(CBS) In life, Mother Teresa was an icon — for believers — of God’s work on Earth. Her ministry to the poor of Calcutta was a world-renowned symbol of religious compassion.
But now, it has emerged that Mother Teresa was so doubtful of her own faith that she feared being a hypocrite
In a new book that compiles letters she wrote to friends, superiors and confessors, her doubts are obvious.
According to her letters, Mother Teresa died with her doubts. She had even stopped praying, she once said.
With all of the pain and misery this woman has witnessed, its no wonder she lost her faith.
With that level of honesty that woman continues to be a hero to me.
Who wrote the headline?
It really doesn’t matter what she felt, it matters what she did. And what she did was to help people during their time of suffering. She lived the best example of what religions claim to be about. She is the perfect example of someone who transcends religion by their acts. THAT is what we need to remember about her.
Watch this clip from Penn and Teller’s “Bullshit”, and then make up your own mind about how ‘great” she was:
@ Jeff Williams… well said, my sentiments exactly. Religions wouldn’t have such a bad rap if more believers followed her example.
Religions wouldn’t have such a bad rap if more believers followed their religion. (period)
Well, if she were a Christian she’d be wearing a HUGE blond wig, she would drive a $50,000+ mercedes and have tits as big as baseballs.
Mother Teresa was nothing to admire.
What was she but an adherent and supporter of the agency that to a certain degree CAUSED ALL THE MISERY she supposedly was trying to alleviate? or, was she just a co-enabler?
What India and the rest of the world needs is birth control.
Now on to Penn & Teller, I’ve heard about it but not seen it.===Gee, she stole money so the church could have a few more golden candlesticks while dying folks were imprisoned in their one hole shitter? Hard to believe, even for a nun.
#7 – JoaoPT – Religions wouldn’t have such a bad rap if more believers followed their religion. (period)
I’m sure that killing your disobedient kids and all non-Christians will improve the image of Christianity.
#8 she was a Christian, truer to the original message than most.
I watched a bit of the Penn and Teller bit but turned it off because of how they were twisting what she did and what she was about. Did the people she helped live in lousy conditions? Probably. But what most folks don’t realize is those lousy conditions were way better than what they had been living in. Those of us living in the west have little clue what real abject poverty is like unless we’ve traveled outside the confines of our developed world. Would you rather live out your dying days on a sparse cot under a solid roof or in the gutter? That’s where her work began, giving the dying a decent place to sleep with a roof over their head and decent food. And as far as living with suffering to imitate Christ, she was speaking of herself and those working with her not needing nice comfy living conditions etc, not those she was serving. As for doubting her faith I venture there is no human alive or dead that has not had doubts about what they believe. Anyone who says they haven’t is either lying or unbelievably arrogant…or both.
“I watched a bit of the Penn and Teller bit but turned it off…”
Ah, yes. Nothing like jumping to conclusions and keeping a closed mind. I’m sure they had nothing more to offer after that point, and you knew that already, without even watching it!
Wish I was prescient!
#4 – Seriously, how can you be so gullible? Lemmings…
It is not uncommon for us to question our faith – it is, after all, a gift from God. But we Christians are also taught that the test of faith is in the fruit that we produce, and Mother Teresa produced a lot of fruit!
Even Jesus Christ was so nervous prior to the crucifixion that he sweated blood – you know that His (as a man) faith was being tested. It wasn’t that He didn’t have faith, but our faith is always subject to being tested.
As for those who want to bad mouth anything religious, I’m glad there’s enough depth and meaning to your life, what is it, 60-70 years on average, then nothing for the rest of eternity? Is that what you really think? Keep on the way you’re keeping on, and you might be in for a shock. For the rest of us, giving of ourselves in the service of something higher and better than we are, even if we were wrong, gives far more meaning to our short time here on Earth. And since we’re not wrong, there’s all the more reason to celebrate.
Lakelady, why don’t you watch the ENTIRE, WHOLE 5 minute and 16 second clip before you comment on it? Your refusal to watch this clip reveals your ignorance about her and says a lot about your refusal to believe anything other than how mainstream media treated her: like a saint.
#14:
“As for those who want to bad mouth anything religious, I’m glad there’s enough depth and meaning to your life, what is it, 60-70 years on average, then nothing for the rest of eternity? Is that what you really think?”
Yup. It’s great because it makes us focus on priorities in this life, which is the only one we’ve got, not some fantasy fairy tale afterlife.
