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RATIONALIST INTERNATIONAL Bulletin # 49 (24 September 2000)
EDUCATING WITH HOT KNIFE!
Sanal
Edamaruku
Sister Nirmala, the Superior General
of Missionaries of Charity, facing irrefutable evidences, at last
admitted it. She said that one of the nuns of the charity founded by Mother
Teresa was guilty of hurting four street children. The incident came to
light when a rag picker, father of one of the injured children complained
that the Sister-in-charge of the Mahatma Gandhi Welfare Centre (a
shelter run by Missionaries of Charity in central Calcutta)
had burnt his daughter's hand with a hot knife. On the basis of the
complaint, a case was registered against the nun at Bowbazar police station
on September 13. On September 18, the accused was granted bail by the Chief
Metropolitan Magistrate of Alipore Court, where Sister Nirmala appeared in
person. In a signed statement, Sister Nirmala explained that the nun's
intention
was to "correct" the children for stealing some money. Sister
Nirmala claimed that the nun had given whole hearted and free service to the
poor and the sick and their families and "the poor are grateful to
her." Since the case is in the court now, while admitting the guilt
"with great sorrow", she agreed that the nun "definitely
overstepped the limits," though the intention was good.
A mistaken nun stepped out of her way? An isolated case of
cruelty in an ocean of goodness? We do not know yet if it is a single case
or the tip of an iceberg. But anyway: it is nothing but the consequent
realization of the missionaries' philosophy. Sister Nirmala is a
straight-jacket and expresses her ideas simple. In a press conference
immediately after taking charge as the Superior General of Missionaries
of Charity following the death of Mother Teresa, she asserted without
an iota of hesitation: "The poor should remain poor ... Without them,
we will lose our jobs." (The Pioneer, 21 September 1997)
The appearance of Agnes Gonxa Bojaxhiu alias Mother Teresa
was different and deceiving. Already during her lifetime, the
"Mother" was venerated as the "Saint of the Gutter". As
a symbol for total dedication and selflessness in the service of the poorest
of the poor in the world, she became a living legend. She enjoyed
immense respect and adoration not only within the flock of faithful
Catholics, but all around the world among Christians and non-Christians
alike. Only few like Christopher Hitchens dared to sharply look behind her
halo.
Mother Teresa's "services" did not aim at
improving the situation of those who hoped for her help - at least not in
this world. She had quite different designs. She allowed the dying to
die and did not bother to provide them with any professional medical
treatment or send them to a hospital. As many witnesses, especially sisters
of her order Missionaries of Charity, reported, she did not even
find it fit to distribute pain relievers. She would see to it that injection
needles were used again and again till they became blunt, just to keep
the victims of her services in the right spirit. She celebrated their
sufferings. Mother Teresa said: " I think it is very beautiful for the
poor to accept their lot... the world is being much helped by the suffering
of the poor people." Sounds like the words of a bitter cynic or a
mentally disturbed pervert?
That earth is a vale of tears we have been told by the Early
Fathers of the Church. To show us the beauty of misery, Mother Teresa had to
come. She came and found the slums of Calcutta an ideal place to stage her
play. It was not enough of "beautiful" poverty for Mother Teresa,
to get the poor accept their fate and remain poor. She made them sink deeper
and deeper into the swamp of poverty, unable to ever raise their heads
again, by promoting the greatest enemy of progress in the developing
countries: over population.
Progressive forces try on different levels and with
different means to improve the economical, social and educational status of
those at the bottom of the society. They provide education about preventive
healthcare measures, nutrition, sex, family planning and income generation.
They offer training and try to develop their skills. They support small
savings schemes and encourage people to set up their own small-scale
business. They give assistance to enable them to help themselves to better
their life and build their future. There are thousands of people in India,
professionals and volunteers, who are working with efficiency and enthusiasm
in progressive programs for the uplifting of the living standards of the
unprivileged.
Mother Teresa dedicated her life and motivated Missionaries
of Charity to fight on the other side of the battle line. She fought
relentlessly against birth control. She propagated reproduction without
limits, the more the better. Abortion was for her the "worst evil and
the greatest enemy of peace."
"God always provides", was Mother Teresa's
favorite slogan, and not caring for tomorrow was the approach which she
powerfully cultivated. Missionaries of Charity carry forward this
campaign. But hungry children of poor rag pickers in Calcutta do not
understand. They steal a small amount to buy food. Nuns, beholders of
Christian ethics, have to correct and educate them! Torturing by inflicting
pain with hot knives is the order of the day! After all, we should
appreciate, the intentions are good!!
USA: REPORT ABOUT RACIAL DISCRIMINATION It is nothing new for Human Rights watchers, but now it is official: In a report to the UN, the US Government has admitted that "persistent racial discrimination and de facto segregation" are rampant in the USA. Prepared by the US state department and the White House, the 100-page report acknowledges that "notorious incidents" of race related brutality and bias continue to exist, though officially sanctioned segregation has been eliminated. It cites some infamous cases which have provoked public outcry during the last decade: the merciless beating of Rodney King by two Los Angeles policemen in 1991, which was recorded on video, the death of Amadou Diallo in the hands of New York law enforcement officials, and the brutal killing of James Byrd in Texas, who was dragged behind a truck. "The forms of discriminatory practices have changed and adapted over timeā, the report says, "but racial and ethnic discrimination continue to restrict and limit equal opportunities in the USA". How deep rooted the tendency for racial discrimination still is, reveals the fact that the majority of the Whites, according to recent surveys quoted in the report, does just not realize its existence. Especially alarming is that there are not only single, individual cases of racial discrimination, but that it has become an integral part of the system influencing state organs like police and courts: The report states for example that nearly 90 per cent of offenders convicted for crack cocaine distribution are African Americans - while the majority of crack cocaine users is White. It also says that Blacks are disproportionately more likely to be sentenced to death and executed than any other racial and ethical group in USA. How long will USA take to get ready for a Black president?
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Honorary Associates: (alphabetically) Katsuaki Asai(Japan), Prof. Colin Blakemore (UK), Prof.Vern Bullough (USA), Dr Bill Cooke (New Zealand), Helena Cronin (UK), Prof. Richard Dawkins(UK), Joseph Edamaruku (India), Jim Herrick (UK), Christopher Hitchens (USA), Lavanam (India), Prof. Paul Kurtz (USA), Taslima Nasreen (Bangladesh), Steinar Nilsen (Norway), Prof. Jean-Claude Pecker (France), James Randi (USA), Dr G N Jyoti Shankar (meanwhile deceased) (USA), Prof. Harry Stopes-Roe (UK), Prof. Rob Tielman (The Netherlands), Jane Wynne Willson (UK), Prof. Lewis Wolpert (UK). Sanal Edamaruku, President of Rationalist International, can be contacted at: Edamaruku@rationalistinternational.net |