Maybe folks who feel misunderstood identify strongly with others in the same circumstances and if indeed Crowley is misunderstood, and if people feel his view of Law is particularly liberating, well...for sure no one defends AE Waite with such vehemence.
I don't understand why Crowley has such appeal as a liberator, given the times we live in. It's not like he's the only, first, best, or most recent to say: Watch out boys and girls, social norms can be repressive, there's more to life than meets the eye, you can empower yourself, sex is good.
But if Crowley is misunderstood, or gets what he really wanted, or gets what he deserved...how does that relate to the Thoth tarot?
In participating on this thread, I realized that I am not particularly enamored of any deck where astrological, mystical and/or magic(k)al symbolism is heavy-handed.
The Thoth has interesting geometry and beautiful colors going for it. In the negative column is "too much symbolism for Debra."
I think...knowing a bit about Crowley gives me an aversion to the deck I might not have if he wasn't behind it.
Rosanne looks at the cards and sees Frieda Harris, but I'm not sure that's much better insofar as she was his acolyte. Same with the Osho Zen deck--the Maharishi himself didn't paint it, but Ma Deva who did was in accord with his views on how to live, which were both inconsistent with the "peace love joy" philosophy of the community they ran, and guru-centered--back to Rosanne's quote on moral immaturity.
I guess the guru approach just ain't for me.