“Keep on the way you’re keeping on, and you might be in for a shock.”
Might be. Odds are probably not.
“For the rest of us, giving of ourselves in the service of something higher and better than we are, even if we were wrong, gives far more meaning to our short time here on Earth. And since we’re not wrong, there’s all the more reason to celebrate.”
Oh you’re not wrong? Please provide proof of how right you are, and how wrong everyone else (including Muslims, Jews, etc) is wrong.
now people can see that what we do is not the way to have a full live with Jehova God, all she need was Jesus.
All I know is if Penn and Teller say it is so it MUST be so. Because there is now way anyone could produce biased media. I mean Fox is fair and balanced! It is interesting watching confirmation bias from both sides at work.
P.S. Do atheist and Catholic lemmings eat the same food?
#18. Who says P&T are unbiased? Penn himself has said on the show, “We’re biased as all fuck!” And so what if they are? They’re presenting the side of the story most media does not.
#14, Kerry,
You just keep on believing that some invisible guy in the sky is telling you to send MONEY to fix the things he screwed up.
Angel it is tits as big as basketballs.Baseballs are pathetic.
I watched more than half of the Penn & Teller clip. (ooops just checked and watched it again, I stand corrected I actually had seen the whole thing before) Their extreme bias was obvious I didn’t need to watch the whole thing to confirm that. Let’s see, a nun raising money and you’re surprised that money is going to a religious institution? Get a clue! And did anyone stop to think that it’s these nuns that were the staff that took care of the poor. Nope, that can’t be it, she must just been stealing the money and living the high life. Just like I won’t be taken by false “saints” I won’t be taken in by false “entertainers”.
Watch Zeitgeist The Movie and see how deep the rabbit hole goes.
Penn & Teller are correct, it’s all bullshit.
“She wanted people to live in impoverished conditions so that she could identify with the poor she was serving…”
#22. No one said she was taking the money and living the high life. However, doesn’t it seem strange that no one was allowed to look at the books to see where the money was going? How much was going straight into the Vatican’s coffers? Why couldn’t that money be used to improve the conditions of her filthy establishments?
And just because it was nuns running these places doesn’t mean everything was peaches and cream: they had to do things the Mother Teresa way, including making sure the residents were suffering, to bring them closer to Jesus.
Here’s an interesting article that sheds some more light on the subject:
http://www.newstatesman.com/200508220019
And as for P&T being extemely biased, see comment 19.
#22
One other item, the issue of the money is not whether she spent it on herself. The issue is whether the millions that sent her money knew that it would be spent to expand her institution instead of going directly to the people to whom she was helping.
MT’s caring for the poor was only to give them a decrepit place to die in.
“Everybody remembers Mother Teresa as a living saint. Mother T was a Catholic nun who helped the destitute and homeless of Calcutta, and who became an international emissary of peace and charity after receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979.
But nobody seems to remember the crazy things M.T. said about abortion, contraception, and divorce. Or her endless self-aggrandizing through exaggeration and lies. Or the various brutal dictators and other sleazeballs she hung out with. Or especially what happened to all those financial donations (hundreds of millions of dollars) which never seemed to get spent on anything. At least they weren’t spent on food, medicine, or housing for the poor.”
Read all about it:
As a person of faith, myself, this story about Mother Teresa neither surprises me nor does it lower my admiration of her.
Having doubts — even severe ones — is a pretty common experience for many highly spiritual people. Had she lived longer, she may have worked her way through it.
As for the negative sides of her personality and life — I suppose some of what you say is true (much is probably BS, too) but Mother Teresa, in all her imperfection, did a heck of a lot more good in this world than anybody here, I’m guessing, and maybe all of us combined.
Greg Allen, no actually she didn’t.
#28:
“As for the negative sides of her personality and life — I suppose some of what you say is true (much is probably BS, too)…”
Not likely BS, as this information is widely available and from multiple sources.
“…but Mother Teresa, in all her imperfection, did a heck of a lot more good in this world than anybody here, I’m guessing, and maybe all of us combined.”
Like opposing abortion, regardless of the situation, and rallying against birth control, to the detriment of thousands of babies born into poverty and conditions where they can’t be cared for?
@25 – “And just because it was nuns running these places doesn’t mean everything was peaches and cream: they had to do things the Mother Teresa way, including making sure the residents were suffering, to bring them closer to Jesus.”
