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

[Doug Millison]

Jerky misunderstood thoroughly and wrote: "You seem to assume that we would
get a more accurate picture of the woman, her works, and her place in
history from the members of her cult then we  would from other sources"
which of course is not what I said. I said (and I quote my previous post)
"if you wanted to put together a complete picture of L. Ron Hubbard, in
addition to talking to his critics you would indeed want to talk to
Scientologists" -- but please don't let that little fact get in the way of
the fable you're constructing about what I've said. To make it perfectly
clear, if you wanted to put together a well-rounded picture of Mother
Teresa, you'd talk to her critics, to experts familiar with the various
issues involved in her life and work, and to her co-workers and admirers.
Yes, that's what a good journalist would do. But Hitchens -- whose
journalistic integrity was seriously challenged earlier this year, in The
Nation magazine to which he is a contributor, among other publications --
has had a hard-on for Mother Teresa for years, and has written anything but
well-rounded accounts of her work.  Unfortunately, they seem to provide
fuel for more than a few Catholic-haters out there.

Later, "Jerky" said, "But I think you know what I meant" and again I have
to disagree. I hear "Jerky" slandering a 20th century humanitarian hero
and, in a previous post if I understood correctly, I hear "Jerky" putting
Mother Teresa in the same category as Hitler, but for the life of me I
can't say I know what "Jerky" means by so doing.

But I do like the way Pynchon challenges organized religion (lovely scene
in M&D when Dixon is wiping his butt while talking to clergy, if I remember
correctly) and makes us think about the implications of the various things
that religious institutions and individuals have done.  I also like the way
Pynchon affirms small humanitarian gestures such as Pokler placing his gold
wedding band on the finger of the dying woman in the concentration camp --
a gesture not all that different from Mother Teresa's loving care of the
dying untouchables in those mean streets.




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