leaders
realized the seriousness of this because we have not seen any quick actions
to fix the cleavage.
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India is the largest section and has been steadily growing. It is the big
elephant in the room. No one can ignore this fact. And most members belong
to lodges and tend to vote in a block.

It is the membership in countries outside India that is in a very sad state
of affairs and needs urgent attention. The cleavage has not helped the
membership recruitment and retention issue outside India. In pre Internet
age where the leaders controlled the channel of communication to the
membership, they were able to spin and feed only information they felt
helpful to themselves and the organizations.
.
All took a radical turn with the coming of Internet. Now a lot of uptodate
 information is available about the events surrounding all organizations.
Also, newbees look not to the nitty gritty hair-splitting details of the
rules and regulations leaders may tout, but to important key actions of
leaders. Members (current and prospective) outside India are more likely to
have access to Internet and when they learn about last year's ultra secret
disenfranchisement attempt, they are confused and wonder what is going on in
an organization whose most important object is not meditation, astral travel
 etc., but Brotherhood and whose motto is +There is no religion higher than
truth+, both of which anyone can easily understand.
.
Out of the above events, no one associated with them has come out smelling
like a rose. You decide how they are smelling. On the other hand, without
some quick bold constructive action by the leaders, the membership growth
and retention in the countries outside India is going to be adversely
affected as every day goes by.
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Anyone who has dealt with serious issues, know that serious problems can be
addressed and solved only by addressing them in a face to face settings.
Email, faxes, letters, using third parties or surrogates or mouth pieces
cannot resolve serious problems.
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May be we all have to pray and meditate so that God will help to change the
current direction of events.
.
MKR
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There is no religion higher than truth


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