Mother Teresa's Crisis of Faith

[coondogg26]

Mother Teresa's Crisis of Faith
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1655415,00.html?cnn=yes
Ive only read to page 2 but its a good read if you have the time.

 

[JLMACN]

^^^sig is tight!!!

He is going to do wonders for you all!

 

[2-0-Sixx]

"In my own soul, I feel the terrible pain of this loss. I feel that God does not want me, that God is not God and that he does not really exist."

Mother Teresa a closet Atheist. Funny.

The religious will use it to show how even the most religious people can have doubts which is a true test of faith.

Others might point out that here you have one of the most "holiest" of all people questioning the very existence of God for over 30 years.

Whatever. She really wasn't all that great anyways. Everyone talks about her dedication to the poor, yada yada what she did in India was help keep women poor and denying them basic healthcare while sitting on millions of dollars in donations she never spent. Also denying pain killing medications to people dying in excruciating pains because suffering gets you closer to god and denying life saving medical procedures to the poor because they needed to put their faith in god... while sitting on THOSE millions of dollars that were donated for the EXPRESS purpose of providing life saving medical procedures to the poor.

She's no saint

 

[TOKZTLI]

That article doesn't really say shit. Every human being struggles with faith. The strong work at it, the weak lose their souls.

 

[ThaG]

That article doesn't really say shit. Every human being struggles with faith. The strong work at it, the weak lose their souls.

souls don't exist...

anyway, I agree 100% with 2-0-Sixx

 

[coondogg26]

when your working and helping the worlds poorest people everyday and your surrounded by pain it must be extremely difficult to see the presence of God. I am sure that at times she didn't feel that God exists but she wouldn't have done what she did if she didn't truly believe and i'm sure these feelings only helped to strengthen her faith in the end.

 

[ThaG]

when your working and helping the worlds poorest people everyday and your surrounded by pain it must be extremely difficult to see the presence of God. I am sure that at times she didn't feel that God exists but she wouldn't have done what she did if she didn't truly believe and i'm sure these feelings only helped to strengthen her faith in the end.

.....

Everyone talks about her dedication to the poor, yada yada what she did in India was help keep women poor and denying them basic healthcare while sitting on millions of dollars in donations she never spent.

 

[coondogg26]

.....

yea because he said it it makes it true :cheeky: , if you say mother teresa wasn't a saint then your trippin, she dedicated her life to helping others when no one else would.

 

[thatguy]

that doesnt make you a saint at all. if you think anyones a saint your trippin



for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of god

 

[coondogg26]

that doesnt make you a saint at all. if you think anyones a saint your trippin



for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of god

no one can reach perfection. Saints are those people who gave up everything and devoted their life to spreading the word of the Lord and helping those who cannot help themselves.

 

[ThaG]

no one can reach perfection. Saints are those people who gave up everything and devoted their life to spreading the word of the Lord and helping those who cannot help themselves.

what do you call the people who believe them:ermm:

 

[thatguy]

^idiots

 

[Home-E]

what do you call the people who believe them:ermm:

this thread is obviously a thread for christians, why you trying to stir shit up?

 

[2-0-NINE]

this thread is obviously a thread for christians, why you trying to stir shit up?

because that's what many of these atheist do. They make a thread about science, we inquire and show interest no bad blood. We theists make a thread on religion, it's automatically a war. LOL Change it to the Irony of the Gathered LOL

 

[TOKZTLI]

yea because he said it it makes it true :cheeky: .

exactly.

 

[nhojsmith]

wikipedia:

Following Mother Teresa's death in 1997, the Holy See began the process of beatification, the second step towards possible canonization. This process requires the documentation of a miracle performed from the intercession of Mother Teresa. In 2002, the Vatican recognized as a miracle the healing of a tumor in the abdomen of an Indian woman, Monica Besra, following the application of a locket containing Mother Teresa's picture. Monica Besra said that a beam of light emanated from the picture, curing the cancerous tumor. Some of Besra's medical staff and, initially, her husband insist that conventional medical treatment eradicated the tumor.[62] Unless dispensed by the Pope, a second miracle is required for her to proceed to canonization.