…care to provide a source ?
#4 “It really doesn’t matter what she felt, it matters what she did. She is the perfect example of someone who transcends religion by their acts. THAT is what we need to remember about her.”
Exactly! Well said!
I think of religion as software and if you don’t have software does the things you do stop….?
Cheers
@5
I watched the whole clip. I don’t really think a few 2nd hand accounts of people who briefly knew or were involved with Mother Teresa really qualifies as investigative reporting.
It may be true or may not be true, everything is relative.
Typically, it is not that difficult to find 5 or 6 people who agree with your point of view, interview them and portray that as the truth.
And typically, it is not difficult to make to publish information and then have a substantial number of the viewers believe what they are told at face value.
The answer? Who knows. I just know that a biased segment by Penn and Teller is probably not the best way to discover the truth any more than interviewing Steve Balmer is a good way to learn about Linux.
Seems to me like that one girl seemed to have a chip on her shoulder and the Penn & Teller segment hardly seemed neutral.
Zzzzzz.
By the way, to anyone who actually cares, the word about Mother Teresa is that she converted to Christianity only very late in life (40? 50?) and really was only nominally Christian. I’m not sure what her true religion was and really am not that interested to do the Googling to find out for this post.
Just a heads up.
#31, see the links at posts 5, 23, 25, and 27.
#33. Who says P&T are neutral? See post 19. And there are many more sources of this kind of information about M.T. See post #35.
In addition, my father is a minister (now retired) who had colleages who worked with MT at one point or another, and they were extremely bothered by her methods. They were upset that the media does not portray her in a very accurate light.
@36
I agree along of the lines of representing a point of view that the media does not normally portray.
It would not surprise me if her methods were not disturbing, perhaps part of this can be attributed to limited resources, fatigue, the strain of dealing with abject poverty or the strain of dealing with the behaviors of people who have had to live in abject poverty.
I guess even if all the above were truth, I tend to judge people in context of their times and circumstances. I mean, Jefferson owned slaves.
#37, her methods were pretty harsh. Follow the link at #25 to see what I mean.
# 34 I don’t know where you heard about her conversion but it’s wrong. She was raised a Catholic and become a nun at 18.
and as for speaking out against abortion and contraception…she’s a Catholic nun and that’s the position of that church so why is that surprising or particularly despicable because she followed the teaching of her faith? She didn’t exactly stand in the way of those who believed differently did she?
14 …but our faith is always subject to being tested.
Why?
Why does your God need to keep jerking you around?
He’s supposed to be loving and compassionate… not some insecure dweeb who needs constant reassurance…
14 …giving of ourselves in the service of something higher and better than we are…
The “giving of ourselves” part is great.
But why isn’t that enough?
Why does it have to be “in the service of something higher and better than we are”.
All religion boils down to: “It would really suck if this life is all we get”.
It’s not surprising. I have learned something new today.
At least we live in the age of YouTube and similar services, I do somehow think the ability to share videos will draw attention to things in this world that can be done better.
#39, the problem in this case is that MT’s message against abortion and contraceptives probably reached a huge number of people; people who are arguably in the worst position to be denied access to these services, and who would benefit the most; extremely poor, uneducated, and living in a third world country.
And she did “stand in the way” of those who believed differently, by not offering access to these services, and probably denying care to those who wanted them.
R O F L . . . . .Penn & Teller rock, nice to see peeps unafraid to call it as they see it with religion and religious figures. I am SOOOoooo sick of everyone kowtowing to religion in fear of maybe, possibly, offending someone, somewhere.
Its the 21st f**king century and we are STILL stuck with so many people and their ridiculous mythos oriented beliefs and magical thinking???? yikes. . .
And of course we all know the truth because we’re so smart, unbiased and have a complete perspective of the world and everyone in it. Sometimes we should smell what we’re shoveling….oh and wait for the ‘intelligent’ comments to come from this one….can’t wait.
Religion is all based on DOUBT. The ultimate sin is doubt, and thats a great way to keep folks trapped in a religion. They think the moment they doubt, they’re committing a grave sin punishable by hell. This happens to the most devout because they’re striving to be as perfect as possible, and the doubt slips in and they become trapped in their own devotion.
Thats why religion purports to give you “all the answers” because you aren’t allowed to doubt those answers.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7R002kBjG8
I just had to!
