The Other Michael

You realize of course that MT was perfectly justified by her religious beliefs in taking the action (or inaction) she did.

It appears to me this gets back to the life on earth vs life on heaven dichotomy.

If you've only got the one life to live on earth, then compassion to others (passing out the bucks to build shelters, feed the poor, establish medical clinics) is a good thing.

If the important thing is ensuring that people get to their Heavenly Abode then using their suffering to bring them closer to God would seem quite easily justified.

cheers,
Michael

emphryio

Hey, if I were a christian, I think I would devote myself to saving the multitudes from eternal hell.
And it would appear that any action is justified if it results in saving someone's "eternal soul".

Except for chucking morality out the window by choosing to be a christian in the first place, MT's actions seem justifiable to me.

As far as the idiotic worship of her, that's par for the course.

emphryio

Of course, for most christians, christianity is more about sitting around on your hiney doing nothing wrong as opposed to actually doing something right. (And it's a damm good thing.)

hinduwoman

I saw another building in Calcutta run by an organization called Little Sisters of the Poor. All I can say is that I want to be the poor's sister if it means I can live like them!

Arrowman

I broadly agree, Michael, and I would add the following:

I doubt that any but the most extreme forms of "martyr Christians" would agree with Mother Teresa's theology, and conversely most Christians would believe that "good works for the needy" are in fact an essential / natural part of a Christian life. Also, I believe most Christians, even the rabid fundies, acknowledge that the capacity for compassion and "good works" is not exclusive to Christians.

In other words, if they were fully acquainted with the facts most Christians would be (should be) as appalled as any atheist at Teresa's actions.

(In this I disagree with emphryio, who said "for most christians, christianity is more about sitting around on your hiney doing nothing wrong as opposed to actually doing something right". I think that is an unfair generalisation. Most Christians I know are no less inclined to "do something right" than any other person.)

But if that is the case, why does she enjoy such widespread support, and why do the arguments made by Hitchens and others fall on deaf ears? I think it is because Christians (and people in general)

1. Are unwilling / scared to accept that it is possible for such a person to be actually as callous and uncaring as she is. In the case of Christians this is particularly strong; it's like having to admit that your favourite football player is a bastard to his family.
2. Generally feel that a little religious proselytising doesn't matter as long as the "good works" are done.

This is the impression I get when I discuss Mother Teresa with other people, Christian and otherwise.

With regard to the second attitude, I think the important point to make is that while religion on top of good works may not be such a bad thing, in this case we have religion substituting for good works and in fact diverting resources away from good works. Every dollar donated to Mother Teresa's organisation is a dollar diverted from genuinely helping people in need, and as long as people think "something good is being done" they are less likely to want to help more. This is the real danger of Mother Teresa.

[ July 23, 2002: Message edited by: Arrowman ]</p>

Clarice O'C

Well, I've read the links provided here (not all of one long one), and what everyone has said, and I'm now more enlightened than I wanted to be I was reading about MT's vow of poverty and living the suffering of the people who she served "for the lord," which I already knew about. But it got me to thinking that christians get warm fuzzies from thinking they are suffering for the lord and then on the other hand they are into christianity to avoid suffering. Hmmm.

Clarice

[ July 24, 2002: Message edited by: Clarice O'C ]</p>

RogerLeeCooke

Hmm, I wonder if I can get myself taken off their rolls?

Even if Mother Theresa was every bit as good as that ass Malcolm Muggeridge made her out to be, she'd still be a good illustration of why saints should keep out of public life. After the Union Carbide disaster at Bhopal, she was on the scene almost immediately, shouting "Forgive!" Forgiveness may be great for the soul, but it's a lousy policy to adopt in regard to a company that causes a public-health catastrophe of that magnitude.