Comment by cgore | Hacker News Reader

Comment by cgore | Hacker News Reader

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Hitchens is not an unbiased citation, not even close. He routinely engaged in character denigration of several religious individuals, most notably Mother Teresa. The main argument he seems to have had with her is that he didn't think religious people should be allowed to have political opinions, and she did. Here is a thorough review of his vitriol against her:

http://www.firstthings.com/onthesquare/2013/04/mother-teresa...

What is the most telling is the response to Hitchens from the order she founded, on hearing about his death.

Despite Hitchens' vicious attacks on Mother Teresa over the years, the saint's order in India, Missionaries of Charity, said that it would offer prayers for the renowned atheist upon hearing of his passing late Thursday night at the age of 62, after a battle with cancer.

“We will pray for him and for his family,” spokeswoman for the order Sister Christie told Agence France-Presse.

http://www.christianpost.com/news/the-atheist-vs-the-saint-w...

That review doesn't refute a any of Hiutchens' points. In the question of association with unsavory characters, the reply is to accuse him of having done the same, which might have made him an hypocrite but doesn't refute his claim.

On the matter of convincing the victims to forgive their aggressor, they confirm what he says.

As for the Albania issue, they cling to an incorrect but completely irrelevant historical fact he gets wrong, avoiding having to deal with the actual point, which is whether Mother Teresa actually supported it or not.

I don't know if Hitchens was right, but if the best her supporters can come up with is a reply filled with deceit and red herrings, I'm starting to think maybe he was on to something.

What is the most telling is the response to Hitchens from the order she founded, on hearing about his death.

That's the same reply any Catholic organization gives whenever someone dies, except maybe for cruel dictators. I'm not criticizing it, but it tells us absolutely nothing.

A lot of people involved with politics are unsavory characters. How is turning down their money going to help the dying in India? All it does is puff up someone's self-righteousness.

Hitchens is not the only one who has come out against Mother Theresa. Here's a recent study by the University of Montreal:

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-03/uom-mta022813...

They really don't get altruism at all, do they? The 'myth' of altruism? What is mythical about it? If they really want to understand it, they should try practicing it. Perhaps if they would write a few less papers and help out a few more poor people in their newly-found spare time, they might actually start to understand it.

I think their point was that the public perception of Mother Teresa's altruism is a myth created by a media campaign. That does not necessarily mean that she did not behave altruistically at times or that altruism itself is a myth, but that the person the public imagines never really lived. They point out her flaws and mistakes and unwillingness to help when she had the means to do so, so she's much like any other person who tries to do good.

The whole article of theirs is nothing but a rehash of Hitchens' book. This is just character assassination and nothing more.

http://www.catholicleague.org/canadian-atheists-rip-mother-t...

It is also telling that Hitchens' book had no citations for any of his claims either.

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