Mother Theresa

Mother Theresa is a pure example that even in our pragmatic society there is a space for individuals who can bring unconditional love and practical help to as many peole as possible. Her life might look insignificant on the scale of global World history, but humanism should not be downgraded to next to zero on the list of human values.

A kind and compassionate woman, but I don't know how much influence she had on a global scale.

i guess no one heard all the horrible things she did. she is one of the biggest frauds in history.

The Bible clearly states that there is none that does good. We are all corrupt sinners in the flesh. I am always amazed how naive people are when it comes to so called "great" people of good deeds.

I was facilitating a group of students from the south of Italy and some of them had prepared a sycophantic presentation on MT. Then I suggested listing strengths and weaknesses as a peacemaker, and someone said that she was sanctimonious and should have accepted medical equipment. She got shouted down. There's almost a taboo about criticising her. She was saintly, it is true, but not perfect. How did she actually change the situation on Calcutta's streets?

Hey, great, let's attack a women, who as a member of a religious order, and who won the Nobel Peace Prize, as she ministered to the countless helpless and dying in that part of the world, had the effrontery to share her religious beliefs. At the time of her death, Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity had over 4,000 sisters, an associated brotherhood of 300 members, and over 100,000 lay volunteers, operating 610 missions in 123 countries. These included hospices and homes for people with HIV/AIDS, leprosy and tuberculosis, soup kitchens, children's and family counseling programs, orphanages, and schools. Even Christopher Hitchens has backed off.   How about the RIA?

As with many true believers, her influence was both good and bad. Unfortunately, the popular cult to which she belonged encourages people to bear children they're not capable of supporting. If the Church really wanted to lower the number of abortions and ease the plight of the poor, it would sanction birth control.

Well most of the thoughtless masses think directly of her when they try and think of someone who is 'good', but they have no idea what she actually accomplished, it's just passed on from word of mouth. Her 'goodness' is based entirely on the account of a somewhat hysterical and over-enthusiastic TV personality, and an actual investigation probably shows that she caused more pain, death and suffering than she preventing. She has no right to claim that she was bringing the "kiss of Jesus", as the only one she was touched by was Satan himself...

While it's hard to overlook Mother Theresa's great work for humanity--I think she will ultimately go down in history for inventing soft-serve ice cream

She may well have been, as many believe, a fine and admirable person, and done a lot of valuable humanitarian things. My own view is there is some truth to that, but I'd suggest she had her share of flaws and blind spots as well. However, even if she is taken as the admirable, near saintly person many believe her to be, I do not believe her "influence on world history" is particularly profound. In fact, I would argue that it is close to negligible.

Very memorable at telling uneducated poor women with many mouths to feed to never practice any contraception at all. . .

No influence??? More than 50,000 at her funeral? She had a little I would say!

What did she do that changed the world? Goodness isn't influence.

as i've said before, she'd done more good handing out condoms.

she is the best

Mother Theresa was a wonderful human being who dedicated her life to people. She was the ultimate goodness, strength, and compassion figure to all people. She migrated around the world to spread the word of God, kindness, and forgiveness. She was the mother to us all!