From the Pastor
July/08/2010
Can you believe it? An atheist organization is blasting the U.S. Postal Service for its plan to honor Mother Teresa of Calcutta with a commemorative stamp, saying it violates postal regulations against honoring “individuals whose principal achievements are associated with religious undertakings.” The Freedom from Religion Foundation is urging its supporters to boycott the stamp — and also to engage in a letter writing campaign to spread the word about what it calls the “darker side” of Mother Teresa.
Foundation spokeswoman Annie Laurie Gaylor said that issuing the stamp runs against Postal Service regulations: “Mother Teresa is principally known as a religious figure, who ran a religious institution. You can’t really separate her being a nun and being a Roman Catholic from everything she did.”
The stamp -- set to be released on Aug. 26, which would have been Mother Teresa’s 100th birthday -- will recognize the Nobel laureate for her humanitarian work, the Postal Service announced last month. Mother Teresa was a woman universally beloved across the globe for her humanitarian efforts in India and around the world. Her work with the poor and the dying, the disabled and disadvantaged, with refugees, and so on, earned her the Nobel Peace Prize (imagine that, an honor actually earned) in 1979.
“Noted for her compassion toward the poor and suffering, Mother Teresa, a diminutive Roman Catholic nun and honorary U.S. citizen, served the sick and destitute of India and the world for nearly 50 years,” the Postal Service said in a press release. “Her humility and compassion, as well as her respect for the innate worth and dignity of humankind, inspired people of all ages and backgrounds to work on behalf of the world’s poorest populations.” So when the U. S. Postal Service decided to honor her life with acommemorative stamp, most people were happy. But of course, since a Christian is being honored, a group of atheists are "outrageously outraged" and want the Post Office to cancel the stamp.
Postal Service spokesman Roy Betts expressed surprise at the protest, given the long list of previous honorees with strong religious backgrounds, including Malcolm X, the former chief spokesman for the Nation of Islam, and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a Baptist minister and co-founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. “In fact we honored Father Flanagan in 1986 for his humanitarian work. This has nothing to do with religion or faith,” Betts told FoxNews.com. But Gaylor said the atheist group opposed Father Flanagan’s stamp, too, but not those for King and Malcolm X, because she said they were known for their civil rights activities, not for their religion. She said, Martin Luther King “just happened to be a minister,” and “Malcolm X was not principally known for being a religious figure,” she said. “And he’s not honorific.”
It seems to me that they’re kind of picking and choosing who they’re outraged over, aren’t they? Martin Luther King Jr. was just as well-known a Christian as Mother Teresa was. I doubt Martin Luther King thought he “just happened to be a Baptist Minister?” And what difference does it make if someone who is being honored for their good works was a Catholic nun or not anyway? Being a Catholic nun or a Christian leader is not something you can separate those two people from. Is the argument, then, that you can’t honor a good person who did amazing things for their entire life simply because they were Catholic?
Gaylor also attacked Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity, saying it was a “wealthy” charity, and that she — shockingly! — was against abortion and wanted to baptize people before they died. She says this is part of the Roman Catholic Church’s “PR machine” to make Mother Teresa a saint (because, you know, canonization as a saint always involves shadowy conspiracies with the USPS!). (I know it’s tough for some people to understand, but Catholics tend to be… anti-abortion, and they want people to be baptized and accept Christ as their savior; they have this whole thing about not wanting people to go to hell -- as crazy a concept as that might be!)
The USPS spokesman Roy Betts has said that the reaction to the Mother Teresa stamp has so far been overwhelmingly positive. Most people love and respect her because of all she did for so many others. Mother Theresa’s charity did indeed massively expand over the course of her lifetime. At the time of her death, 610 missions were operating in 123 countries. The work being done at these missions included: hospices, homes for people suffering from diseases such as leprosy and HIV/AIDS, caring for alcoholics, the disabled, refugees, victims of natural disasters, the poor and the blind, soup kitchens, orphanages, and so on. But I guess because she was, after all, first and foremost a Catholic nun who didn’t struggle with her mission of humanitarian relief in a little hut on the side of some road in Calcutta, so the Foundation wants us to completely ignore all the good she was able to do. She was successful in helping thousands upon thousands of people around the world, but because she was Catholic, maybe all of that should just be ignored. To the Freedom from Religion Foundation, probably a better person to look up to (and whose stamp we should all buy!) is Katharine Hepburn… an actress and an atheist!!!
So, to sum up, the FFRF wants to keep Mother Theresa from being honored — despite her good works and humanitarian efforts — simply because she was a Catholic nun, even though the majority of people seem not to be offended. It seems pretty obvious to me that this is a gross overreaction, and an immature one at that. But let’s not underestimate their efforts or anything. They’re already starting a letter-writing campaign… and you can bet that they believe that will surely teach the Post Office a lesson! But you can contact the Postmaster- General and express your support and gratitude for the Mother Theresa Stamp!!! Write: The Honorable John E. Potter, Postmaster General - U.S. Postal Service, 475 L'Enfant Plaza SW, Washington, DC 20260-0010.