…and what, pray tell, have YOU all done for the poor and destitute and dying. Try walking a mile in Mother Teresa’s shoes (DARE you!). The Indian Government itself heard complaints about her work by India’s own people and wanted them to shut her down, but when the Indian Government asked them the same question, they backed off, because, like you, they could never walk so tall or fit such shoes or cared enough to do anything about their “untouchables.”
This blog has totally lost it on this one
We talk about this why.j.hlkeeeeeaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrq… zap!
Religious Statement: Mother Teresa is a saint doings Gods work.
Religious Response: Amen.
Question: Is Everything Mother Teresa did above reproach?
Religious Respone: You are biased! Its not True. Its true but doesn’t matter. There is a bigger picture. What have you done. Look at her good work.
And so, complexity, shadings of meaning, inherent contradiction, fall to the wayside so that “doubt” can be avoided. Excellent post #45.
#37, HM
MT lived in contemporary times. That can not be an excuse. Instead of using her talents and persuasion to bring industry to the areas she “ministered”, she instead only promoted poverty and suffering. Whether this was inadvertent or purposeful I don’t know, but the effect is obvious.
#42, Skippy,
Amen brother. Lots of good posts.
#43, MaTa
Penn and Teller have a personal mission to expose frauds. Calling them biased is merely blaming the messenger for the message.
#45, Steve,
Amen brother.
#47, Barbara,
Ya, those effen child size 5s were hard to fit.
Just something for you to think about. Murder is the purposeful killing of a person. Manslaughter is the unintended killing of a person. Either way, the person is dead. However, a depraved indifference can turn manslaughter into murder.
I wish you people would stop referring to an atheist as though they belonged to some organized religion, following some old mythology and believing in supernatural beings.. They simply do not believe in illogical and silly old campfire tales. They do not have meetings, collect money to further some cause. They simply ignore you and your silly practice of old superstitious rituals.
In all these pathetic attempts here and other blogs to discredit religion, did you ever wonder why the non believers are the ones that keep trying? Always a, Aha,Evolution is true and here is why. Looky there, a phony Christian!
Who really has doubts about their beliefs?
#51 “I wish you people would stop referring to an atheist as though they belonged to some organized religion…”
To save time typing I clipped this from one of my other comments – with some editing. 
How people get the idea that atheists have a ‘religion’ or a “belief” of sorts is how they are defined. The common definition for atheists is “one who denies the existence of God’ and another is “practising atheist”. Both of these these imply an active activity on the part of the atheist to deny a God assumed by others to exist therefore active denial is required.
Some (but not all) atheists I know are completely apathetic about God. God or a belief in a God has no more influence in their life than a moth farting in China. There is no active denial at all, so when asked about God it’s generally a shrug of the shoulders and a “who knows huh?”. This is not active activity at all so the act of ‘denying’ or ‘practising’ cannot be applied.
Same as people previously messed up in life somehow become equally messed up in the God that ’saved them’ atheists do the same. It is these active atheists who are on a mission to ‘prove’ there is no God and when you die (fart sound) that’s it! This active activity of ‘denying’ and ‘practising’ and gets labelled as a belief and a anti-religion of sorts.
See how easy that works?
hhopper has the right idea when he commented he likes sitting back and enjoying the debate between Apple Macs and MS Windows – its entertaining. Same as the debate of God.
I suggest if you are an atheist understand that nothing can be proven either way to those who don’t want the ‘proving’. Same as people who are passionate about either Apple Macs or PCs there is never any proving of which is better.
Like Coke or Pepsi. Which is better? That depends on which one YOU like.
Who is the more the fool. the fool or one who argues with one?
Speaking of cola drinks I am guessing Apple Mac users favour Pepsi over coke. 
Me, I rarely drink soft drinks but I prefer Coke when I do.
Lets see a show of hands!
Cheers
As a young woman she was a stripper and a cocktail waitress too!
#53 – TIHZ_HO – There is no active denial at all, so when asked about God it’s generally a shrug of the shoulders and a “who knows huh?”.
That answer might indicate that they’re agnostic, not atheist.
MT is just another religious statue promoted by the RCC, who believe in praying to statues of dead people to cure gout.
53–Tihz–the contest between religion and reason is not the same as the preference between coke and pepsi or mac and PC==until the fan boys of one side put the other to death that is.
About Penn and Teller: The two of them are a disgrace.
