Posted on 08/06/2010 5:18:30 PM PDT by markomalley
.- Responding to the Empire State Building's refusal to display lights in honor of Bl. Mother Teresa's 100th birthday later this month, the Catholic League is organizing a protest at the national landmark.
Media attention spotlighted the controversy caused by Empire State Building manager Anthony Malkin's refusal of a request by the Catholic League to light the iconic facility with the blue and white colors of Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity on August 26.
“The Empire State Building (ESB) celebrates many cultures and causes in the world community with iconic lightings, and has a tradition of lightings for the religious holidays of Easter, Eid al Fitr, Hanukah, and Christmas,” Malkin explained in a statement June 9.
But, Malkin qualified, “As a privately owned building, ESB has a specific policy against any other lighting for religious figures or requests by religions and religious organizations.”
In a statement on Aug. 4, Catholic League president Bill Donohue countered Malkin's claims, saying that if “this were in fact true,” then “they would not have honored Cardinal O'Connor when he died; Pope John Paul II when he died; the Salvation Army; and Rev. Martin Luther King.”
The building has been lit with different color schemes in the past for stock car races, the introduction of blue M&M’s, and the Chinese Communist revolution, according to the New York Daily News.
Donohue noted that the “same persons who chose to stiff Mother Teresa decided to honor the Chinese Communist revolution last year, even though 77 million innocent men, women and children were murdered under Mao Zedong.”
“By contrast,” he added, “the U.S. Postal Service is honoring Mother Teresa with a commemorative stamp.”
The Catholic League president has personally written multiple bishops as well as parish communities in the greater metropolitan area in places such as Manhattan, Queens, the Bronx, Orange County, Rockland, Albany, and Camden among others.
Donohue said his letters are intent on “informing them of our protest demonstration at 6 p.m. on August 26 outside the Empire State Building on 34th Street and 5th Avenue.”
Huh?
Absurd demands.
These people need to put their energies into addressing real problems.
Actually, it is a real demand and a real problem. The problem is the secularization of society. Sure, this protest will do nothing to the Empire State Building and its building managers; however, it will bring Catholics together and get them involved in something other than their mundane day to day lives isolated in their little cocoons.
And that has value (Just like the 9/12 protest has value even though it resulted in absolutely nothing legislatively -- we KNOW conclusively that there are a LOT of people who think as we do...and that the media reports are all BS...because we've seen it with our own eyes)
Surely Catholics have better things to “bring them together” than trying to force someone to light up a building.
Keep in mind, please, that the majority of Americans think Mother Teresa was a fine lady, but aren’t Catholics and don’t pray to her or whatever you do. She wasn’t even an American. To demand that a private property owner make a public display for one religious group is ridiculous.
On August 26th? No, I can't think of anything that day. August 15th? Sure. Today? Sure. But August 26th? Nope, sorry.
Catholic Caucus?
Well, yeah.
Isn't Jedediah a Catholic? I see that he posts his devotionals all the time using the "Catholic" topic...I always assumed he was a Catholic.
I know that non-Catholics never post on Catholic Caucus threads, after all.
OK
Sorry if I made a mistake
I could be wrong...but I wouldn't want to inadvertently calumnize somebody, so I always assume the best intentions unless proven otherwise ;-)
Just noticed the caucus tag. Feel free to delete the above post since it probably doesn’t fit.
sorry, calumniate...it’s late.
Mother Teresa was a world-wide, internationally-known figure who spoke to the general assembly of the united nations and was awarded the nobel peace prize.
I bet there will be many non-Catholics at that rally.
The Empire State Building has honored many people, countries, including the ChiComs, and organizations... It’s a slap on the face to mother teresa and the people of the WORLD who admire her by not having the blue and white lights on the empire state building on mother’s 100th birthday.
Bill Donohue and the Catholic League have a 1st-amendment right to protest.
You have to bitch and moan and protest at every slight or you get nowhere. The bigoted owners of the ESB slighted Mother Theresa and need some bad press in response. Donohue knows this and my hat's off to him.
let me know how it turned out...
The Catholic League did what needed to be done, once again, highlighting the senseless snubbing of Mother Teresa by Anthony Malkin, owner of the Empire State Building.
I have some photos, but I don't think I can post them because they're not somewhere on the web. If anybody knows a way around that, please advise.
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