Very Rev. Canon Tom
Foundation spokeswoman Annie Laurie Gaylor said that issuing the stamp runs against Postal Service regulations: “Mother Teresa is principally known as a religious figure, who ran a religious institution. You can’t really separate her being a nun and being a Roman Catholic from everything she did.”
The stamp -- set to be released on Aug. 26, which would have been Mother Teresa’s 100th birthday -- will recognize the Nobel laureate for her humanitarian work, the Postal Service announced last month. Mother Teresa was a woman universally beloved across the globe for her humanitarian efforts in India and around the world. Her work with the poor and the dying, the disabled and disadvantaged, with refugees, and so on, earned her the Nobel Peace Prize (imagine that, an honor actually earned) in 1979.
“Noted for her compassion toward the poor and suffering, Mother Teresa, a diminutive Roman Catholic nun and honorary U.S. citizen, served the sick and destitute of India and the world for nearly 50 years,” the Postal Service said in a press release. “Her humility and compassion, as well as her respect for the innate worth and dignity of humankind, inspired people of all ages and backgrounds to work on behalf of the world’s poorest populations.” So when the U. S. Postal Service decided to honor her life with acommemorative stamp, most people were happy. But of course, since a Christian is being honored, a group of atheists are "outrageously outraged" and want the Post Office to cancel the stamp.
Postal Service spokesman Roy Betts expressed surprise at the protest, given the long list of previous honorees with strong religious backgrounds, including Malcolm X, the former chief spokesman for the Nation of Islam, and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a Baptist minister and co-founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. “In fact we honored Father Flanagan in 1986 for his humanitarian work. This has nothing to do with religion or faith,” Betts told FoxNews.com. But Gaylor said the atheist group opposed Father Flanagan’s stamp, too, but not those for King and Malcolm X, because she said they were known for their civil rights activities, not for their religion. She said, Martin Luther King “just happened to be a minister,” and “Malcolm X was not principally known for being a religious figure,” she said. “And he’s not honorific.”
It seems to me that they’re kind of picking and choosing who they’re outraged over, aren’t they? Martin Luther King Jr. was just as well-known a Christian as Mother Teresa was. I doubt Martin Luther King thought he “just happened to be a Baptist Minister?” And what difference does it make if someone who is being honored for their good works was a Catholic nun or not anyway? Being a Catholic nun or a Christian leader is not something you can separate those two people from. Is the argument, then, that you can’t honor a good person who did amazing things for their entire life simply because they were Catholic?
Gaylor also attacked Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity, saying it was a “wealthy” charity, and that she — shockingly! — was against abortion and wanted to baptize people before they died. She says this is part of the Roman Catholic Church’s “PR machine” to make Mother Teresa a saint (because, you know, canonization as a saint always involves shadowy conspiracies with the USPS!). (I know it’s tough for some people to understand, but Catholics tend to be… anti-abortion, and they want people to be baptized and accept Christ as their savior; they have this whole thing about not wanting people to go to hell -- as crazy a concept as that might be!)
The USPS spokesman Roy Betts has said that the reaction to the Mother Teresa stamp has so far been overwhelmingly positive. Most people love and respect her because of all she did for so many others. Mother Theresa’s charity did indeed massively expand over the course of her lifetime. At the time of her death, 610 missions were operating in 123 countries. The work being done at these missions included: hospices, homes for people suffering from diseases such as leprosy and HIV/AIDS, caring for alcoholics, the disabled, refugees, victims of natural disasters, the poor and the blind, soup kitchens, orphanages, and so on. But I guess because she was, after all, first and foremost a Catholic nun who didn’t struggle with her mission of humanitarian relief in a little hut on the side of some road in Calcutta, so the Foundation wants us to completely ignore all the good she was able to do. She was successful in helping thousands upon thousands of people around the world, but because she was Catholic, maybe all of that should just be ignored. To the Freedom from Religion Foundation, probably a better person to look up to (and whose stamp we should all buy!) is Katharine Hepburn… an actress and an atheist!!!
So, to sum up, the FFRF wants to keep Mother Theresa from being honored — despite her good works and humanitarian efforts — simply because she was a Catholic nun, even though the majority of people seem not to be offended. It seems pretty obvious to me that this is a gross overreaction, and an immature one at that. But let’s not underestimate their efforts or anything. They’re already starting a letter-writing campaign… and you can bet that they believe that will surely teach the Post Office a lesson! But you can contact the Postmaster- General and express your support and gratitude for the Mother Theresa Stamp!!! Write: The Honorable John E. Potter, Postmaster General - U.S. Postal Service, 475 L'Enfant Plaza SW, Washington, DC 20260-0010.
Very Rev. Canon Tom