Editing Helena Blavatsky (section)

=== Socio-political beliefs ===

Godwin suggested that Blavatsky's life work was "not only spiritual but socially idealistic and fiercely political".{{sfn|Godwin|1994b|p=xviii}} He suggested that her "emotional fuel" was partly "a hatred of oppression", which Godwin claimed was either through the intellectual domination of Christianity or British colonial rule in India.{{sfn|Godwin|1994b|p=xviii}} Conversely, Meade thought Blavatsky to be "basically a non-political person".{{sfn|Meade|1980|p=198}}

Blavatsky's social and political beliefs, like much else in her life, are not always consistent, though reflect what she felt she could reveal of a larger vision.  That was, more than anything else, the vision of the succession of root races. These races were a flexible category, cultural as well as physiological, with races often combining in the course of history.  Moreover, inspired by recent acrimonious debates over evolution, they are also dynamic, emergent forces.  Gary Lachman wrote, "Although few historians have noted it, in Isis Unveiled (1877), Blavatsky presented the first major intellectual – not religious – criticism of evolution."  {Lachman 2012, 159–60}  Blavatsky held that Darwinism explained human physical evolution, while spirituality followed another developmental pattern.{{Citation needed|date=July 2023}}

The scholar of religion [[Olav Hammer]] noted that "on rare occasions" Blavatsky's writings are "overtly racist",{{sfn|Hammer|2001|p=121}} adding that her antisemitism "derives from the unfortunate position of Judaism as the origin of Christianity" and refers to "the intense dislike she felt for Christianity".{{sfn|Hammer|2001|p=121}}