Theos-Talk Archives (January 2002 Message tt00506)

--- In theos-talk@y..., "redrosarian" <redrosarian@y...> wrote:
> 
> If I were the only one speaking out, one might have cause for 
> complaint. Rather than getting emotional and paranoid about being 
> attacked, one might consider that their critics might have a point 
> and change their perspective. Then again, maybe not.
> 
This is still too elliptical for me; somehow the conflicting urges to 
avoid being personal and yet to criticize persons leaves your message 
rather muddled. So I can kinda sorta guess that your main target in 
these remarks is Brigitte, but that I'm included as one of her 
accomplices? As for my own response to criticism, it has been 
*consistently* to change perspectives. Each of my books is different 
from its predecessor, in part because of criticism received. 

> The negative tendency of independent thinkers is to ignore what 
> others say and keep on doing what they're doing because they're 
right and others don't know what they're talking about. 

Maybe that's intended for Brigitte, and I can only say that perhaps 
she is wiser than I was. Rather than ignoring criticism of a certain 
kind (that is, relentless accusations and personal abuse) I allowed 
it to drive me out of a movement in which I'd spent two productive 
decades. I allowed it to scare me out of doing any further research 
or writing on a subject that continues to hold great interest. There 
are no regrets about refocusing my energy on Cayce, as that book was 
a joy to research and write and EC is really more a central figure in 
my spiritual life than HPB ever was. But I do indeed regret having 
been so traumatized by a handful of mean Theosophists that I became 
too avoidant of controversy, too cautious of the possibility of 
offending powers that be and getting attacked as a result. My book 
on Cayce is probably less valuable to scholars than it might have 
been, as a result of the way I bent over backwards to avoid giving 
offense to believers. Of course, no one predicted the millennial 
meltdown that started to happen right after ECIC came out, but I 
still feel guilt for presenting a rosier picture of ARE than it 
turned out to deserve.

Thus Brigitte's and Steve's aggressiveness gives me mixed feelings. 
As someone who tends to be a softie, I sometimes wish they'd be less 
aggressive. (For one thing, because their aggressive exchanges with 
Dallas and Daniel have dragged me in and brought up lots of very 
unpleasant memories.) But as someone who was terrorized into silence 
by Theosophical aggression, I am glad to see people who are less 
easily intimidated taking up the battle for independent historical 
inquiry about HPB. Only those who have what you call conceit could 
possibly keep going when they're receiving personal criticism for 
their ideas about history. More sensitive folks would just give up 
and leave HPB to her idolators.

Cheers,

Paul