Missionary Position: Mother Teresa in Theory and Practice by Christopher Hitchens
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(Paperback - Reprint)
- Pub. Date: April 1997
- 98pp
- Sales Rank: 128,185
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Product Details
- Pub. Date: April 1997
- Publisher: Analytical Psychology Club of San Francisco, Incorporated
- Format: Paperback, 98pp
- Sales Rank: 128,185
- ISBN-13: 9781859840542
- ISBN: 185984054X
- Edition Description: Reprint
Synopsis
Recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, feted by politicians, the Church and theworld's media, Mother Teresa of Calcutta appears to be on the fast track to sainthood. But what, asks Christopher Hitchens, makes Mother Teresa so divine? In a frank expose of the Teresa cult, Hitchens details the nature and limits of one woman's mission to the world's poor. He probes the source of the heroic status bestowed upon an Albanian nun whose only declared wish is to serve God. He asks whether Mother Teresa's good works answer any higher purpose than the need of the world's privileged to see someone, somewhere, doing something for the Third World. He unmasks pseudo-miracles, questions Mother Teresa's fitness to adjudicate on matters of sex and reproduction, and reports on a version of saintly ubiquity which affords genial relations with dictators, corrupt tycoons and convicted frauds.
Annotation
In a searching examination of the Teresa cult, the author of International Territory: The United Nations 1945-95 passes his final caustic judgement on Mother Teresa, reviewing her surrogate role as propagandist for the most extreme views, and concluding that she is not heaven's agent on Earth. "Hitchens argues his case with consummate style."--New York Times. 20 illustrations. 98 pp.
Publishers Weekly
An extended, nun-busting polemic from the The Nation columnist. (Apr.)
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Missionary Position: Mother Teresa in Theory and Practiceby Anonymous
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April 03, 2008: On page 11, Christopher Hitchens claims the following: Mother Teresa was ?a religious fundamentalist,? ?a political operative,? ?a primitive sermonizer,? and ?an accomplice of worldly, secular powers.? Four points, if Mr. Hitchens proves and communicates these points there should be no objection to giving him a star for each of the points validated. An extra star will be added if he proves all four. Christopher Eric Hitchens (1949-) is a well known atheist. He is well known not for the sole reason he is an atheist but because he is a missionary for atheism (see the quotes before the Foreward and Hitchens books). When authors write they communicate almost as much about themselves as they do the subject they are writing about (see his anti-Catholicism, pp. 28, 29, 32, 48, 51, 56, 60, 78, 84, 98). For that reason, Mr. Hitchens cannot divorce himself from his atheism when he writes anymore than this Catholic reviewer can in writing this review. For example, Hitchens claims that Mother Teresa?s view on abortion and contraception was the first red flag for him (p. 24). Another example is his judgment of Mother Teresa with pejorative words, such as, ?fundamentalist,? ?operative,? ?primitive,? and ?accomplice.? Mr. Hitchens?s atheism does not invalidate his critiques of Mother Teresa but it does beg the question ?by what standard? does he use to determine the good, the true, and the beautiful outside the social conventions of the soceity for which he lives. It would be a lie to say most authors who write about Mother Teresa hold Mr. Hitchens?s thesis. There are dozens of books promoting Mother Teresa in a positive light and only a couple that offer critiques of her person and mission. Even so, the impact of his book is vast. It is still a best seller 13 years after its publication and received a spike in sales since the release of Mother Teresa?s private writings. It is the bible for anti-Mother Teresa crusaders and it is a popular work in the anti-theist movement. The first fifteen pages of the book is the Introduction (15% of the book). After indicting Mother Teresa for the company see keep (pp. 3ff), Mr. Hitchens critiques Malcolm Muggeridge for his, in Hitchens?s opinion, misrepresentation of Calcutta (p. 21ff.). He questions the motives of Mother Teresa (p. 37). But he also claims she is an ?instinctive genius? (p. 86). He believes her social work was not helping people but hurting them, he uses a doctor, among others, to make his claim (p. 38ff.). On pages 64-71, the Charles Keating Savings and Loan scandal is argued with photocopies of the letters of the court and Mother Teresa. Readers looking for a book bleeding with data and precise notes as to Mr. Hitchens?s sources must seek elsewhere. There is a list of books Hitchens claimed to use as sources for the book (p. 12). He gives the criteria for his sources (p. 42). Most of his arguments are from circumstantial evidence or from those who claimed to have worked with or known Mother Teresa. Names are given but there are few written sources listed. One of his most important sources is an ex-Missionary of Charity, Susan Shields (p.43ff.). Hitchens?s prime source is his claim that he met Mother Teresa in Calcutta (p. 23ff.). Many of the attacks on Mother Teresa are linked with the Church?s doctrines which Mr. Hitchens is rather ignorant of, or distorting (p. 52ff, 77, 88n). Though, there is one time when he praises the Catholic Church for its defense of ?potential life? (p. 52). Mr....
Missionary Position: Mother Teresa in Theory and Practiceby Anonymous
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August 26, 2007: One of Hitchen's finest! The religious fanatics are out in swarms attempting to discredit and hide the truth of one of the foremost swindlers and frauds in modern history. Independaent thinkers, moral and ethical individuals owe Hitchens a vast debt of gratitude for providing a brilliant example of the repudiation of received opinion and its replacement with an exercise in critical inquiry that results in the smashing of illusion and unmasking its beneficiary, in this instance Mother Teresa, and exposing her to the piercing light of reality, especially when the beneficiary has been protected from exposure by ensconcement behind the massive propaganda stronghold of religion.
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