"You don't have to be Mother Theresa to avoid being an asshole."

[babylonsister]

http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2013/8/24/144851/962

Tired of Conservatives

by BooMan
Sat Aug 24th, 2013 at 02:48:51 PM EST


I'm tired of conservatives and their callous attitude towards everyone whose life is broken in some fundamental way, whether it's drug dependency, psychological problems, the death of a spouse, or simply some combination of lack of skills and opportunity. I'm tired of conservatives telling everybody to get a job and stop looking for help.

I wish I could force these people to go sit for an hour and a half in a suicide ward or a soup kitchen so they could see both what broken people look like and the compassion of the people who help them.

You don't have to be Mother Theresa to avoid being an asshole.

[freshwest]

1. Their lack of compassion may be a way of masking their fear that it will happen to them one day.

The further they push those less fortunate away in their minds, the more they think they are safe. It's a form of, 'It can't happen to me, and here's why' with a list of how much better they are.

Just because some need help at other times in life is no reason to feel superior. Because of YET. The acronym, Y.E.T. means 'You're Eligible, Too.' Things happen, not all of our doing.

We come into this world helpless and generally leave the world the same way. Humans count on the compassion of others in those phases of our lives to survive.

Ayn Rand detested the government for helping the 'parasites' who were poor or sickly. Yet took advantage of SS and Medicare when she became poor and sick. Thus joining the very people she hated the most.

Some people are assholes, like Rand and her followers.

[steve2470]

3. off topic but love the cat GIF lol !!!! nt

[freshwest]

6. Please use it yourself! Google doesn't mind.

Sometimes, it's more efficient than words.

[awoke_in_2003]

46. Fuck this thing in particular...

[Hissyspit]

42. How do you copy a gif animation on iPhone?

[Voice for Peace]

52. LOL

"fuck this thing in particular"

[BlueToTheBone]

54. And yet

Everyone dies. Everyone suffers. No matter how much you push it back, it still happens. Sometimes when it happens, you learn compassion; other times, not so much, especially if you deny and deflect.

[OneGrassRoot]

65. ^^ THIS ^^ and....

I love that GIF, too!!!

[treestar]

66. That's pretty much it

They attempt to convince themselves they are immune. Because they "work hard" nothing will go wrong for them. And that they had a leg up being born white middle class is ignored. They honestly believe they would be in the same place had they started off in poverty (or are trying so hard to convince themselves of that).

The "parasite" language is disgusting. Ayn Rand was disgusting.

[Marie Marie]

82. Me too - love that cat and his Cattitude!

[freshwest]

83. Hi, Marie Marie! Love the Cattitude and your Attitude in the sig! All good.

[COLGATE4]

2. But you DO have to avoid acting

like an asshole to avoid being called an asshole. Which is why Rethugs will always be - and remain - assholes.

[freshwest]

4. Even if they're nice in public, they prove their assholery in the voting booth in private.

[COLGATE4]

7. They're so disconnected from reality now that precious

few even bother to play "nice in public" before proving that they're assholes in the voting booth.

[Sheldon Cooper]

5. Some would argue that Mother Theresa was a bit of an asshole herself.

But your point is well-taken.

[oldhippie]

8. Who would argue that?

[Sheldon Cooper]

12. Well, Christopher Hitchens, for one.

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/fighting_words/2003/10/mommie_dearest.html

This returns us to the medieval corruption of the church, which sold indulgences to the rich while preaching hellfire and continence to the poor. MT was not a friend of the poor. She was a friend of poverty. She said that suffering was a gift from God. She spent her life opposing the only known cure for poverty, which is the empowerment of women and the emancipation of them from a livestock version of compulsory reproduction. And she was a friend to the worst of the rich, taking misappropriated money from the atrocious Duvalier family in Haiti (whose rule she praised in return) and from Charles Keating of the Lincoln Savings and Loan. Where did that money, and all the other donations, go? The primitive hospice in Calcutta was as run down when she died as it always had been—she preferred California clinics when she got sick herself—and her order always refused to publish any audit. But we have her own claim that she opened 500 convents in more than a hundred countries, all bearing the name of her own order. Excuse me, but this is modesty and humility?

There are more people who were distinctly unimpressed with Mother Theresa, if you have any interest in googling. I didn't particularly care for Hitchens, but I think his assessment of her in this instance was spot on.

