Theos-Talk Archives (December 2010 Message tt00108)

Today augers well for the future of theosophy and TS. Firstly, the early
yearsâ Theosophist have been scanned and uploaded to Internet due to the
labors of a handful of committed very independent minded theosophists and
with no involvement of any theosophical organization  directly or
indirectly.

Secondly, we have the good news from Orlando Lodge. The American Section
tried to shut down the lodge and take over all the assets, and the lodge has
a reprieve on account of the decision of the International President.

Many lodges have been shut down in the past, with no clear cut explanation
from the elected board as the what were the reasons for shutting down.
Anyone who either has built up a lodge or has the historical information
about lodges, knows how difficult it is to start and build a lodge.

The elected board, which many suspect is simply a rubber stamp for the
national president, by simply passing a formal resolution can shut down a
lodge. In the past when organizations controlled the channels of
communications with members, decisions were under the radar and rarely the
board told why a lodge is shutdown nor members had a means of eliciting the
info.

Now the environment has changed with the pervasive use of Internet.
Information can be  distributed at the speed of sound by any individual. The
power has moved from organizational leaders to individuals. So decisions and
actions of elected board cannot be kept under the radar or even secret.

Some of the elected theosophical leaders, including the Quartet who tried to
disenfranchise all of us in the election of International President, do not
seem to see that the world has changed radically with Internet. Actions and
decisions are broadcast around the world. Thus actions and decisions have to
be defended and supported by credible and solid reasonable facts, if the
elected leaders want to enhance their credibility in the minds of many dues
paying members.

A case in point is the Orlando Lodge decision. While it is being litigated
in the court, simple explanation of what was wrong with the lodge serious
enough to shut it down and take over its assets need to be provided to the
membership. The lodge is not a new one. Its is 75 years old - older than
every elected member of the board in the USA. Simple keeping silent under
the excuse that it is under litigation is going to erode the opinion of many
members.

One of the salient details we have seen is that neither the National
President nor any of the elected members of the Board seem to have visited
the lodge recently to find out the details of the problems and issues
surrounding the lodge. Common sense tells that serious problems require
personal first hand inquiry and handling before hiring a lawyer to take care
of the dispute. In all litigation, apart from the negative publicity that is
bound to spread in todayâs world, everyone loses and the only winners are
the lawyers.

I hope the elected leaders, who are no where seen on this maillist, gets to
read this message and take appropriate steps to address the problem and
explain to members why they took the decision to shut down the lodge. Sooner
they do it, better it is for them, for TS, and for theosophy.

Let us keep tuned in.

MKR

There is no religion higher than Truth


On Sat, Dec 18, 2010 at 7:01 PM, t_s_theosophist <THEOSOPHIST@Byyb0bHH_atqtA2Yq5yGhaG6m2I13BdUTP0UCn5IBYTCif21xfjz6JMfB0BVntF7g2CLLstyzt5HY96T.yahoo.invalid>wrote:

>
>
>
>
> ORLANDO LODGE VINDICATED
>
> Rumors of Our Demise Have Been Greatly Exaggerated (Mark Twain paraphrased)
>
>
> For the past two years the members of the Orlando Lodge have been extremely
> disturbed and disappointed by the unjust actions of the Bland TSA
> Administration as we have stood together in unity to repel their political
> vendetta against us. We will never succumb to false accusations and
> ludicrous lies as grounds for attempting to dissolve our Lodge and seize our
> assets.
>
> We believe that the Florida Federation and the TSA Directors were
> unwittingly misled to participate in an effort to silence and punish us for
> whistle-blowing. We have solid documentation and many credible witnesses to
> support our position of innocence regarding TSA's erroneous charges that our
> Lodge "had engaged in activities contrary to the best interest of the
> Society. Had we gone to court, our supporting evidence would have proved
> embarrassing to the Bland Administration.
>
> Because the Administration was unable to furnish documents or prove any of
> their allegations, on October 29, 2010, we received notice from the
> International President, Mrs. Radha Burnier, stating that she had granted
> our request under International Rules & Regulations 31, C & D, to quash the
> action of the TSA Administration and demit Orlando Lodge directly to Adyar
> for a period of two years.
>
> We have maintained our integrity and composure throughout this unwarranted
> attack on our Lodge, and we now continue the work of true Theosophy.
>
> Because false accusations were made public several times in the TSA
> Newsletter, The Messenger, we feel that as it stands right now the
> appropriate response to further amity and credibility is for the TSA
> Directors to issue a statement regretting that unfortunate mistakes were
> made.
>
> We are deeply grateful to our many fellow Theosophists around the world who
> have sent us their notes of solidarity and moral support during this
> unfortunate period.
>
> As always, we cordially welcome all visitors to our meetings. We meet on
> the first and third Fridays of each month at 7:00 P.M.
>
> "Sathya Meeva Jayathe"
> Truth Will Prevail
>
> Cordially and fraternally,
>
> Carl Metzger, President
> Theosophical Society In Orlando
>
> Victor Brown, Vice President
>
> William Delahunt, Secretary
>
> Donna Marcialis, Librarian
>
> Carolyn Taylor, Director
> Joseph Kurak, Director
>
> The Theosophical Society In Orlando Inc. (Orlando Lodge)
> 1606 New York Ave
> Orlando, Florida, 32803-1838
> USA.
>
> E-mail
> Theosophist@gD_UDyOBw79sx0GfBzRdq03am_jzA86Iu3RlO05JHWe7ClQxsMxC6YdLOfExsoRLrJTWKWeDKdYUXuSj3OUuZQ.yahoo.invalid <Theosophist%40webtv.net>
> Viquetor1@LJhQW6RGMgIq3AChGDZK_pdFQluu56pHfVoKRWD0O6gVCd7a1R4Ror_FlLbhbbGtBqJxDVMfN2M.yahoo.invalid <Viquetor1%40aol.com>
>
> Website:
> http://www.tso-orlando.org
>
> ==============
>
>  
>


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