Liberal heroes #2: Mother Teresa

Far from being a true benefactor to the poor, Mother Teresa was a reactionary old troll who wanted to drag all of us back to the middle ages. Never has anyone profited so much from the suffering of the world's poor, while nobnobbing with the rich and famous, and enjoying a global reputation as the saintly virgin. With friends such as Ronald Regan, and Robert Maxwell, it's not surprising that Mother Teresa was never actually interested in eliminating poverty and suffering. In fact, the existence of poverty was Mother Teresa's raison d'être, and she profited from it like the real-life vampire she was. In typical church fashion, it was more important to raise chapels for the worship of her deity instead of using her money to equip clinics and hospices. Her conception of the poor and unfortunate was summed up when she said, 'I think it is very beautiful for the poor to accept their lot... I think the world is being much helped by the suffering of the poor people'. Which is why of course her advice to the victims of the Bhopal disaster was 'forgive, forgive, forgive' rather than sue for millions. Furthermore, her reactionary views on women's rights made her a 'saint' with the blessings of elites around the world, as they represented a significant attack on the rights of women all over the world. MT's cult of suffering is dealt with in the 5 minute Penn and Teller 'Bullshit' deconstruction of her on Youtube. In this, Christopher Hitchens suggests that millions died because of Mother Teresa and millions more suffered due to her - see also this and this about Hitchens' criticisms. (With thanks to Grant Cronin and Andy Warren).