[oldhippie]

69. I learn something new every day here.

Thanks.

[cleanhippie]

53. Anyone who actually knew what a terrible person she really was.

[defacto7]

85. I think she was the true definition of a

sadist. Pain was the thing she liked to promote the most for purging filthy thoughts and purifying the soul.

She was not a person of compassion or love. But then that would make her a pretty good poster hag for the GOP/corporate propaganda machine. Oh the irony.

[oberliner]

10. Mother Theresa was a bit of an asshole?

Wow.

[sasquuatch55]

14. Mother Theresa

[oberliner]

16. Christopher Hitchens?!

Alrighty then.

[Scootaloo]

32. I agree with him on this

Collecting millions upon millions of dollars in donations... and letting your wards die of treatable illness while you squirrel some of that away for your own medical needs and pass the rest on to the church? That's nothing to admire.

Hitchens was a pretty big asshole himself, but that doesn't make him wrong Though I suspect that in Teresa's case, it's less an issue of being an asshole and more an issue of some sort of mental condition on her part. Maybe Munchausen by Proxy combined with a Church-based dosed of Stockholm syndrome? Dunno.

[Warren DeMontague]

93. Hitch was a strange bird in that his track record was all over the map. But no one would argue he

wasn't bright.

My first encounters with him were during the run-up to the Iraq War, so I pegged him immediately as just another sweaty, bloated, right-wing Bush apologist.

Then I saw the documentary he did about putting Kissinger on trial, and I was like, shit, same guy? Really?

He made some good points, and when he was wrong, he was oft spectacularly wrong.

But on MT, I think he was spot-on.

[progressoid]

40. He's not the only one...

[rug]

35. Pot. Kettle.

[defacto7]

86. No, I think Fact. Fact.

[NYC Liberal]

15. Yes, she was actually.

[oberliner]

17. Shameful comment

Seriously.

[chollybocker]

19. Ignorant rebuttal.

Seriously.

Look it up.

[truebluegreen]

24. +1

[hue]

31. shameful stupidity--->seriously just sayin...

[noamnety]

34. I think what people are saying here

Is that encouraging the poor to organize against the corporate and political forces that create poverty and environmental disasters is more beneficial than being a rightwing fundie who sides with rightwing corporate interests, while encouraging the poor to forgive little things like poisoning of a half million people (which she did when the bhopal disaster happened).

That's the difference between her and someone like Gandhi. He was all about empowering the poor and fighting for equality, whereas Mother Teresa supported policies and politicians that disempowered the masses - and then romanticized the results as godlike suffering.

[snooper2]

75. Hell's Angel

[NYC Liberal]

98. Not shameful. Truthful.

There are much better people than Mother Theresa.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

20. Criticism of Mother Theresa

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Mother_Teresa

[hue]

25. Mother Fkr Teresa was a big a-hole

http://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2013/03/05/a-new-expose-on-mother-teresa-shows-that-she-and-the-vatican-were-even-worse-than-we-thought/

The myth of altruism and generosity surrounding Mother Teresa is dispelled in a paper by Serge Larivée and Genevieve Chenard of University of Montreal’s Department of Psychoeducation and Carole Sénéchal of the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Education. The paper will be published in the March issue of the journal Studies in Religion/Sciences religieuses and is an analysis of the published writings about Mother Teresa. Like the journalist and author Christopher Hitchens, who is amply quoted in their analysis, the researchers conclude that her hallowed image—which does not stand up to analysis of the facts—was constructed, and that her beatification was orchestrated by an effective media relations campaign...

“At the time of her death, Mother Teresa had opened 517 missions welcoming the poor and sick in more than 100 countries. The missions have been described as “homes for the dying” by doctors visiting several of these establishments in Calcutta. Two-thirds of the people coming to these missions hoped to a find a doctor to treat them, while the other third lay dying without receiving appropriate care. The doctors observed a significant lack of hygiene, even unfit conditions, as well as a shortage of actual care, inadequate food, and no painkillers. The problem is not a lack of money—the Foundation created by Mother Teresa has raised hundreds of millions of dollars—but rather a particular conception of suffering and death: “There is something beautiful in seeing the poor accept their lot, to suffer it like Christ’s Passion. The world gains much from their suffering,” was her reply to criticism, cites the journalist Christopher Hitchens. Nevertheless, when Mother Teresa required palliative care, she received it in a modern American hospital.”