Christopher Hitchens, a British-born American author, journalist and literary critic, was the only witness called by the Vatican to give evidence against Mother Teresa's beatification and canonization process, as the Vatican had abolished the traditional "devil's advocate" role that filled a similar purpose.[63] Hitchens has written that Mother Teresa's own words on poverty proved that "her intention was not to help people", and he alleged that she lied to donors about the use of their contributions. “It was by talking to her that I discovered, and she assured me, that she wasn't working to alleviate poverty,” says Hitchens. “She was working to expand the number of Catholics. She said, ‘I'm not a social worker. I don't do it for this reason. I do it for Christ. I do it for the church.’"[64] In the process of examining Teresa's suitability for beatification and canonization, the Roman Curia (the Vatican) pored over a great deal of documentation of published and unpublished criticisms against her life and work. Vatican officials say Hitchens' allegations have been investigated by the agency charged with such matters, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, and they found no obstacle to Mother Teresa's canonization.[citation needed] Due to the attacks she has received, some Catholic writers have called her a sign of contradiction.[65]

 

[2-0-NINE]

that doesnt make you a saint at all. if you think anyones a saint your trippin



for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of god

Yes, you're talking about Romans 3:23 and if you read most of Romans you know what Paul is stressing. Read the Rest of Chapter 3 after Romans 3:23 and you'll understand what coondogg is saying. We are made references as saints throughout the bible, most notably end time saints read the book of revelation and study it real hard! I don't mean to come with too much zeal or anti-catholic sentiment, don't get me wrong here folks, but the catholic church has their own version of Saints. They cannonize their saints in accordance to WHAT THE CATHOLIC CHURCH considers saints. There are saints everyone, so I'm not really in to the cannonization of Saints via the Catholic church. Now what that said, we are made righteous because of our faith in God and his Glory! Romans Chapter4:3. To be a saint does not mean we are not susceptible to sinning and doing bad, but it means fellowship in Christ. I am no saint, no man should call himself a saint, for if we do we are judging and fooling ourselves, so self proclamation isn't of God. Only God decides who is a Saint. Don't be fooled folks, and God Bless. Oh yeah, IMO I don't know if mother teresa is a saint, it's not up to us. THIS IS THE REASON THE CHURCH HAS CORRUPTED, WE TEND TO GET POWER HUNGRY INSTEAD OF LETTING GOD DO HIS WORK. GOOD EXAMPLE IS THE PROTESTANT AND CATHOLIC INQUISITIONS THROUGHOUT HISTORY.

 

[coondogg26]

this thread is obviously a thread for christians, why you trying to stir shit up?

because that is what atheists do. They see religious people who are comfortable and happy with their faith and because they can't understand that they feel the need to attack it. Its disappointing because we could have good discussions here but they just don't allow it.

 

[nhojsmith]

coony, you forgot again that their should be more than one opinion to have a fruitful discussion. hitchens is very relevent, even your vatican thought so...

Wellness in the Headlines
(Don's Report to the World)

Mother Teresa—Not My Idea Of A Saint But Then, What Do I Know About Such Things?
Thursday March 25, 2004

On February 23, 2004, I presented an essay at this site entitled “The Ten Characters Most Influential In How I Turned Out, So Far." The same essay also appeared in the 67th edition of the Ardell Wellness Report, a newsletter I have published on a quarterly basis since 1984. The article was a big hit in the sense that it generated more feedback than any other in recent months. While it was well received and many visitors described how it motivated them to create their own list of influential characters in how they turned out, many objected to a line in the essay about Mother Teresa.

Here is what I wrote that either annoyed or puzzled many site visitors and newsletter subscribers: “My final, tenth choice is very special--a composite selection. This nominee had much more influence upon who I am and how I evolved than all the others--combined. Yet, unlike the others whom I respect and honor, the influence of the tenth selection was distinctly negative, or inspirational in the reverse mode. This composite selection includes an assortment of religious figures who, by virtue of appalling sermons, lectures, appearances and writings, solidified and deepened my disdain for supernaturalism, faith, revelations, orthodoxy and piety. I am, in a strange fashion, deeply indebted to the following, all of who belong in a personal anti-hero hall of shame. Thanks Bishop Fulton Sheen, Billy Graham, Jim and Tammy Faye Baker, Mother Teresa, Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson.”

Nobody complained about my negative perspective on Bishop Fulton Sheen, Billy Graham, Jim and Tammy Faye Baker, Jerry Falwell or Pat Robertson but “How could you utter an unkind remark about the saintly Mother Teresa,?” most wanted to know. MT’s name, it seems, is more or less synonymous with selfless dedication in the service of humanity. Well, I’m glad they asked. As Richard Nixon might intone, “Let me say this about that.”

If you are a regular visitor to this site, you know I have little use for or belief in such silliness as saints, angels, devils or other religious creations designed to entertain (or shock and awe, motivate, frighten and/or control) the masses. I personally care not in the slightest if the Roman Catholic Church wants to declare Mother Teresa (MT) or anyone else (Mel Gibson, Anthony Scalia or maybe Rush Limbaugh, for examples) a saint. “Go for it,” I say. However, a lack of interest in the outcome (saint or no saint) does not mean the TOPIC of sainthood, or the CHARACTERS considered for such a thing, are of no interest.

