Link of the Week

True Confessions: I listen to Relevant Radio almost exclusively these days.

I find it to be much more uplifting than K-love (or whatever it's called). And I do like NPR, but sometimes even I get overwhelmed by the leftist perspective. Not all the time. Just sometimes. Anyway, we have Catholic radio here in Bozeman, which I discovered a couple of years ago, and I really enjoy it. Mostly. (Like any radio station, there are people on it that I don't agree with, and sometimes I listen to it, sometimes I don't.)

Anyway, I really enjoy listening to Drew Mariani. He hosts a talk show where he discusses sort of whatever he wants. And I think he's pretty funny, and very insightful. I tend not to agree with some of his politics, and am often offended by his refusal to entertain opinions that are not his own. But I respect his earnestness, and I respect his faith a lot. I tend not to get up in arms with the topics he presents. But yesterday, he talked about something that I had to blog about.

There is an atheist anti-religion organization trying to prevent the US from issuing a commemorative stamp to honor Mother Theresa. If you want to read an article on the discussion, go here. They are, of course, citing the separation of Church and State, and the fact that Mother Theresa was famously anti-abortion, and used her platform to promote her belief that justice and compassion come from God. I should say, I am a proponent of the separation of Church and State myself. I'm not a "why isn't there more prayer in schools" or a "ten commandments on every bus" kind of person.

I get that this organization doesn't want religious figures to be part of anything. They're anti-religion. That makes sense. But when they use Katherine Hepburn as an example for someone who would be great on an American stamp (something I don't disagree with), and then quote her as saying that "the only thing I know is that we should be kind to each other and do what we can for other people", but then argue against commemorating Mother Theresa, who may have arguably been the most kind person on the planet during her lifetime, and the person who did the most for those that society thought didn't deserve it....? That just doesn't make sense to me. If Mother Theresa had taken a vocation of evangelism and spent her time in the slums of India trying to convert everyone to Christianity... then I could see their side. It'd be different if they wanted to make a stamp out of Jerry Fallwell, or Billy Graham, even. I can understand someone who is anti-religious wanting someone who is an evangelist not to be on their stamps.

But she wasn't. She believed in justice and equality and compassion and kindness. Yes, and Jesus. But you can't demote everyone who believes in Jesus to "not worthy because of their religion". Kindness isn't negated by believing in Jesus.

So, by that right, should we stop commemorating Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., as well? Should we stop commemorating Darwin (who was a Deist, if not a Christian)? What about Barack Obama? Is absolutely no one safe unless they agree with your perspective? Isn't that just as narrow-minded as they accuse Christians of being?

I have a lot of compassion for atheists, and sometimes, I would like to not believe in God so I could completely denounce organized religion, too. I think there are occasions when religion only exists for its own sake and the propagation of its own values--not God's. But I can't. And I'm sorry that I can't. But I can't get around for myself that I believe in God. And for right now, the only place for me to be is in church, no matter how flawed it is and no matter how uncomfortable I feel there. Still, I would like to think that there's some hope that someday we could all just be at peace.

I guess there's hope. But it's a very small fragment. And it makes me very sad.

Anyway, if you believe Mother Theresa was a person worth commemorating, go to the website and write a letter of support to the Postal Serivce, letting them know that you want to help our nation remember someone who helped and served the poorest of the poor, without any thought of herself. To me, that's something worth commemorating. No matter why she did it.