Steve, my friend, you're the one who said that Mother Teresa favored abstinence from sex. Well, ya know, if you do it (abstinence), it's a very effective method of birth control. Women who abstain from sex, rarely have need of abortion...

But in reality, I agree with you more than you think. I've often said that if the Catholic Church truly wanted to reduce the number of abortions, it would drop the prohibition against contraception and form an alliance with Planned Parenthood. Contraception eliminates the need for abortion almost as well as abstinence - and abstinence just ain't practical.

I can't really believe that Mother Teresa would want people to be poor or ignorant. That's spin again. Why would anyone promote poverty and ignorance? That just doesn't make sense.

And as for her opposition to abortion and opposition to sex education, I can't believe these were defining aspects of her life. If they were, wouldn't the anti-abortion movement be using her as some sort of poster girl? All I ever heard her talk about, was caring for those in poverty.

Mother Teresa started out as a Loretto nun, a member of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary (IBVM) that was founded in England to specialize in educating young ladies. In 1950, she founded a separate religious order, the Missionaries of Charity. Wikipedia says the order now has 4500 nuns, active in 133 countries. They wear white saris trimmed with blue as their religious habit. I've met a few of them. They're usually young and very pious. It's hard to talk or joke with them because they are so serious about themselves. But they do get in and do the dirty work in situations of dire poverty, so I have to give them credit for that.

My boss at the women's center is an IBVM, and she wears normal clothing and has worked with the poor and homeless for over thirty years. And she loves to chat and joke and get goofy. She invited a homeless man to her house on Saturday to take a shower and wash his clothes, and then spent last Sunday afternoon on a social visit to his homeless camp, so she could meet his friends there. Her homeless friend needs a hip replacement and eye surgery, so she is working to get that arranged for him. He keeps telling her she should get a thong bikini and get divorced from Jesus...

But as for Mother Teresa and abortion, I'm not sure I believe it was a major issue for her. She seems to have placed her focus on poverty and the illnesses of the poor. But for me, she was too serious, too severe. I like my boss better.

-Joe-