The Rhenish Missionary Society ( is Re: GRGR (15): Good & Evil (was Enzian...)

[rj]

Michael Perez
> Jerky beat me to the mention of Chris Hitchens book on Theresa.  I
> don't know if they are the "worst of the bunch," but hardly worthy of
> sainthood.  I'll stand by "cultural carpetbaggers."  It is harsh, but
> definitely deserved.  There are many Enzians among the missions,
> confused and corrupted.

But the alternatives for Enzian (well, make that *alternative* -- death,
like pretty much everyone else in the tribe), as for the Untouchables,
the "poorest of the poor" in Calcutta, were pretty horrific too. If the
boy/people have *already* been corrupted or ostracised (by the Rhenish
Missionary Society, or the Raj, or the Hindu caste system or whoever)
then are you advocating that they should be just left in Limbo, to go
away to their aardvark holes and godless slums and die because they have
absolutely no access to any means of production or sustenance? The stuff
I've read of Theresa's life make what she was doing seem pretty selfless
to me, even be it under the banner of the papacy.

best