Mother Theresa

[John Dailey]

~ Just a quick aside here; am a bit busy otherwise.

~ Caught this in my general 'news' surfing. Thought some'd be interested. The subject itself certainly fits THIS sub-forum...

Was she or wasn't she...a 'Christian'? Only her psyche knew for sure.

LLAP

J:D

PS: subject-caption-wise, clearly one has to count their symbols for fit-ability. The caption ends as "...but, was there 'faith'?"

Edited August 24, 2007 by John Dailey

[Ross Barlow]

John,

That was quite an interesting article. Thanks for pointing it out.

It reads like an Existentialist tragedy.

-Ross.

[John Dailey]

~ She was clearly a person who had a nihilistic orientation at all life...including, if not especially, hers. Ntl, she did not (given religious 'belief', probably could not) think of suicide.

~ Personally, I think she (from whatever 'causes') was an exemplar of the caricature analyzed by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch. She allowed her pity and empathy to transform into a near-voyeuristic, near-revelling in any/all ongoing pain and misery of others; in her case, seeing such as becoming "one" with (the 'Passion' of) Christ. As she once said, their suffering was Christ's 'kiss' to them. She spoke of 'joy' at times, but, in this whole context, all I could think of was the 'pleasure of pain.' I suspect she'd read de Sade's works.

~ Psychologically (staying apropos here), I think it's no 'accident' that she showed more interest and attention to dictators than to 'free-world' leaders. --- What 'purpose' could she find in a world without pain-misery-suffering? None.

~ Going back to BIOSHOCK; ta!

LLAP

J:D

Edited August 24, 2007 by John Dailey

[Brant Gaede]

Religion can drive you nuts.

--Brant

[John Dailey]

~ R. Bidinotto has a recent section-comment on this article. Interestingly, I don't see (contrary to RB) hypocrisy involved here. Indeed, I see her as 'acting' as a Christian, given the doctrine almost indoctrinated throughout the '70's/'80's about what Christianity was supposedly all about. The 'works', the 'activism', the...faith-in-the-worthwhileness-of-'doing' was stressed chronically. It mattered little how one personally ('self'ishly?), actually, 'felt' about others: such was a selfish concern for being motivated to 'helping', hence, virtuously irrelevent (strains of Kant!) All that counted was...the 'doing.'

~ Clearly, MT had a bona-fide 'existential' prob re NOT seeing her chosen husband giving some kind of 'appreciation' signal in response (beyond her feeling for a few months that he had). --- I'm sure these letters will keep many a psychiatrist and psychologist busy in some journals.

LLAP

J:D

Edited August 26, 2007 by John Dailey

[Judith]

The whole story is rather heart-breaking. The "dark night of the soul" is a well-known spiritual phenomenon. I didn't know that some of them had gone on for more than 40 years, though. What's so troubling is the thought that perhaps these phenomena are induced by brain chemistry, and the mystics are tormenting themselves about something that's truly out of their control, or that could be induced by electrical or chemical means.

Judith

[John Dailey]

Judith:

~ I could pity, or even try to sympathize with her self-made prob ('marrying' a dis-embodied son-of-God?) if I weren't so aware of her purposefully uncorrected reputation of 'helping' the poor. Regarding these latter pain-filled ones she ostensibly 'took care of', all she did, regardless the millions she acquired from mere begging (primarily from nationally recognized extortionists), was provide minimalist food and shelter, while they stayed; for too many, 'leaving' wasn't an option they were physically capable of, though it was of some starry-eyed followers of hers...'till they worked at her places.

~ Notice I never mentioned 'medicine' re all her help to others. Guess why?

~ Re this 'help' reputation, she was a hypocrite par excellence (unless one means, a la Dr. Mengele, 'help'-to-suffer while dying.)

LLAP

J:D

[RTB]

There was an essay a year or two ago about Mother Teresa's true character. I referenced it in another forum but there's no way to find it now. I have an 'Egoism' thread there and would like to post it. Does anyone perhaps remember that that could provide me with it? I'd like to repost it.

It was the one that had numerous quotes of her nuns/ex nuns that quit because of her insistence upon letting people suffer for the 'glory of christ' and so forth.

Thanks.

[BaalChatzaf]

~ Just a quick aside here; am a bit busy otherwise.

~ Caught this in my general 'news' surfing. Thought some'd be interested. The subject itself certainly fits THIS sub-forum...

Was she or wasn't she...a 'Christian'? Only her psyche knew for sure.

She was a spiritual parasite. A kind of vampire.

I too look inward and find it invisible (I am introspection-blind), so I look outward. Out There is where all the interesting stuff is anyway.

In any case, I am a trader. For any benefits received from others, I try to pay out something of value to them. M.T. "helped" the miserable as a kind of scavenger. Yuccchh! What a terrible person!.

Ba'al Chatzaf