[oberliner]

41. "....cites the journalist Christopher Hitchens."

Cites from where?

[progressoid]

77. "sorrow, suffering is but a kiss of Jesus - a sign that you have come so close to Him..."

"Sorrow, suffering, Eileen, is but a kiss of Jesus, a sign that you have come so close to Jesus that He can kiss you. I think this is the most beautiful definition of suffering. So let us be happy when Jesus stoops down to kiss us. I hope we are close enough that He can do it."

- to friend Eileen Egan

[defacto7]

87. Sadist.

[cleanhippie]

55. Not a bit of one, a total one.

Knowing what a horrible person she actually was is "wow" worthy.

[Warren DeMontague]

92. She had good PR, I'll grant her that.

But there are certainly a bunch of legitimate criticisms that can and have been -most notably by Hitch, but also by others- made against her, starting with her statements and attitudes towards things like contraception.

[progressoid]

26. Yep. n/t

[Union Scribe]

48. I can't believe it took til post 5 before

someone started trashing her

[Sheldon Cooper]

57. Yeah, I was kinda bummed that mine wasn't the Number 1 post.

[cleanhippie]

58. You're right, it should have taken less. She deserves every bit of it.

And then some.

[rug]

71. And Hitchens deserves a hell of a lot more for his war drumming and misogyny.

[Lordquinton]

90. Hitchens realised his mistakes

and regretted that he was for it. Mother Teresa reveled in misery and caused many deaths personally.

Just because Hitchens said some things you don't like doesn't outweigh the actual suffering and death Mother Teresa caused.

[rug]

100. Reveled? Surely you have a link to that.

[Lordquinton]

101. Surely you can read some of the links posted in this thread.

because there is more than enough evidence to support it if only you'd read it.

Unless you think that unpopular opinions are worse than actually causing suffering and death?

[rug]

102. Not a word about reveling.

[Lordquinton]

103. So the rest you accept as true?

That she was not a good person? and that her works were probably worse than anything hitchens said?

To quote another in this thread:

"Collecting millions upon millions of dollars in donations... and letting your wards die of treatable illness while you squirrel some of that away for your own medical needs and pass the rest on to the church? That's nothing to admire. "

And she preached that this was all in the lord's name, what would you call it?

[rug]

105. No, I don't. She did lots to criticize but also lots to admire.

I know it's fashionable in some quarters to demonize her. Take that quote, for example. I'd love to see some objective facts to support that statement.

The truth is, she was neither a saint nor a demon.

[REP]

104. Hell's Angel? More than an asshole

A hypocrite and a sadist.

[Heather MC]

9. The stupidity of saying "get a job" is this

Most of the jobs in this country barely pay a living wage. That's why people who work for the largest employers in the US are still on welfare.

If getting a job actually helped you out of poverty for most people. The statement "Get a job" might actially be helpful.

But thanks to the Ship Jobs to foreign countries Policy The actual "getting of a job" is pure bullshit for many.

[papa3times]

11. I'm sorry but Mother Teresa

was an asshole. She herded the sick and dying into a building and gave them bread and water until they died. Very little if any medical help was provided. She also was an opponent of women's reproductive rights, which should go without saying considering she was a catholic fanatic. Go and YouTube Christopher Hitchens 10 minute documentary on her called "Hell's Angel". It dispels many of the myths of this religious nut.

[noamnety]

21. Thanks for the recommendation.

I hadn't seen that before. Kind of sums up the whole "compassionate conservatism" deal.

[oberliner]

29. "Go and YouTube Christopher Hitchens ..."

Again with this guy.

[Sheldon Cooper]

33. You seem determined to remain in the dark about the actual philosophy of

Mother Theresa and her subsequent activities. As it's been stated repeatedly, Hitchens isn't the only one who disliked her. Care to address the actual message, instead of attacking the messenger?

[oberliner]

43. "The actual philosophy"

OK then.

Listen, there are lots of books about her. Read one that isn't by Hitchens.

I have, and I think it's shameful to call her "an asshole" or worse as many here have done and are doing.

