Theos-Talk Archives (February 1996 Message tl00025)

On Tue, 6 Feb 1996 16:26:30 -0500, sge95fmo@lustudat.student.lu.se
(Fredrik Montelius) wrote:

>>Comment to the "Protest Unconstitutional Bill": The "Protest
>Unconstitutional Bill" was sent to theos-buds pleading members of the TS to
>"sign" the protest referring to the notion that freedom of thought is a
>central belief among American Theosophists. But let's pause to think for a
>moment what it all means before we jump to conclusions.

snip out a lot.....................

This response is much as I thought would come from *some* parts of the
theosophical community, and beyond saying that I disagree, I will not
comment on its content (except to say that the author should study
paragraphing).

However, the author makes a statement that I find profoundly
distressing -

Quote:

>.....................................Did not HPB rage against
>the media and did she not just hate all the "mental pollution" (my
>expression) distributed by newspapers (and I am more than certain she would
>include any other media operating today) saying that journalists were
>responsible for spreading mental diseases by writing articles in an
>unresponsible manner,
>            and did she not say that the Masters had said there
                                          ^^^^^^^

>would some day in an unspecified future be neccesary to appoint an entirely
>new police force, a "thought police" unit, to defend people against
                      ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>destructive thinking?

End Quote.

As I have stated before, I did not join a theosophical organization
out of "belief" in any doctrine proposed by HPB or her teacher, in
fact, I openly admit that I do not hold such beliefs, but rather, I
joined from respect for the principles and character of the founders
as reflected in current organization. This quote, coming from an
individual who identifies himself as a member of ULT - self-proclaimed
guardians of the veracity and authenticity of the original thought of
HPB - causes me to question whether the founders deserve my respect.

I sincerely call upon any knowledgable theosophist to either
authenticate or show to be false this assertion that HPB at any time,
for any reason, entertained the idea that "thought police" to keep us
fro "destructive" thinking was a reasonable proposition.

This is deeply serious to me. I cannot respect any organization that
honors a person who could promote such an idea. I hope this is just a
misunderstanding. On the other hand, if it can be shown that HPB did
hold and promote such an idea then I will feel compelled to resign
from my affiliation from any TS organization I may belong to.

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