On the contrary, I find the saint business fascinating, particularly in the case of the Albanian nun revered by Catholics and others for service to the afflicted and downtrodden. Furthermore, I do not believe it inappropriate (blasphemous, illegal or immoral, in other words) for a curious outsider to look critically into such matters. In fact, an independent assessment of MT's work might be of value to anyone who prefers reason, science and free inquiry to uncritical acceptance of popular images. I have been reading about MT for years, and not just the materials from the adoring popular press. That is why I developed a view that was less than positive; that's why MT made my list of negative influentials.

One person who has studied MT extensively is Christopher Hitchens. Christopher Hitchens is "Critic at Large" for Vanity Fair, writes the Minority Report column for The Nation and is a frequent guest on current affairs programs on radio and TV. He has written numerous books, including Blood, Class and Nostalgia: Anglo-American Ironies, Why Orwell Matters, The Trial of Henry Kissinger and Letters to a Young Contrarian. Hitchens considers MT “a fanatic, a fundamentalist and a fraud.”

Putting aside the rush to judgment (it used to take the church five years just to start the process of "beatification" and the candidate had to have been dead at least five years—the current Pope has eliminated many safeguards that had been in place to reduce the chances the bad characters would be rushed into sainthood) and the fact that this Pope is really big on producing saints (Hitchens says he has created more “instant saints than all his predecessors combined as far back as the 16th century&#8221, here are highlights of Hitchens case against MT as saint material.

MT was ultra-reactionary and fundamentalist even in orthodox Catholic terms. In 1996, she worked to create a ban on divorce and remarriage as part of Ireland’s state constitution (her side narrowly lost).


MT was a friend of poverty, not a friend of the poor. She considered suffering a gift from God, noting that “the suffering of the poor is something very beautiful and the world is being very much helped by the nobility of this example of misery and suffering.” Hitchens notes that MT “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.”


MT was a friend to “the worst of the rich, taking misappropriated money from the atrocious Duvalier family in Haiti (whose rule she praised in return), praising the Albanian dictator Enver Hoxha and accepting funds from Charles Keating of Lincoln Savings and Loan fame.”


MT did not use the millions she collected to make improvements to the rundown, primitive hospice in Calcutta that was “rudimentary, unscientific and miles behind any modern conception of what medical science is supposed to do.” This impoverished image of the facility was key to MT’s fund-raising, but monies collected for this purpose were used instead to discourage birth control, abortion and sex education in undeveloped countries and to open 500 convents in 120 countries. However, when she got sick, MT preferred to be treated in modern clinics in California.

MT is used by the Religious Right and fundamentalist Protestants as a poster girl for the right-to-life wing in America. She was used as the example of Christian idealism and family values, of all things, by Ralph Reed - the front man of the Pat Robertson forces. That's a symptom of a wider problem Hitchens called "reverse ecumenicism," an opportunist alliance between extreme Catholics and extreme Protestants.
What accounts for MT’s saintly image, given such a record that at least should have generated great controversy? Hitchens explains this in terms of post-colonial condescension: “The rich world has a poor conscience, and many people liked to alleviate their own unease by sending money to a woman who seemed like an activist for ‘the poorest of the poor.' People do not like to admit that they have been gulled or conned, so a vested interest in the myth was permitted to arise, and a lazy media never bothered to ask any follow-up questions. Many volunteers who went to Calcutta came back abruptly disillusioned by the stern ideology and poverty-loving practice of the ‘Missionaries of Charity,’ but they had no audience for their story. George Orwell's admonition in his essay on Gandhi—that saints should always be presumed guilty until proved innocent—was drowned in a Niagara of soft-hearted, soft-headed and uninquiring propaganda.” In addition, Hitchens suggests MT was a “great favorite of the faithful and a very good advertisement to attract non-believers or non-Catholics. And she's very useful for the current pope as a weapon against reformists and challengers within the church.”

I am enclosing a few sources where you can do your own review of the alleged dark side of MT, but this summary of the Hitchens literature should give you a sense for the reasons this prospective saint made her way onto my own list of negative influentials.

Be well and enjoy the quest for your own best potentials. Your chances of being beatified or made a saint someday are probably not so good, but don’t let that keep you from looking on the bright side of life. Be well.

Sources:

The Missionary Position: Mother Teresa in Theory and Practice by Christopher Hitchens. (Verso, 1995).

MSN Slate, “Mommie Dearest: The pope beatifies Mother Teresa, a fanatic, a fundamentalist, and a fraud.” By Christopher Hitchens. Oct. 20, 2003.

Free Inquiry magazine, Volume 16, Number 4. Christopher Hitchens On Mother Theresa (Interview) by Matt Cherry.

The Mirror, Why Mother Teresa Should Not Be A Saint By Christopher Hitchens. March 21, 2004.

(Note: This essay will be filed in the archives in the MENTAL DOMAIN under the skill area of mental health. Additional articles related to this theme may be found there.)

 

[ThaG]

............

............

great posts