Debate has been stirring up over the Freedom from Religion Foundation’s demands to have Mother Teresa’s image removed from U.S Postal stamps. The decision to go after this symbol is likely to backfire on the organization negatively affecting public perceptions of atheists and secularists. Unfortunate, because Mother Teresa was not the holy symbol many have made her out to be.
Examining Mother Teresa’s own words suggests that she did not truly care for the poor rather she wanted them to remain poor.
“…a 1981 press conference in which she was asked: "Do you teach the poor to endure their lot?" She replied: "I think it is very beautiful for the poor to accept their lot, to share it with the passion of Christ. I think the world is being much helped by the suffering of the poor people."
She appears to have believed that through the suffering of the poor the world will be able to see the passion of Christ. I’m assuming that seeing poverty would inspire people to work for Christ and in her mind the suffering of the poor must continue in order for people to continue to see this passion.
“MT was not a friend of the poor. She was a friend of poverty. She said that suffering was a gift from God. She spent her life opposing the only known cure for poverty, which is the empowerment of women and the emancipation of them from a livestock version of compulsory reproduction.” (http://www.slate.com/id/2090083/)
It is poverty, not the actual desire to remove humans from poverty that promotes the passion of Christ. A sick and perverted anti-humanist ideology promoted by this “saint.”
Any claims of miracles performed by Mother Teresa have also been put into doubt.
“As for the "miracle" that had to be attested, what can one say? Surely any respectable Catholic cringes with shame at the obviousness of the fakery. A Bengali woman named Monica Besra claims that a beam of light emerged from a picture of MT, which she happened to have in her home, and relieved her of a cancerous tumor. Her physician, Dr. Ranjan Mustafi, says that she didn't have a cancerous tumor in the first place and that the tubercular cyst she did have was cured by a course of prescription medicine. Was he interviewed by the Vatican's investigators? No.” (http://www.slate.com/id/2090083/)
The willingness of the populous to be blissfully ignorant on this matter is disturbing. Ideas of miracles being caused by the supposedly holy and compassionate Mother Teresa win out over the sound logic of medical treatment. This ignorance is capitalized on to bring someone to a level of holier-than-thou status.
It is a risky move for the FFRF to go after Mother Teresa. In a country that is still dominated by the influence of the religious attacking a well respected religious figure will always have consequences. FFRF should bring attention to these lesser known facts regarding Mother Teresa. Instead of opposing her image because her beliefs were in line with extreme Catholic dogma and her support for abortion, discuss her suppression of the poor and the fraudulent claims of miracles.
No comments:
Post a Comment