You can bend any story to suit a perspective but to put an uncharitable spin on the work this and dedication single minded woman put into selfless service to the most destitute and dying brothers and sisters of us all, the people no one wants, no one cares about, and to put it into a comedy routine is unenlightened and beyond any form of decent taste. It is Pandering. These men, at their best, bring us all down to the lowest level of thinking and kindness is removed from the very first word.
Mother Theresa always said: “do simple works of kindness” . And she did. And we all know it. And those of us who watched and listened to her actions and words, we taught by example how to use our behavior for acts of kindness and love..and thus towards peace.
What would you call the words and actions of Pen and Teller?
I personally worked in Calcutta with Mother Theresa in her mission for the dying at Cali Ghat. The men I attended to were the poorest of the poor, cast offs left dying in the streets. A sign in the mission directed us to only take in a dying person if no other agency would. These people, some of them, had never a chance of ending their lives with someone to care for them and smile to them, to hold them, to feed them, to tend to their wounds, to give them a bath, to massage their skeletal bodies to soothe their anxiety for even a minute. Mother Theresa showed us the way to not avoid what our eyes saw, but rather, to see before us a reason to be all that we can be in our hearts.
How does a guy work with nuns?
#59 – Milo – How does a guy work with nuns?
Same as with any other woman… In, out, squirt, sleep…
58–William==would you fight FOR or AGAINST sound family planning for the poor around the world–to include teaching concepts of choice backedup with availability of birth control, condoms, abortion, generously funded state supported orphanages and adoption services??
Or, like MT would you reject some of this in favor of that which does not address the problem of overpopulation?
60: “Slaps forehead.”
#58 – william Brown
Missionaries don’t do deeds without a motive. Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu went to India to convert people to Christianity, and as such an asshole yourself, you ought to have been well indoctrinated to understand that this was the main mission. It’s good that you smiled at them as they suffered, just so that you and Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu could bring them closer to Jesus.
#61 – bobbo
Very good points!
>extremely poor, uneducated, and living in a third world country.
Yeah, can’t have too many brown, black, and yellow babies now can we?
#65 let me translate:
extremely poor = unable to take care of a child
uneducated = unable to make the right decisions about contraception
in a third world country = no access to social programs, medical facilities, counselling services, etc
Sum total: these are still the worst people in the world to limit access to birth control services. It has nothing to do with race. You however, have made it about race. Congratulations.
58 A sign in the mission directed us to only take in a dying person if no other agency would.
Why?
Why not take in anyone who was dying?
If her mission had attracted your attention – I assume you didn’t live in Calcutta before working in her mission – and the attention of others, worldwide? if donations were pouring-in from all over the globe… why turn anyone away?
Why not use the donations for the express purpose of which they were intended… expanding her mission to the maximum extent possible?
Why is a candidate for Sainthood given a pass on the kinds of financial review that any other charity would be subjected to?
I doubt she was handling the finances personally, so why are all the behind-the-scenes money-handlers shielded from review by her aura of beatitude?
Another hero besmirched after their death. sad,sad,sad.
and Skippy, the reasons you list are exactly why they don’t have “birth control services” in the first place. They are poor and uneducated.
So why not teach them something that requires little money and no expertise to preform? Like abstinence for instance. Or does that make too much sense?
All those who said negative rthings about Mother Teresa are worthless liberls jerks and
worhless nerds to humanity
#68:
“the reasons you list are exactly why they don’t have “birth control services” in the first place. They are poor and uneducated.”
Yes, that’s why they need birth control services, because they are poor and uneducated. MT could have provided these services, but she didn’t.
“So why not teach them something that requires little money and no expertise to preform? Like abstinence for instance. Or does that make too much sense?”
Numerous studies have shown that abstinence programs simply don’t work. For example:
#68 – Jim W. – Another hero besmirched after their death. sad,sad,sad.
So when the image of a person turns out to be flawed after the person is gone, you shouldn’t be able to criticize that person?! Well, I’ll be damned… The people of the former Soviet states should look back at Stalin and remember him for all the good deeds he did, not for the millions he had killed etc. And every German family should have a portrait of Hitler in their living room just to honor his great deeds. After all, he killed off unemployment, rearmed and brought pride to the German people, right?!
Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu was a bitch who loved to see people suffer in order to bring them to closer to her invisible friend’s dead “son”.
#69 – MIT
GFY
#68:
“the reasons you list are exactly why they don’t have “birth control services” in the first place. They are poor and uneducated.”
