Theos-Talk Archives (October 1995 Message tl00073)

>I'm not fighting wind mills. I'll fight for Pedro & Rocinande
>(whether Lady or prostitute), if they need someone in their
>corner, but not for wind mills. As for instance, I took the
>time to read over the by laws published in the last AT, & put
>in a few protests, where I thought they were needed. Did you,
>Jerry? Alan you're in Britain, so these aren't your by laws.
>
>Liesel

 Sorry Liesel, I saw nothing in the By-laws changes that I
felt to be worthy of protest. Perhaps you can enlighten me.
Besides, my experience is that once something is published in the
AT it is pretty much of a done deal anyway. I would consider it
very close to "fighting windmills" to wait this long to protest a
bylaw change. For instance, when the Board decided to change the
bylaws to prevent anyone from running for President who had not
previously served on the Board (remember, that was done to
exclude Bing and gain more control over who can run), my wife and
I signed a petition of protest about it and wrote a letter to
Dorothy expressing our feelings long before a word of it was ever
printed in the AT. We didn't wait for an announcement in the AT
to begin the fight. As you know, we lost that battle (In fact,
we lose almost all of the battles), but that doesn't mean that we
stop fighting. An injustice once made, must be corrected and not
allowed to let stand. Precisely because the members don't
maintain a sustained protest, an Organization can get away with a
lot because they know that most of the membership will soon
forget about it. Though we lose most of the battles, once in a
while we gain a small victory. Ten years ago we started a
networking movement, and for a time it became a worldwide
phenomena--in fact it still is. Wheaton tried to undermine the
movement, ULT remained neutral and Pasadena adopted it and has
made continuous efforts over the years towards its support.
Though Wheaton would probably rather die than acknowledge our
part in this effort, it was a small (very small) victory for us
to find that Wheaton has taken the generous step of sending
greetings to ULT, Pasadena and Halcyon at their 1995 convention.
By the way, this is not the first time Wheaton has done this, but
it wasn't done before 1984.
 I don't want to get into a "who has done the most" contest
with you. I'm sure that you have also worked devotedly for the
cause. I just want you to understand that we have put most of
our time, money and personal resources into the Movement over the
years, and I have worked for it for over half of my life. I have
served as Refreshment chairman, Book sales, Lecturer, Class
leader, Treasurer, Publicity, Program Chairman, Lodge President,
as well as Federation President many times in the Adyar TS. We
have traveled all over California, around the country, into
Canada and Europe for the cause of Theosophy over the years, and
all at our own expense. If fact, there is very little that we do
that does not have a theosophical consideration involved. After
thirty-two years with this Organization, I feel that I have
earned the right to speak up when I see a wrong done. Maybe I
don't make much of a difference, I believe that I have made some
difference in this Organization, and it is a better place for it.
At any rate, I would rather be remembered as some old fool who
"fought windmills" than as someone who was part of the Movement
and played it safe by doing nothing.

Jerry Hejka-Ekins
Please reply to: jhe@toto.csustan.edu,and CC to
jhejkaekins@igc.apc.org