Theos-Talk Archives (July 2010 Message tt00111)

Was this group only set up to keep the bastards honest or is that what it has 
deteriorated into?

Cass 

Â

>
>From: "schuller@alpheus.org" <schuller@alpheus.org>
>To: theos-talk@yahoogroups.com
>Sent: Thu, 29 July, 2010 3:29:38 AM
>Subject: Re: Theos-World Re: Comments on Independence and impartiality
>
>Â 
>Dear Katinka and MKR,
>
>Katinka, before people get a wrong impression, I have to state that I have
>never been censored on this forum. I'm free to post and I assume my
>contributions are still in the archive.
>
>MKR, your position on independence can be read as an a priori
>disqualification of people who have derived a material compensation from
>an organization and those who are in leadership positions doling out the
>compensations. It also gives undue weight to those who are materially
>independent from the TS like yourself. I think that's a prejudice and not
>helpful if you want to make this group more hospitable to any and all
>Theosophists, especially its leadership.
>
>Most Adyar Theosophists stay away here because they experience this group
>as badly managed, even toxic, though many might lurk to catch tid-bits of
>news, leaks, facts and gossip, which might not be available anywhere else.
>
>I do appreciate your insistence on organizational transparency and better
>use of technology for communication.
>
>Best
>
>Govert
>
>> Hi MKR,
>>
>> That's great to hear, but not really what people are concerned about I
>> think.
>>
>> Let's go back a bit. At the Theosophical World Congress, and through email
>> in the days after it, several people expressed their concern to me that
>> your management of theos-talk was not impartial. That is: you have
>> sensored people who had perfectly decent contributions to make (Preetthi
>> and Govert and perhaps more) and seemed informed extraordinarily quickly
>> of any movement on the part of Radha/Pedro etc.
>>
>> Hearing that, and thinking that Eldon was still ultimately in charge of
>> this list, I asked him to use his authority to get the list back on track,
>> or close it. Whichever he preferred. He probably contacted you - and the
>> below is your response.
>>
>> Personally I don't give a darn whether you make money on theosophy or not.
>> Obviously it is easier to be critical for those who aren't in the employ
>> of the TS, but that doesn't mean that those who aren't - are necessarily
>> impartial. They're just financially independent of the TS - which is the
>> situation for most of us here.
>>
>> For me, and several of my correspondents - the question is: why has
>> theos-talk stopped being the open forum it used to be?
>>
>> And more specifically: how come you use several email addresses to post on
>> here? What are you trying to hide? In fact, the speculation has come up
>> that MKR hides several people on several continents.
>>
>> Now I'm all for freedom and would have preferred for theosophical.ning.com
>> to stay open for everybody and the search engines. Glad some of us set up
>> theosophy.net last year: it IS open (just checked).
>>
>> However, I'm also all for accountability. The internet gives us all the
>> opportunity to hide behind screen names and loose all fairness in the
>> process. No need to be polite or just when nobody knows who you are.
>>
>> Now - in case this gets censored - I will be saving the text of this on my
>> pc. I don't really want to post it elsewhere, but I do think the below has
>> made a response necessary.
>>
>> I will also be deleting any links to theos-talk on my own sites BTW as it
>> doesn't seem like this forum serves any purpose to the theosophical
>> movement any more.
>>
>> Best wishes,
>> Katinka Hesselink
>>
>> Disclosure: The Dutch TS paid me for their recent redesign, so I guess I'm
>> not independent by your definition. That hasn't stopped me from speaking
>> out where I see fit though.
>> --- In theos-talk@yahoogroups.com, MKR <mkr777@...> wrote:
>>>
>>> All organized entities such as governments, business corporations,
>>> spiritual
>>> organizations, and even individual leaders and politicians are always on
>>> the
>>> look out for opportunities to influence the individuals such as
>>> membership
>>> and even media people to either keep them in line or influence them to
>>> act
>>> or write in ways supporting the activities and action of the
>>> organizations
>>> and its leaders or even act as catÃââs paws to handle touchy issues.
>>> Many
>>> times, clever individuals and leaders will stay back in the background
>>> and
>>> let others do their dirty work.
>>>
>>> In organizations, range of techniques used may be outright giving money
>>> grants, reimbursing the travel expenses, offer platforms to lecture or
>>> write
>>> or even help them to move up in the leadership ladder. In theosophical
>>> circles, due to the common membership in other officially unconnected
>>> organizations, the fear of paying a price will keep writers and
>>> lecturers in
>>> line with official wishes.
>>>
>>> The reason why I bring this up is because it is necessary to clarify my
>>> personal position in all activities and writings related to theosophical
>>> and
>>> other issues. Firstly, as I have mentioned several times before, I
>>> maintain
>>> my independence because of several reasons. I am not looking forward to
>>> hold
>>> any elected office in future and I have an independent lively hood which
>>> does not depend on TS or any of its members. Also in the past I have
>>> never
>>> received any manner of financial support from TS or any of its members.
>>>
>>> I am reiterating the above so that the newbees are very clear as to
>>> where I
>>> come from and the independence gives some credibility to what I write on
>>> this and other theosophical forums. In todayÃââs Internet environment,
>>> transparent and open clarification of the independence issue is good for
>>> anyone in the cyberspace - writers, participants, website owners,
>>> website
>>> operators etc. I hope the above clarification helps.
>>>
>>>
>>> MKR
>>>
>>> There is No Religion Higher Than Truth
>>>
>>>
>>> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>


      

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