Transparency or Secrecy, is it an either/or question?

[irenicspace]

Esoteric organizations face a daunting task in the future due to the changes in society. As societal norms change, individual expectations of organizations and the individuals in the organization change. This means that members, potential members and non-members alike will look at an organization and expect it to operate in a socially known way

Comments

[azael93]

Excellent! The other thing about transparency is that the more satisfaction members of an organization have with that organization, the less transparency they demand. People only want to know what's going on when it's not going well. When bodies are getting chartered, initiate and treasury numbers are swelling, and people see their leaders supporting and assisting them, that's good enough. It's when Oasis masters with initiation charters are complaining of unjust treatment, when Areopagus and Sovereign Sanctuary members are resigning in very public and messy ways, when Body closures are removed from business updates for the membership -- then people want to know what the hell is going on.

[irenicspace]

People only want to know what's going on when it's not going well.

I don't agree with this. I think people want it at all times because it provides constant feedback on the organization and can alert people to changes, no matter how small.

The trend towards transparency can bee seen in all areas of life from work, to government to even personal relationships. How many relationships fail because the partners fail to communicate with each other? Billy Joel even talks about this in his song Tell Her About It. He sings "Though you may have done nothing wrong / will that be a consolation when she is gone?" I think this is a permanent trend and the occult orgs need to wake up to it and adapt accordingly.

[ashkosis]

I'm glad to see you are addressing this issue in such an intelligent way. I have also been thinking about transparency lately. I will give you an honest opinion. I sadly believe that one reason the Order has such minimal transparency in its operations is because so much of it is arbitrary and ad hoc. How can there be operational transparency when there is no solid, regularized operation to be transparent about? Decisions often seem to be based more on personal agendas than operational guidelines

[mkblack]

I second that. Good comment!

[irenicspace]

Thank you for your thoughtful reply

[ashkosis]

I know you are discouraged and do not deny your reasons for being so. But the fact that you are writing this useful and necessary essay tells me that you haven't given up. I believe that the core of OTO is rich with meaning and opportunity. It's worth fighting for, I believe.

[isomeme]

I don't consider OTO to be a "secret" or "occult" organization. To borrow a Masonic saying, "We're not a secret society; we're a society with secrets." Our initiation rituals are of course secret. Membership status of individuals is kept private. Beyond that, we're about as open as any organization out there. For my own Grand Lodge office I have adopted the slogan "Secret societies don't have websites." :)

As such, this entire issue seems to miss the point. The Order certainly has its share of problems, but excessive secrecy does not strike me as being one of them.

[omegabaphomet]

The Masonic saying "we're not a secret society, but a society with secrets" is used to mean that masonic membership is a public record. Each jurisdiction publishes their membership roster and makes it available for public inspection.

In fact, masons are specifically contrasting themselves with organizations, like the OTO, that do keep their membership rosters secret.

[isomeme]

I've seen it used to address other facets of their activities, but that's an interesting point to consider. Why should any organization publish its roster? Do (e.g.) Catholic churches or Elks lodges do so? What motivates the Masons to do this?

public roster

[paradoxosalpha]

The Masons do it as a defensive measure, after centuries of bad press for private meetings and secret rituals. In some countries, they have been required by the state to do so. In the US, freedom of association still permits organizations to keep rosters confidential -- the last I checked. (The relevant test case was the ACLU defending the Klan in Jarrell, Texas in the 1990's.)