There has been a lot written about Martin Luther King Jr that paint him in an unflattering light as well. Would you call him that too?

[Sheldon Cooper]

56. It's amazing to me that you're bringing MLK into the conversation.

AFAIK, MLK never told blacks that they're suffering would bring them closer to God, and that the world was a better place because of their suffering. Your ignorance on this subject is profound, and you have no interest in increasing your knowledge, so I'm done with you. Have the last word if you must.

[Alkene]

13. I kinda disagree with the ignorance or separation from reality as an excuse.

That certainly might be the case for some, but I think that most assholery of callousness and insensitivity comes from that fact that they just don't care.

They don't care about people they don't care about.

There seems to be a basic disconnect in some people regarding the extension of compassion to people they've never met; a kind of narcissism, wherein the people in their lives matter as an extension of their own egos, and that which is beyond the boundary of their ego, that which is not owned within the orbit of their self-worth, is immaterial.

Or maybe that's just the case for my supervisor a work.

[evemac]

84. you completely nailed it. spot on.

[Tippy]

18. babylonsister great post thank you

[a kennedy]

22. "I'm tired of conservatives telling everybody to get a job and stop looking for help".....or the old

saying...."pull yourself up by your bootstraps"..... I just hate that one.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

23. To the Hungry Masses:

[hue]

28. Indeed I'm soo sick of this also!!

[hue]

27. The impasse Repukes have towards empathy lies in the core of their personality.

It is quite rare to see especially the older ones actually awaken.

[oberliner]

30. Cannot believe the Mother Theresa bashing on this thread

Makes me sick.

[Sheldon Cooper]

36. She earned the bashing.

Remove your blinders, or remain in ignorance. But don't be pissed at those who point out the truth about the dear sainted Mother.

[LeftyMom]

37. Uncounted millions were given to her order with which to serve the poor.

She gave most of it to the church in Rome, and refused to pay for basic sanitary measures in her Calcutta disease warehouses.

[hue]

38. It's not the MFT bashing making You sick--it's believing in a baseless myth/fantasy that's kills U.

[oberliner]

44. Which myth/fantasy would that be?

Can you elaborate?

[Brickbat]

39. Her fetishization of suffering in the name of God was shameful.

[oberliner]

45. Whatever

Tell me what you have done in your lifetime to help those in poverty.

[hue]

49. Teresa harmed the poor, sick & dying. She & the Vatican USED them to greatly enrich themselves.

I see You're not reading the links as it looks as if You prefer myth & fantasy. The Vatican relies on sheeple like You. When the time comes for You to face Your own truth don't say You were never given the chance for truth.

[noamnety]

50. I would suggest you look at it from the opposite perspective.

Given the amount of money she raised and donated to the church (as opposed to donating it to the poor), and how she used her platform and that money to restrict women's access to abortions, and

Given the way she used her platform to cover up or condone corporate and political attrocities,

maybe the question should be has anyone on DU done as much as her to keep people in poverty?

[Brickbat]

64. Great argument, bro.

[noamnety]

67. Can I tweak your post a bit?

Her fetishization of other people's suffering in the name of God was shameful. She wasn't so into the beautiful godlike nature of suffering when she needed care.

[Union Scribe]

51. She committed the ultimate sin against a segment of DU:

she was a prominent religious figure. Therefore it's become cool to trash her.

[noamnety]

60. You're missing a key element here.

She was a prominent RIGHT WING FUNDIE religious figure who supported RIGHT WING FUNDIE principles that create poverty, classism, and inequality.

MLK Jr. was a prominent religious figure and there's not a whole lot of trashing of him because he supported policies that reduce poverty, classism, and inequality.

The distinction matters.

[hue]

62. We have no need to "trash" her. We know her by her works and her own words.

[War Horse]

47. Recced

But while mother Theresa did a lot of good, there's also a really dark side to her story, as has been pointed out above.

[hue]

59. More info

Hell's Angel: Mother Teresa by Christopher Hitchens (1 of 3)

Hell's Angel: Mother Teresa by Christopher Hitchens (2 of 3)

[hue]

63. part 3

Hell's Angel: Mother Teresa by Christopher Hitchens (3 of 3)

[Zorra]

61. Great post, thanks. nt

[Enthusiast]

68. Cruelty and intolerance

are necessary ingredients for Fascism.

