Hmmmm, typical. Making picky comments about Crowley is like shooting fish in a barrel and, for the last fifty-odd years, like shooting dead fish in a barrel!
History seems to be full of these people who are easy scapegoats. There are plenty of people out there who are complete arseholes, people who rape children, commit murder and other attrocities, but most of these go unnoticed. But somehow there are people like Crowley who seem to rub the media up the wrong way, and voila, they're infamous for years after their death! Take a hike Dharma, Berkowitz and Manson, you can't compare!
I guess the trouble with Crowley is that he had his ups and downs, and went from being a great mountain-climber (by many testimonies other than his own) to a disaster on the Kanchenjunga. Similarly, one might also guess that he had moments of greatness in his spiritual pursuits, but that he also, to some extent, had his downpoints in this too. At the end of the day, looking back on life, haven't we all?
I think that what set Crowley apart are two things.
Firstly, he absolutely LOVED upsetting the media! He was like a kid on Christmas morning whenever scandals broke. This is why he didn't try to deny any of the ridiculous accusations made against him - until, that is, he was penniless and saw, years before the American nation caught the fad, that libel could be profitable!
Secondly, he had a driving ambition. He didn't just learn chess when he was bored - he mastered it to a rare level. He didn't just go for a hike - he became obsessed with mountain climbing. He also managed to somehow reach excesses of what some might call sin, coupled with what others might call holiness. His sex drive must have been huge - his records of prostitutes bought in New York are phenomenal.
But in hindsight, was this really such a big deal? He did lots of drugs - today he'd probably hang out with rock stars! He had lots of sex - ditto! He was rich, he could afford it! This is really the limit of his proven excess - not much by today's standards! Charlotte Church will have been through similar by the time she's 30!
For those of us who actually find value in his work, just as others might find value in the Bible, Dhammapada, Lord of the Rings or whatever they like, I think it's worth putting up with Crowley's faults. And taking cheap shots at a dead guy isn't so tough!
See ya,
S