Comments for Brazil's Own Mother Teresa, Haiti's Star, Helped the Poor. But First She Created Them at http://www.brazzil.com , comment 1 to 44 out of 20 comments http://www.brazzil.com Thu, 18 Mar 2010 09:03:46 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://www.brazzil.com/home-mainmenu-1/212-january-2010/10335-brazils-own-mother-teresa-haitis-star-helped-the-poor-but-first-she-created-them.html#comment-44480 Life is an opportunity, benefit from it. Life is beauty, admire it. Life is bliss, taste it. Life is a dream, realize it. Life is a challenge, meet it. Life is a duty, complete it. Life is a game, play it. Life is a promise, fulfill it. Life is sorrow, overcome it. Life is a song, sing it. Life is a struggle, accept it. Life is a tragedy, confront it. Life is an adventure, dare it. Life is luck, make it. Life is too precious, do not destroy it. Life is life, fight for it. Mother Teresa This was a statement, not from a pedophile, not a pro-choicer, not a promoter of 'beggars' as a basis for religion. This woman knew much more than anyone on this panel about human suffering and looked it in the face and DID something. And she was a Catholic through and through, though sometime full of fear, and who and what she was (who I believe was more of a proponent of God than anyone philosophizing on 'who is dominating who'). I am really insulted by most of what I read on this board, all supposedly about Catholicism, because more often than not, it's being said like the same tired arguments I always hear like these. I have been to several countries where Catholicism thrives and I can say I felt more peace there than in countries where the people pretend things more than what the 'Catholic Church' does. I came here, to this thread, by accident (I was doing a search for Mother Teresa) and realized I really did trip into the gutter!!! - Holy! Mon, 22 Feb 2010 08:12:38 +0100 http://www.brazzil.com/home-mainmenu-1/212-january-2010/10335-brazils-own-mother-teresa-haitis-star-helped-the-poor-but-first-she-created-them.html#comment-44062 Much like a shill at a carnival booth or an auction, the Roman Catholic Church has created misery in order to alleviate it. The strict ban on birth control and abortion, and its inability to adjust to the realities as exposed by Rev. Thomas Malthus over 200 years ago, all point to a complete break-down in society. Go to any large city anywhere in the 3rd world and you will find 1 percent controls 90 percent of the resources, while 99 percent remain poor. And these poor are the clients of the Church relying on it for their subsistence. The Church in turn hoards its riches while insisting that the poor explode populations, strain food and other critical resources to their breaking point and then offer to alleviate the suffering. Why force people to make starving children? Because without beggars, there is no base. In developed nations, particularly in Scandinavia, atheism, spiritualism and non-Catholicism seems to dominate. But then again, the populations are not straining the resources of those nations. They support birth control and abortion. If the Church would get off its pedestal and stop hanging everything on the pelvic issues, it could allocate its wealth to helping the poor and assisting them in preventing unnecessary and unwanted births. - Softtouchmale Fri, 29 Jan 2010 19:47:01 +0100 http://www.brazzil.com/home-mainmenu-1/212-january-2010/10335-brazils-own-mother-teresa-haitis-star-helped-the-poor-but-first-she-created-them.html#comment-43890 Ok Janer, your mission is accomplished,,,,,you got a lot of us going without news or facts or even coherent logic. We end up with "the question everyone should be asking themselves is if what I BELIEVE is actually TRUE........." Which probably makes about as much sense as anything that you wrote. DNBAIACU, you have my vote as the next most likely to succeed and look forward to your article. Janer, I conclude that if it has your name attached I will pass on it. Good luck and don't drop out of therapy amigo. - Dante Mon, 25 Jan 2010 12:54:26 +0100 http://www.brazzil.com/home-mainmenu-1/212-january-2010/10335-brazils-own-mother-teresa-haitis-star-helped-the-poor-but-first-she-created-them.html#comment-43757 [quote]There are respected biblical scholars that are Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox. This is important to understand as proper biblical scholarship requires not only the appropriate education, but a life time of work. Picking up the bible and reading - not to mention if you are functionally illiterate - means little. [/quote] There you go with the typical "clergy vs laity" stance to Biblical understanding. The blind , deaf , dumb and illiterate can understand the basics of the Bible. LIVE by it . And benefit