They are working on ramping up these qualities in the American people. They have been working on it for at least 30 years. Their hard work has paid off. Many of us have become moochers and useless eaters. You ain't seen nothing yet.

[babylonsister]

70. All you people bashing Mother Theresa have NOTHING to say about conservatives and

their lack of compassion? I think this says a helluva lot a about you.

[noamnety]

72. Eh, I think all it says about us

is we didn't feel a compelling need to debate that part of the post.

[cleanhippie]

73. Stating facts about her actually being a terrible person is not bashing.

Defending that woman against well deserved criticism says a lot about you, too.

[babylonsister]

76. This post is about conservatives, not Mother Theresa.

But apparently that went over most heads, including yours.

[cleanhippie]

79. The post used a true asshole as someone to emulate.

Maybe we can agree that it was poor choice for a headline to make the point.

[noamnety]

81. I think everyone got what your post was about.

It wasn't an overly complex thought or anything. We just found the other issue in your post to be more interesting to discuss, probably because people found the premise to be somewhat offensive and didn't feel it was right to just let it go without comment.

That's the great and awful thing about discussion boards - once you start a topic, you don't get to hand out a script telling people what they are allowed to comment on. There have definitely been times I wish I could do that, though!

[hue]

94. MTeresa is the paradigm/prime example of a Repub/RW'er personality.

Every aspect of MFT's cold, limelight seeking, money dredging behaviors are congruent with Repuke/Teabagger policy & agenda. No disrespect to You babylonsister but the OP used an incorrect/confusing analogy. The comparison between MFT and conservative/ALEC is that they are the same team--just a different name. RW, religious extremism, parasites of the sheeple, image distortion, people of the lie, misogynous, etc....
Different book cover--same story. Different manifestation, same actualization!!

They are sociopathic, self serving leeches!!!

[LeftyMom]

80. The flawed premise is more interesting than the trite conclusion.

[NYC Liberal]

99. I for one criticize all of them.

Mother Theresa AND conservatives.

Btw both have a lot in common.

[Cha]

74. The gops act like they have weekly seminars on how to

be a bigger asshole than last week.

Booman has a way.. mahalo, babylonsistah!

[avaistheone1]

78. Can't argue with that.

[RainDog]

88. k&r n/t

[Gravitycollapse]

89. That's interesting because Mother Theresa was definitely an asshole.

[Festivito]

91. I hear ya. But, do they have a point?

We have too many people on the planet. We have polluted every ocean, river, lake, stream and spring. And, if we haven't, we are moving to do so.

I am suggesting that part of this right-wing assholery reflects fear of what too many people will mean to our planet and its ability to support human life. This brings a race for power, no holds barred. An old paradigm of better to let nine guilty free than let one unjustly die -- reverses. Let the weak and needy die.

I don't like their solution, but I try to understand it. Personally, I think we're smart enough as a whole to find solution to our world wide problems. However, that is a matter of my own faith in humanity. Perhaps an outcropping of my faith in a God.

So, I do not like their callousness either, their no hold barred lack of empathy that can catapult them to become a controlling empowered elite. Or, so they think. Because, when our planet's ability to support human life falls apart, who will survive the best?

The rich will try to ride it out with themselves on top. The strong will try to take control for themselves. The intellectuals will try to think it through to some best thought solution. And, the fight between them all will make them all look like assholes.

The result might well look like a Mother Theresa solution. Overly pragmatic solution to an overly simplified goal. Really, angering the superiority complex laden detractors sure that their solution was the right one and should have been incorporated into the goal they think we should achieve.

[leftyladyfrommo]

95. My Lord.

Some days DU has become DB (democrat bashing) or LB (liberal bashing) or RB (religion bashing)

Aren't there more important issues to discuss.

[Fumesucker]

96. "You don't have to be Mother Theresa to avoid being an asshole."

The whole point of the OP is utterly ruined by the documented fact that Mother Teresa was indeed a world class asshole and hypocrite.

It is a huge distraction from the message in the OP, one brought on by ignorance on the part of the writer.

[The Wizard]

97. I'm shocked to learn

Republicans are assholes. They're just raised on bigotry and hatred. Bigotry and hatred are not family values. The mental illness inflicted on normal people by Republican crackpots should be shunned by those of us who embrace real American values.