Theos-Talk Archives (December 1996 Message tl00294)

At 12:29 PM 12/13/96 -0500, you wrote:
>On Fri, 13 Dec 1996, K. Paul Johnson wrote:
>
>>
>> Surely it is *just* paranoia on my part, but Eldon's *purely*
>> hypothetical example of a person saying "The leaders of all the
>> theosophical groups are corrupt, power-hungry, ignorant
>> bastards that aren't insightful enough to accept and print my
>> brilliant books" does have a certain personal ring to it.  Strange and
>> wonderful how a post ostensibly devoted to showing us all how
>> to communicate in a brotherly/sisterly manner contains within
>> it a little plausibly-deniable attack on a fellow Theosophist!
>> Sorta passive-aggressive, on the purely *hypothetical* and
>> paranoid assumption that this was inspired by/directed at a
>> real person.
>
>Yes ... I got a bit of a chuckle too - curious how Eldon's purely
>hypothetical, impersonal examples all seemed to apply shockingly well to
>specific individuals. I'm sure it is just coincidental.
>							(-:), -JRC
>

I picked examples across a spectrum of judgement passing that
has gone on the list. The examples included a softening of a
position regarding psychism  -- so I'm included too. I was
expecting some people to come in and say "yes, I can appreciate
the examples, and here's one from my experience". The point is
that we all may be doing these things, experiencing miscommunication
and presuming what others are saying.

When Paul presumes he is being singled out for a passive-aggressive
attack, and you happily agree, both without asking me if that was
my intent, you're both doing the very thing I'm trying to make
people aware of and not do. (I did not particularly have him in
mind, and recall a number of times when people have complained
about not getting published by the theosophical groups and a
number of times when people have been strongly putting down the
motives and integrity of the people running the groups.)

I've had opportunity to experience both sides of miscommunication
on this list in the past, as have you and many others. It's
something that newcomers may not be able to help, not having
sufficient experience in this new media. But certainly with
years of experience, the majority of us can try to be more open
and direct. That includes not presuming the motives and intent of
others, insisting that one's dark suspicions are real without
bothering to ask for clarification.


-- Eldon