from the purpose that it serves. It was never meant to be an intellectual exercise. God in fact favors "os humildes". I can be illiterate and someone READ the Bible to me and I FOLLOW it. And in God's sight , I'm fine.:) [b]13 Now when they beheld the outspokenness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were men unlettered and ordinary, they got to wondering. And they began to recognize about them that they used to be with Jesus; Acts4:13 [/b] [b]At that time Jesus said in response: “I publicly praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and intellectual ones and have revealed them to babes. Matthew 11:25 [/b] [b] For it is written: “I will make the wisdom of the wise [men] perish, and the intelligence of the intellectual [men] I will shove aside.” 20 Where is the wise man? Where the scribe? Where the debater of this system of things? Did not God make the wisdom of the world foolish? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom did not get to know God, God saw good through the foolishness of what is preached to save those believing. 1Corinthians 1:19-21 [/b] It is what it is eHarmony. No one is "twisting" scripture here. And it really all boils down to what you want to BELIEVE anyway. The world is finding out NOW in a big way that peace and security on this earth depends on what you BELIEVE.:o So the question everyone should be asking themselves is if what I BELIEVE is actually TRUE.........;) - dnbaiacu Thu, 21 Jan 2010 09:02:46 +0100 http://www.brazzil.com/home-mainmenu-1/212-january-2010/10335-brazils-own-mother-teresa-haitis-star-helped-the-poor-but-first-she-created-them.html#comment-43754 [quote]Nations like Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Ireland have a quality of life and per capita income above most of the world. They are predominantly Catholic. Their are close to 200 nation-states on earth it should be remembered. Even most of the countries of Latin America are not the worse off. Their per capita incomes are average for the world. Haiti might be a different case (as well as certain regions within a given country, e.g., the rural Northeast of Brazil) [/quote] Wrong turn here.:( How could you take it there? This phenomenon is racial make-up hiearchy. Clearly Europeans will take care of their own. With good Darwinistic reasoning. Which it seems the Catholic Church leans towards. And if I am not mistaken you yourself said you believe in evolution. :'( Latin American is just 1st tier plantation eHarmony. A country like Haiti would be last.. And let's not forget the Africans did not CHOOSE Catholicism. It was FORCED upon them.>:( WOULD JESUS DO THAT?......... It appears to me you have read too much for your own good. Because you sound confused. You support , or appear to support Catholicism which supposedly uses the Bible as it's reference for its' beliefs . Yet you question it with theories that serve to debunk its credibility. This is typical and is to be expected. In Revelation it clearly implies that adherents to false religion would be spiritually confused, drunk as it were. [b] And one of the seven angels that had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying: “Come, I will show you the judgment upon the great harlot who sits on many waters, 2 with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, whereas those who inhabit the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication.”Revelation 17:1,2[/b] I encourage you to do more Bible study to balance out what you think you know about history and world events. - dnbaiacu Thu, 21 Jan 2010 07:55:32 +0100 http://www.brazzil.com/home-mainmenu-1/212-january-2010/10335-brazils-own-mother-teresa-haitis-star-helped-the-poor-but-first-she-created-them.html#comment-43753 How the poor got here and stay here is irrevelant. All the economics and politics involved are HUMAN based. THIS is the issue. It's been the issue since the "beginning". What happens when man decides for HIMSELF what is good and bad. [b] 4 At this the serpent said to the woman: “YOU positively will not die. 5 For God knows that in the very day of YOUR eating from it YOUR eyes are bound to be opened and YOU are bound to be like God, KNOWING good and bad.”Genesis 3:4[/b] According to the Bible, if that is what you choose believe. The first human couple BELIEVED THE LIE:( So this experiment of MAN RULE began. Let's all see ,God ,angels and humans alike , WHAT HAPPENS WHEN MEN RULE THEMSELVES. One of the devastating effects eHarmony is POVERTY:( You are going to have it no matter what religion or government style simply because of this. [b]All this I have seen, and there was an applying of my heart to every work that has been done under the sun, [during] the time that man has dominated man to his injury. Ecclesiastes 8:9 [/b] Men dominating other men in various ways is at the root of global poverty. We all know a SURE way of creating those that "HAVE" in contrast to "HAVE NOTS" is by promoting IGNORANCE. It's simple math. You don't KNOW BETTER. YOU WON"T DO BETTER:( Thousands year old tactic. Men are designed to BELIEVE in something. And what you believe about yourself and your existences is critical in navigating in an oppressive world. [quote]The bible did not create the Church. Pentecost is when the Christian Church was birthed, not when the printing press was invented. [/quote] I am not sure if you are questioning the biblical canon as we have it to date. But rest assure , if God is REAL , he can make sure that the Bible would not be tampered with beyond recognition. ;) You must be Catholic yourself because they tend to question A LOT of things about the very book they claim to believe in. Could you explain what is the point in that?:o On that note, there is plenty of archeological evidence that shows that the Bible we have today is not far off in translation from some of the oldest manuscripts found in both Hebrew and Greek texts. But that would have to be something you need to research for yourself, IF and in fact it interests you. ;) - dnbaiacu Thu, 21 Jan 2010 07:42:30 +0100 http://www.brazzil.com/home-mainmenu-1/212-january-2010/10335-brazils-own-mother-teresa-haitis-star-helped-the-poor-but-first-she-created-them.html#comment-43751 dn, It has been said - not to mention depicted in the New Testament with the long fast of Jesus in the desert - that the devil can quote scripture to suit his purpose. There are respected biblical scholars that are Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox. This is important to understand as proper biblical scholarship requires not only the appropriate education, but a life time of work. Picking up the bible and reading - not to mention if you are functionally illiterate - means little. The Christian bible itself is a Catholic religious work. One that uses the ancient Hebrew Jewish Torah. Basically what I am saying is that the Christian Church predates the Christian bible, and that the Church is superior to the bible. The bible did not create the Church. Pentecost is when the Christian Church was birthed, not when the printing press was invented. The predominately Catholic nations exploited by European nations in the past, which remain poor today, are impoverished nations for reason much larger than religion. A major reason is because of what is termed "neo-colonialism." Something the United States certainly isn't innocent of. Nations like Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Ireland have a quality of life and per capita income above most of the world. They are predominantly Catholic. Their are close to 200 nation-states on earth it should be remembered. Even most of the countries of Latin America are not the worse off. Their per capita incomes are average for the world. Haiti might be a different case (as well as certain regions within a given country, e.g., the rural Northeast of Brazil) Someone on this site that knows a lot more about economics I'm sure can expound on macro and micro economics a lot better than I can, so, I'll leave that to them. - e harmony Wed, 20 Jan 2010 20:42:20 +0100 http://www.brazzil.com/home-mainmenu-1/212-january-2010/10335-brazils-own-mother-teresa-haitis-star-helped-the-poor-but-first-she-created-them.html#comment-43749 In short,, Christianity is supposed to ENLIGHTEN people. NOT hold them down. And when LIES are taught, worse, in the name of God , people are held down. And the Catholic Church has a history of keeping people ignorant spiritually ON PURPOSE! They hindered translation of the Bible for centuries. Burned people at the stake for reading it and trying to translate it. And it has never really promoting real Bible education in general. So the worse poverty that comes as a result is SPIRITUAL poverty. You should know that when scripture is studied and applied it limits the maleffects that an oppressive system has on people. You avoid bad habits. Become thrifty as well as a dilligent worker. Above all , one learns to live within their means and avoids debt. These are basic principles that helps one either avoid poverty or rise above it. Now please explain the plight of developing nations , many of which are PREDOMINATELY CATHOLIC... ??????:o:o:o:o And what explains the extreme opulence of the Church in general? Let the Bible explain..... [b]And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and was adorned with gold and precious stone and pearls and had in her hand a golden cup that was full of disgusting things and the unclean things of her fornication.Revelation 17:4 [/b] The governments of the earth pimp and patronize