Yes, that’s why they need birth control services, because they are poor and uneducated. MT could have provided these services, but she didn’t.
“So why not teach them something that requires little money and no expertise to preform? Like abstinence for instance. Or does that make too much sense?”
Numerous studies have shown that abstinence programs simply don’t work. While’s there’s nothing wrong with advocating abstinence, abstinence ONLY programs ignore basic human behaviour, deny sexual education and discussion, and don’t suggest alternatives which are more effective (like birth control).
#69 – MIT: You put that very well.
Sorry to be rude, but fuck ‘numerous studies.’ They aren’t necessary. Anyone with a high school education and a pair of functioning gonads of his/her own should know that people will have sex despite anything you tell them. The hormonal and mental instinct to procreate under any and all circumstances can not, never has and never will be supressed by words, by starvation, by sickness, or anything else.
Telling people to not fuck is exactly as effective as telling them to not breathe. It does not work and the existence of the human race is the proof of it.
Try to not be an idiot there, Jim W.
#58
> What would you call the words and actions of Pen and Teller?
Entertaining. Enlightening. Anyone that brings igorance and hypocracy out into the open for all to see and do it in an entertaining way is helping all of us. Arguments like yours do not address the millions of dollars in donations that somehow vaporized. It does not explain why with all the money she received that the conditions were not better.
#68
> Like abstinence for instance. Or does that make too much sense?
First, *teaching* abstinence is not free. Second, biology and overwhelming evidence shows that abstinence education is not effective in reducing unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. Therefore, NO it does not make sense to continue using an approach proven to be ineffective.
Oh, and one more thing, strangely abstinence is ineffective in cases of rape. It may come as a shock to many but telling the rapist not to continue nor encouraging the rapist to wear a condom are effective in preventing pregnancies in cases of rape.
#11 Not for evangelicals, to them Catholics are not christians.
#21
Thanks for the correction 
#72, jag,
In the interests of my own self improvement, is it GFY or GFYS?
Great sentiment.
#79 – Mr. Fusion
Good For You… but GFYS wouldn’t have been bad reply either.
Skippy, your study only studied 4 out of 700 programs. that strikes me as kind of limited research to be making such a definitive statement. Try this story about the very same study.
Heritage Foundation Expert Responds to Flawed Abstinence Study
True Tomas, teaching absinece isn’t free, but I would wager its cheeper than preforming abortions.
As to sex being as necessary as breathing !?! I don’t know where to begin with that one.
>True Tomas , teaching
> absinece isn’t free, but I would
> wager its cheeper than preforming abortions.
Yet abortion is far cheaper than rearing an unwanted child.
Jim W, see the following:
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/335/7613/248
http://www.hrc.org/Template.cfm?Section=Home&CONTENTID=27732&TEMPLATE=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm
http://www.iasociety.org/Default.aspx?pageId=11&abstractId=2198111
There is very little credible evidence to support the idea that abstinence only programs work. There is LOTS of evidence which supports that sex education DOES work. Your link from the Heritage Foundation, which is highly conservative, is going to find flaws in the study, of course.
#81, see the following:
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/335/7613/248
http://www.hrc.org/Template.cfm?Section=Home&CONTENTID=27732&TEMPLATE=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm
http://www.iasociety.org/Default.aspx?pageId=11&abstractId=2198111
There is very little credible evidence to support the idea that abstinence only programs work. There is LOTS of evidence which supports that sex education DOES work. Your link from the Heritage Foundation, which is highly conservative, is going to find flaws in the study, of course.
#81, see the following:
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/335/7613/248
http://www.iasociety.org/Default.aspx?pageId=11&abstractId=2198111
(there is another link which the system doesn’t want to show for some reason)
There is very little credible evidence to support the idea that abstinence only programs work. There is LOTS of evidence which supports that sex education DOES work. Your link from the Heritage Foundation, which is highly conservative, is going to find flaws in the study, of course.
#81, I just re-read the report you linked to, and I see the following:
“Fortunately, there are 15 other studies (most appearing in peer-reviewed journals) showing that abstinence programs are effective in reducing youth sexual activity. ”
OK, so where are these studies? Difficult to verify his claims if he doesn’t provide sources.
#55 Jägermeister “That answer might indicate that they’re agnostic, not atheist.”
#57 “Tihz–the contest between religion and reason is not the same as the preference between coke and pepsi or mac and PC==until the fan boys of one side put the other to death that is.”
