According to an article found here, the Freedom from Religion Foundation is voicing strong opposition to the U.S. Postal Service’s release of a postage stamp commemorating Mother Teresa. They object on the grounds that this commemorative stamp is issued in violation of regulations which honor “individuals whose principal achievements are associated with religious undertakings”.
In explaining their position, a spokesman for the Foundation, Annie Laurie Gaylor, says, "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.” Therefore, the Foundation is urging supporters to boycott the stamp.
Mother Teresa isn’t the first figure with a strong religious background honored by the Postal Service. Among other such honorees were Malcolm X (of the Nation of Islam) and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., (co-founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference). A spokesman for the Postal Service, Roy Betts, says, “This has nothing to do with religion or faith.”
In addition to boycotting the stamp, the Foundation wants to release information about Mother Teresa’s “darker side”. Gaylor says, “There was criticism by the end of her life that she turned what was a tiny charity into an extremely wealthy charity that had the means to provide better care than it did.”
As I read Ms. Gaylor’s position, I can’t help but wonder about the Freedom from Religion Foundation’s use of their funds. Is it used to provide care to a needy world? I went out to their website to see if I could learn a bit more about what they stand for and how they spend their money. Their stated purpose is to “educate the public on matters relating to nontheism, and to promote the constitutional principle of separation between church and state”. Almost every page in the website includes information about how to make a tax-deductible donation. But I was unable to find an accounting of how these donations are used.
But it is another thought which truly captures my attention as I read the objections raised by the Freedom from Religion Foundation. Mother Teresa lived her faith so completely that, in the words of the Foundation’s spokesman, we “can't really separate her being a nun and being a Roman Catholic from everything she did”.
This gives me something to think about. Is my faith so much a part of my life… so much a part of me… that it is impossible for others to know me without seeing it?
When Mother Teresa appears before God, I can’t help but believe that the words of Matthew 25:34-36 will reverberate:
"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'”Mother Teresa lived her faith so well… so completely… that it’s impossible for most of us to think of her apart from her faith.
I pray that I will learn to do the same.
Sue
Blog: In Him We Live and Move and Have Our Being
1 comments:
If you are "living" your faith -- then there is no way to separate or make any distinction between you and your religion.
By obeying the commandments, you and your holy spirit become one in the eyes of your creator and the world. On the other hand, those that need to tell everyone they are a Christian and have been "saved" do so because there is a disconnect between the two.
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