Theos-Talk Archives (December 1996 Message tl00475)

TR
>I would not be surprised if Willamay Pym is one of which you are
>fond, since she was who I was referring to as the one of whom I
>think highly.  I would find it hard to believe that she has been
>involved in suppressing anyone's voice.  We both attend most
>members' meetings at the Seattle lodge, we are both on the
>board, and we frequently disagree, but I have never seen a sign
>of her trying to suppress anything I (or anyone else) wanted to
>say, but just the opposite.  She has gone out of her way to
>encourage me.

JHE
Yes, Willamay has a real talent for helping people to find their
potential and empowering them into action.  I think that most all
of the people who are or who have been in this inner circle have
been exceptional in different ways.  But my experience has been
that what these people do in a social situation, or in a Lodge
meeting does not tell me very much about what they do behind
closed doors when they are making decisions for the TS.  My
experience is that everyone has a good side and a dark side.
Sometimes we get to know one of these sides for better or worse,
then many years later discover that they have another side too.

TR
>I know little of the politics of the TS, but I find it easy to
>believe that these people have the power that you say they do.
>But why is that considered to be a problem?  The only
>alternative to someone having power is to not have an
>organization at all.  That power can be abused does not mean
>that it is not a net gain.  My impression so far from the
>comments on this list is that the very existence of power, not
>how it is used, is what is being criticized.  If Theosophy does
>not stand for some ideas and reject others, the word "Theosophy"
>is meaningless.

JHE
The Theosophical Society was founded as a democratic
organization.  IMO, most of the dissatisfaction stems from those
who feel that the bylaw changes over the past twenty years have
been eroding the input that the members once had in this
organization.  If you are not politically involved, then these
changes would not have any real effect upon you.  But if you were
one of the people primarily responsible for a Lodge, or if you
were the President of a Federation, or if you had thoughts of
running for a National Board position, then things would begin to
look very different.


------------------------------------------
   |Jerry Hejka-Ekins,                      |
      |Member TI, TSA, TSP, ULT                |
         |Please reply to: jhe@toto.csustan.edu   |
            |and CC to jhejkaekins@igc.apc.org       |
               ------------------------------------------