Theos-Talk Archives (December 2009 Message tt00113)

Actually it is in print somewhere from the 1980s.  Of course the  writer 
did not use my exact words and as I'm no longer in easy driving distance  of 
the Olcott Library I doubt I can find the specific reference, but yes, it is  
a stated policy to stay out of politics, at least as far as the US section 
has  always been concerned.
 
You have to remember, that during the Besant period, up into Arundale, the  
TS was very much a political organization and, well, it is embarrassing to 
say  this but it is the truth, openly pro-Fascist.  Mussolini was much  
praised.  In 1925 there was a massive, two part, article published in the  
Theosophist praising his Italy.  Now there is much in Italy to praise, but  
Mussolini was not among it.  This was really very surprising to me when I  
encountered the article but when I accidentally opened a volume of the Herald of  
the Star from 1922 to an article BY Mussolini, it became less surprising.
 
The final blow was by Arundale, who in 1936 wrote that the three greatest  
leaders in the world were Hitler, Mussolini and Franklin Roosevelt!  What  
Franklin thought of that was not recorded.
 
Chuck the Heretic
 
_www.charlescosimano.com  

 
In a message dated 12/22/2009 3:05:34 A.M. Central Standard Time,  
global-theosophy@stofanet.dk writes:

 
 
 
Thank you for your answer.
But, that did not really answer all of my  questions.
Has there been any official words in print etc. about this from  the TS 
leaders? 

Well I ask, unless you as a Heretic will claim to be  an representative. 
:-)

----- Original Message ----- 
From:  




_ (http://www.charlescosimano.com/) _Drpsionic@aol.Drp_ 
(mailto:Drpsionic@aol.com) _ 
To: _ (http://www.charlescosimano.com/) _theos-talk@yahoogrotheos-t_ 
(mailto:theos-talk@yahoogroups.com) _ 
Sent: Tuesday, December 22, 2009  1:23 AM
Subject: Re: Theos-World The Theosophical Society and its Political  
involvements

yes, the Theosophical Society was seriously entangled in  politics during 
the Besant/Leadbeater madness and that is why it is  avoided like the 
plague 
now.

Chuck the  Heretic

www.charlescosimanowww.c

In a message dated  12/21/2009 1:40:44 P.M. Central Standard Time, 
_ (http://www.charlescosimano.com/) _global-theosophy@global-thgl_ 
(mailto:global-theosophy@stofanet.dk)  writes:

Dear friends

My  views are:

I have learned that is one does not ask any  questions...I have learned 
that is one does not

So now I will  ask this our forum with all its members, among which at 
least some can be  called Seekers After Truth and Wisdom, aiming for an 
Universal Brotherhood  and Sisterhood.

1.
I will ask about where is the stance on politics  today in the Theosophical 
Society, and to what extend are members and the  President of the 
Theosophical Society allowed to involve himself or  herself with political 
activities 
and political  dispuites?

2.
Second.

...Was The Theosophical Society  entangled with politics when Annie Besant 
was leader of the Theosophical  Society, leader of The Esoteric Section, 
and 
President of The Indian  National Congress in 1917?

I will say, that the following speech  perhaos would be a good idea to keep 
in mind, before answering this  question. I give a minor excerpt of it in 
the below.

The  Preidential Address Delivered By
ANNIE BESANT 
At The Thirty Second  Indian
National Congress
Held At Calcutta
26th December 1917
"The  Great War, into the whirlpool of which Nation after Nation has been 
drawn,  has entered on its fourth year. The rigid censorship which has been 
 
established makes it impossible for any outside the circle of Governments  
to 
forecast its duration, but to me, speaking for a moment not as a  
politician but as a student of spiritual laws, to me its end is sure. For  
the true 
object of this War is to prove the evil of, and to destroy,  autocracy and 
the enslavement of one Nation by another, and to place on  sure foundations 
the God-given Right to Self-Rule and Self-Development of  every Nation, and 
the similar right of the Individual, of the smaller  Self, so far as is 
consistent with the welfare of the larger Self of the  Nation. The forces 
which 
make for the prolongation of autocracy-the rule  of one-and the even 
deadlier 
bureaucracy-bureaucracy-<WBR>"The Great War, into the  whirlpool of which 
Nat
has been drawn, has entered on its  fourth year. The rigid censorship which 
has been established makes it  impossible for any outside the circle of 
Governments to forecast its  duration, but to me, speaking for a moment not 
as 
a politician but as a  student of spiritual laws, to me its end is sure. 
For 
the true object of  this War is to prove the evil of, and to destroy, 
autocracy and the  enslavement of one Nation by another, and to place on 
sure 
foundations the  God-given Right to Self-Rule and Self-Development of every 
Nation, and the  similar right of the I
Autocracy and bureaucracy must perish utterly, in  East and West, and, in 
order that their germs may not re-sprout in the  future, they must be 
discredited in the minds of men. They must be proved  to be less efficient 
than the 
Governments of Free Peoples, even in their  favourite work of War, and 
their iron machinery-which at first brings  outer prosperity and 
success-must be 
shown to be less lasting and  effective than the living and flexible 
organisations of democratic  Peoples. They must be proved failures before 
the 
world, so that the  glamour of superficial successes may be destroyed for 
ever. 
They have had  their day and their place in evolution, and have done their 
educative  work. Now they are out-of-date, unfit for survival, and must 
vanish  
away."
.......
"Since 1885, the Congress has constantly protested  against the 
ever-increasing military expenditure, but the voice of the  Congress was 
supposed to be 
the voice of sedition and of class ambition,  instead of being, as it was 
the voice of educated Indians, the most truly  patriotic and loyal class of 
the population."
.......
"LOSS OF  BELIEF IN THE SUPERIORITY OF WHITE RACES

The undermining of this belief  dates from the spreading of the Arya Samaj 
and the Theosophical Society.  Both bodies sought to lead the Indian people 
to a sense of the value of  their own civilisation, to pride in their past, 
creating self-respect in  the present, and self-confidence in the future. 
They destroyed the  unhealthy inclination to imitate the West in all 
things, 
and taught  discrimination, the using only of what was valuable in western 
thought and  culture, instead of a mere slavish copying of everything. 
Another 
great  force was that of Swami Vivekananda, alike in his passionate love 
and  admiration for India, and his exposure of the evils resulting from  
Materialism in the West. "
.......
"In the adapted words of a  Christian Scripture, it passionately cries: 
"What shall it profit a Nation  if it gain the whole world and lose its own 
Soul? What shall a Nation give  in exchange for its Soul?" "
.......
"This may seem strong language,  because the plain truth is not usually put 
in India. But this is what  every Briton feels in Britain for his own 
country, and what every Indian  should feel in India for his. This is the 
Freedom 
for which the Allies are  fighting; this is Democracy, the Spirit of the 
Age. "
.......
"And  from_ that union shall arise the mightiest Empire, or rather 
Commonwealth,  th_at the world has ever known, a Commonwealth that, in 
God's good 
time,  shall put an end to War."

_ (_ (http://www.charlescosimano.com/) _http://www.charleschttp://www.c_ 
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3.
Third.
Is it fair  to say that The Theosophical Society today year 2009 still is 
entangled  with politics because it still highlights Annie Besant as a 
great  
spiritual leader?

Seeking the Truth

M.  Sufilight

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