All culture arises out of religion. When religious faith decays, culture must decline, though often seeming to flourish for a space of time after the religion which has nourished it has fallen into disbelief... no cultured person should remain indifferent to the erosion of apprehension of the transcendent.'

Russell Kirk, Eliot and His Age

Friday, May 14, 2010

Mother Theresa and the Empire State Building

Alright... normally, I am not particularly effected by these types of petty slights to the Faith, or to prominent Catholics; however, this particular case seems particularly petty.

Apparently, the Empire State Building has refused to honor Mother Theresa with a blue and white light display.  Normally, I would just ignore this kind of silly slight, but in this case, it seems completely bigoted and unreasonable.  Mother Theresa has been honored repeatedly by secular organizations (including a Nobel Peace Prize) and is considered one of the most respected people of the 20th century.  It is not clear why the Empire State Building Lighting Partners has chosen to deny this particular display; however, the fact that they were willing to honor Mao Tze Tung and the 60th aniversary of the Chinese Communist Revolution might provide us with some insight into the issue at stake.

Apparently, the ESBLP are much more comfortable with celebrating a brutal revolutionary who was responsible for the deaths of over 77 million people (and, of course, the establishment of state mandated abortion), than with a woman who worked tirelessly for the poor and disenfranchised in the world.

If you are irritated by this, sign the petition over at Catholic League for Civil Rights.

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