Theos-Talk Archives (November 1999 Message tl00068)

At 11:42 AM 10/18/1999 +0200, hesse600 wrote:

> My dislike for the ES is therefore in direct proportion to
 the pretentions at wisdom, and the lack of flexibility in
 the way the rules are applied.
 In HPB's days the rules were meant as advice. When one
 broke a rule, one was responsible to one's own
 consciousness. All this is gone. Recently in Brasil a man
 was expelled from the ES because of his sexual orientation. <

In the recently re-published Elliott Coues article, there is a reference to
the ES. Here is an excerpt.

 '2. I pledge myself to support before the
                    world the Theosophical movement, its
                    leaders and its members, and in
                    particular to obey without cavil or delay
                    the orders of the head of the Esoteric
                    Section."

====

It is the requirement above that has greatest potential for control of
members of TS that alarmed Olcott that he feared that a small group could
have a stranglehold on the society which was set up as a democratic one.

While I do not know for sure what the current status is, there is a great
potential for loss of "freedom" to follow one's conscience.

mkr