Theos-Talk Archives (March 2011 Message tt00153)

Here are some addition info on the topic.

Florida Federation Board has played an active role in encouraging the
National Board to shut down the Orlando Lodge.

A member of TS mentioned to me that the bylaws of TSA clearly state that the
Federation shall not infringe on the autonomy of lodges and study centers
and their direct relationship with National Headquarters.

Hence it appears that Florida Federation has interfered in the Orlando Lodge
issue in violation of the bylaws and the National Board should have told the
officers of the Federation that they should not get involved in the issue,
however serious it may be.

The autonomy of the TS Sections and the Lodges are very sacred and are key
to their effective and efficient functioning and every member should honor
the autonomy.


MKR


On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 1:21 PM, MKR <mkr777@kKxdPktsk7uQjx4Z2Gsq2xFE6cmqMJcfM6elzunz38pcTtJzs8IYgOnLaWzQzzuKfY-NDfhX2BfD.yahoo.invalid> wrote:

>
>
> Orlando Lodge Update
>
> In the Spring 2011 Quest Journal of Theosophical Society in America, the
> President of TSA writes:
>
> While at Adyar, I discussed the Orlando Lodge with Radha. At the unanimous
> recommendation of the Florida Federation Board, the national TSA Board
> determined to close the Orlando Lodge last year and began the proceedings
> to
> do so because of the many documented complaints about their operations. The
> national board had already sent the packet of documentation concerning the
> issue to Radha on three different occasions, to no avail. Because of the
> critical nature of the issue, our national Board has twice unanimously
> petitioned Radha to allow closure of the Orlando Lodge rather than engaging
> in the detrimental action of affiliating Orlando directly with Adyar. As
> this difficulty has touched so many of our members, we are still hopeful of
> a positive outcome.
>
> There are several issues surround the above.
>
> 1. Orlando Lodge is 76 years old and at a time of continued dwindling
> membership and down sizing of lodges in big cities like Atlanta (whose
> metropolitan population is 6 million) down sizing to Study Center (Lodge
> requires 7 members and Study Center only 3 members), shutting down a lodge
> is a very serious issue that should be clearly explained to TSA members
> citing clear cut violations of the rules of TS and/or TSA.
>
> 2. The lodge is now directly attached to Adyar. No one is questioning the
> authority of the International President in the decision to attach the
> lodge
> to Adyar.
>
> 3. The great take over interest the Board has taken seems to be mainly due
> to valuable real estate and other assets of the lodge.
>
> 4. To date, neither the National President nor any of the Board Members
> have
> personally visited the lodge and did a first hand inquiry of the facts and
> attempt to try to solve any problems and keep the lodge operating. On
> serious matters, such as this, facts have to be determined first hand then
> only one gets a true and complete picture of the situation which can lead
> to
> a solution to any problems that may exist. This brings to my mind, the
> constant world-wide travels of Olcott to settle problems relating to TS.
> One
> has to just read his Old Diary Leaves.
>
> 5. When the Board took a decision to close the lodge, the matter ended up
> in
> the Florida Courts. There is no mention of this in the statement in Quest.
> Litigation is not cheap and no one knows how much theosophical money has
> already been wasted by both sides.
>
> 6. One wonders where does the Federation comes into the picture about
> closing of any lodge. Usually, the Federation meets once a year and all the
> day to day activities are carried on by the lodges. It is significant that
> Florida Foundation seems to be the main party behind the attempt to shut
> down the lodge. Are there any other unspoken reasons behind the episode?
>
> 7. It is claimed that the complaints have been documented. If so, why not
> the Board disclose them to TSA membership.
>
> If there is a strong case, such transparency will help the credibility of
> the Board. This is needed because lack of transparency in the past,
> especially the super secret ill fated attempt to disenfranchise all members
> in the election of International President three years ago which emanated
> from Wheaton.
>
> Let us keep tuned for any further developments in the Orlando Saga.
>
> MKR
>
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>
>  
>


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