Theos-Talk Archives (October 2004 Message tt00076)

The message "Theos-World Gregory Tillett, Read This Carefully" suggests 
some detachment from reality. It was nice of Paul to defend me against 
such a posting, but it was so bizarre that, far from feeling attacked, I 
felt concern for the psychological well-being of the writer.

Those who look only for the good also fail to see the bad. 

Hitler was an excellent administrator, a strong leader, a man of deeply 
held principles, and a great "reformer". Those who accuse him of being a 
fascist, racist, mass-murderer, and tyrant clearly (following Anand's 
principle) "ignore all good qualities in great people. They highlight 
only faults in great people and try to convince others also how that 
great person was bad." Those who promoted and enacted the Inquisition 
(and those who burned Giodarno Bruno and others) were men of strong faith 
and commitment, and loyal servants of their masters, and put what they 
read as Divine Will over and above all else. Those who criticize them 
(following Anand's principle) "are like animal souls in human body, so to 
speak" because they find fault and focus on the murder, the torture, the 
oppression of intellectual freedom rather than on the good. Thus also 
tyrants throughout the world and history. The killing fields of Cambodia 
or Rwanda were doubtless produced by men of great sincerity, enthusiasm 
and commitment, highly competent in organizational management, and 
dedicated to their political agenda. Shall we therefore not criticize 
their actions but focus, rather, (following Anand's principle) on their 
positive qualities?

Perhaps Ananda is a disciple of "Ramtha" and other New Age mind-numbing, 
morally-defective gurus who argue that "all things are good" - including 
rape, murder, theft, genocide and torture. It is only our "understanding" 
that is limited and fails to see the good in the apparently bad. Welcome 
to a world without morality!

Perhaps Anand has also missed out on reading Blavatsky's vigorous (and 
savage) attacks on those of whom she did not approve. Can we conclude 
that is "an animal soul in a human body"?

Juman beings are not either good or bad; they are fusions of both. Good 
men can do bad things, and bad men can do good things. I have worked 
professionally with a sufficient number of bad (i.e. criminal) people to 
know that they often have good qualities and do good things. Should they 
not be prosecuted, convicted and imprisoned? One of the most generous, 
pleasant, well-educated and charitable men I have ever met, who was 
selfless in his work for the poor, happened also to be a serial sexual 
rapist of children. Should we not talk about his crimes because he did 
much good?

But, all that aside, scholarship is not about good and bad - it is about 
fact and interpretation. To say that Leadbeater lied about his birthdate 
(and much else besides) is a simple statement of historical fact, 
supported by more than adequate evidence. Does this make him a bad man? 
was he a criminal conman? or was he a tragic and self-deluded figure? I 
have no way of knowing, and make no judgment.

Dr Gregory Tillett