Judging from some of the rants from the Apple Mac side its only a matter of time. LOL
#66 Gee, sounds like some places in rural south in the US. LOL
#73 “Yes, that’s why they need birth control services, because they are poor and uneducated” – “Yes, that’s why they need birth control services, because they are poor and uneducated”
“So why not teach them something that requires little money and no expertise to preform? ”
Now you are touching on one of the reasons for China’s one Child policy. China still has 70-80% of its population in rural areas and development is much slower there than in the cities.
“Or does that make too much sense?”
#77 “It may come as a shock to many but telling the rapist not to continue nor encouraging the rapist to wear a condom are effective in preventing pregnancies in cases of rape.”
Sorry but I find that hard to believe…
Victim: “Pardon me, I don’t want to be rude but before you rape and possibly kill me would you mind wearing this condom – remember its for your protection as well as mine.”
Rapist: “Please lady, tank you all da same, your too kind, but I gots one already – see its already on…Ok were was we? Oh yeah you were screaming….”
Cheers
#55 Jägermeister “That answer might indicate that they’re agnostic, not atheist.”
Where was my comment? it vanished… : /
Yes I agree I should have used the term agnostic – thanks for that!
Editors – On hot topics comments quickly morph into a forum…so how about a DU forum for hot topics….or is there one already but I just haven’t found it yet.
Cheers
It would make more sense to simply age the blog entries by # of comments, that way the active ones would stay up top and the completely dead (or radioactive) ones would rapidly slip away…
#87 LtG Yes – that would help to keep a good post going by keeping its position on the main page ’cause even good posts die once they move.
What I was getting at, when you want to reply to someone’s comment on a hot post you clip and paste what they said and then comment on that – and then someone comments on that…so now its a forum verses just making comments about the post.
The regular comments stay put and when a hot post comes along and when the comments grow to say + 50 comments it goes to a forum with a link on the main page – “Active forums”
What do you think?
Unless DU has one already – but I never noticed it…
Cheers
>>and have tits as big as baseballs.
Angel, you horny bastard. You should be watching those plastic surgery shows on TV instead of that bukakke stuff. Nowadays, “tits as big as baseballs” are NOTHING. With modern advances in cosmetic surgery, one can easily have tits as big as softballs, as big as canteloupes, as big as watermelons. Heck, you can get ‘em as big as a zepplin.
I’m really late to this party and haven’t read the comments. I have to say though that I think it’s really cool that we may get an atheist saint. This could be a true first!!
#89, #90,
Actually John, please take a look at the format of the Mother Jones blog. They have a section for the most recent blog threads and a separate section for threads with the most recent posts. This way, people can choose to check both the new blog topics and the newly commented upon blog topics. It’s quite nice.
http://www.motherjones.com/mojoblog/
- Scott
May God Bless Mother Teresa. And all the little babies too, the born and unborn little babies. Even the genetically modified little babies too. And may many people send money to pay for the care of all these little babies.
from Skippy
“There is LOTS of evidence which supports that sex education DOES work”
i agree, It teaches them HOW to have sex, but I don’t think it teaches them the responsibilities that go along with sex, emotional as well as biological.
BTW: you posted 2 liberal links (maybe 3) to my 1 conservative, so I will give back this 1 and call it even. and save the rest of the arguing for another thread.
#96, Jim W.
The link you posted DOES NOT say one way or the other if Sex Education is a factor in STDs.
Because the two groups of teens are not necessarily comparable, the study’s results have no real meaning, either supporting the effectiveness of abstinence pledging or disputing its usefulness.
While common sense would suggest it is, your cite only criticizes the methodology of the study. Because the article does not cite or link the study, it is difficult to challenge HER criticisms. In other words, an effen waste of time.
Faith is not a gift from God. Reason is our gift from God and it’s unfortunate that we live in a society that no longer values God’s gift of reason. We are becoming an ignorant society, similar to England 400 years ago. To have faith in a revealed religion is to deny one’s gift of reason. Faith is a curse that has been mankind’s yoke and burden for thousands of years.
Faith in Jesus=believing in Hell
Hell is the impossiblity of reason and to see by faith one must close the eye of reason!
Comment Moderation is Active, so if your comment doesn't
- Monday’s PC Magazine Column Online and print columns posted for online viewing
- Spam! End it! Here’s How.
Subscribe to Main Blog feed here:
Subscribe to Comments too (below):
