WHY MOTHER TERESA SHOULD NOT BE A SAINT

mirror.co.uk ^ | Jan. 13, 2003 | Christopher Hitchens

[Mo1]

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[RnMomof7]

She is a pop hero..so the truth is irrevelent.

[nickcarraway]

Mr. Hitchens should hire a fact-checker. Most obviously, he doesn't even know the name of the man he was debating with on television

[Pyro7480]

Uh-oh... let the discussion begin! Mr. Hitchens does bring up some points that look good at the first reading, but I think I should check them out too. He does show his true colors when he describes Mother Teresa's opposition to abortion as "fundamentalist" in character. I think we need to take this whole piece with a grain of salt before it is touted around as completely true.

[Texas Eagle]

Where in the Bible does it enumerate all the hoops one must jump through to become a Saint?

[nickcarraway]

And she opposed the only thing that has ever been known to cure poverty

Abortion and sterilization are the only thing ever known to cure poverty? There is any proof that these have ever cured poverty? Does anyone want to argue that these are the reason the U.S. is prosperous?

[WarSlut]

had railed against birth-control in the most overpopulated city on the planet and had been the spokeswoman for the most extreme dogmas of religious fundamentalism.

Just Hitchen's needlessly wordy way of saying "She knew abortion was murder and said so, hence I hate her for it".

You must be slipping Christopher. One look at the title and I knew exactly where you were going with this.

[Pyro7480]

Ping!

[nickcarraway]

Do you think that everything that Jesus said in the Gospels is irrevelent? The Beattitudes were apparently just meaningless space-fillers? When asked what the greatest commandement was, Jesus gave the wrong answer?

[beckett]

I am not a Roman Catholic and the saint-making procedures of the Vatican are really none of my business.

'Nuff said, Chris.

[Pyro7480]

You bring up a good question, but as you probably know, the Catholic Church doesn't just rely on the Bible. It also relies on Church tradition. The canonization process is instititutonal in character. The Church on Earth, through the canonization process, recognizes that through a holy person's actions during life, and through their intercession after death, which manifests itself through miracles, that because of these, a person is a saint. Other souls in heaven are most likely also saints in the literal sense, but they haven't been officially recognized as such by the Catholic Church.

[american colleen]

She is a pop hero..so the truth is irrevelent.

Yes, living the beatitudes is just so, well, irrelevant! Unlike our own lives, of course!

[nickcarraway]

railed against birth-control in the most overpopulated city on the planet

Apparently, Mr. Hitchens knows which people are worthy of living and which ones aren't. According to Hitchens standards, Adolf Hitler would be a better candidate for saint, sinc he was all for things like abortion and sterilaization, and he wasn't shy about deciding who was worthy of living and following through on that decision. Sorry Mr. Hitchens, most people have more sense than you when it comes to this.

[beckett]

And she opposed the only thing that has ever been known to cure poverty - the empowerment of women in poor countries by giving them some say in their own reproduction.

Utter hogwash. You know the reliably brilliant but nonetheless passionately atheistic Hitchens is thrashing around looking for some handy club to hit Mother Theresa over the head with when he makes a remark as ludicrous as this one.

[nickcarraway]

Mr. Hitchens neglects to mention that Mother Teresa didn't solicit money, either herself or through anyone else. People did give her money, but she never actively pursued it. In one movie about her there is a man telling her about how he's going to raise money for her and she refuses him.

[Jean S]

Abortion and sterilization are the only thing ever known to cure poverty? There is any proof that these have ever cured poverty? Does anyone want to argue that these are the reason the U.S. is prosperous?

I don't think it's worth it to discuss this article. It's a hit piece, period.

Your point is well made but not necessary.

[netman]

The bible doesn't say that. Just more Papist Bunk..

Eph 1:15 Salute Philologus, and Julia, Nereus, and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints which are with them.

2Co 1:1

Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, unto the church of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints which are in all Achaia:,

2Co 13:13

All the saints salute you. Eph 1:15

Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints,

Php 1:1

Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons:

Php 4:22

All the saints salute you, chiefly they that are of Caesar's household.

Col 1:4

Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have to all the saints,

Heb 13:24

Salute all them that have the rule over you, and all the saints. They of Italy salute you.

[RnMomof7]

deceived

[Texas Eagle]

You bring up a good question, but as you probably know, the Catholic Church doesn't just rely on the Bible. It also relies on Church tradition.

Well, the Catholic Church can kiss my traditional butt. I see numerous references to saints in the Bible and as far as I know the Catholic Church wasn't around in the days these references are made.

1 Samuel 2:9

Psalms 16:3

Psalms 30:4

Psalms 31:23Psalms 34:9

Daniel 7:8

Romans 8:27

1 Corinthians 6:2

Ephesians 1:15

Revelations 5:8

Revelations 19:8

And not one word about the bureaucratic red tape it takes to become a Saint.