religion, (the Catholic Church in a large way) and she shares in these profits while she exploits people herself. [b]For because of the wine of the anger of her fornication all the nations have fallen [victim], and the kings of the earth committed fornication with her, and the traveling merchants of the earth became rich due to the power of her shameless luxury.” Revelation 18:3[/b] She lives in shameless luxury and countries she dominates feed that! It all boils down to demonic use of the natural law of polarities. The consciousness of men and civilizations are easily manipulated by those with the understanding. And ignorance will lead inviduals and entire countries prey to the manipulation if one does NOT avail themselves of the knowledge. ACCURATE KNOWLEDGE. But she's done! [b] To the extent that she glorified herself and lived in shameless luxury, to that extent give her torment and mourning. For in her heart she keeps saying, ‘I sit a queen, and I am no widow, and I shall never see mourning.’ 8 That is why in one day her plagues will come, death and mourning and famine, and she will be completely burned with fire, because the Lord, who judged her, is strong. Revelation 18:7 [/b] e Harmony,,, sorry,, but you are cheering for the wrong team. :(:( [quote]I actually do a bit of reading on Christian and Catholic history. I've read books from scholars and historians that are Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox, and even agnostic in creed. I do a little bit of military history reading too. I think you could do a little more of both. [/quote] I've very well read and STUDIED and all the topics you mentioned. I encourage YOU to study your Bible to get a clearer understanding of the world you see around you. It's all there. And you don't have to be that smart. And that is by DESIGN. ;) - dnbaiacu Wed, 20 Jan 2010 17:23:40 +0100 http://www.brazzil.com/home-mainmenu-1/212-january-2010/10335-brazils-own-mother-teresa-haitis-star-helped-the-poor-but-first-she-created-them.html#comment-43748 [quote] Catholic women have more abortions than any other religious category of women in the U.S., So, by scientific query, it [/quote] Basically what you are saying, and there are MANY other examples,is that most Catholics don't go by the teachings of the Bible. :o:o:o:o We know this already. How can the blind lead the blind? [b] Then the disciples came up and said to him: “Do you know that the Pharisees stumbled at hearing what you said?” 13 In reply he said: “Every plant that my heavenly Father did not plant will be uprooted. 14 LET them be. Blind guides is what they are. If, then, a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit. Matthew 15:12-14 [/b] We all know that poverty has always existed. And always will under a global MAN lead society. [b] 8 For YOU have the poor always with YOU, but me YOU will not have always.” John 12:8[/b] [quote] The Catholic Church does not teach that poor people should intentionally have more children then they can afford[/quote] No, it teaches and frowns upon the use of birth control. Which use of ,(outside of abortion) is not a mandate in scripture. So you have a double edged horrific sword.. The majority violating their Catholic sponsored , supposedly biblically inspired consciences. And the fooish rest that think they are doing the right thing by NOT using birth control. >:( [quote] What the Catholic Church teaches against - whether one agrees with the Church or not - is that abortion and artificial birth control methods are sinful. [/quote] Abortion , yes,, biblically speaking is murder [b]13 For you yourself produced my kidneys; You kept me screened off in the belly of my mother. 14 I shall laud you because in a fear-inspiring way I am wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful, As my soul is very well aware. 15 My bones were not hidden from you When I was made in secret, When I was woven in the lowest parts of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw even the embryo of me, And in your book all its parts were down in writing, As regards the days when they were formed And there was not yet one among them. Psalm 138:13-16 [/b] God recognizes embryos as a legitimate life. But before a conception takes place there is no biblical mandate condemning birth control, be it artificial or not. - dnbaiacu Wed, 20 Jan 2010 17:22:51 +0100 http://www.brazzil.com/home-mainmenu-1/212-january-2010/10335-brazils-own-mother-teresa-haitis-star-helped-the-poor-but-first-she-created-them.html#comment-43746 An essay about G.k. Chesterton and Heinrich Pesh, both of whom were influential thinkers in the modern age of Catholicism. Chesterton a layman and accomplished novelist and essayist who offered a vague economic philosophy he called "distributism" as an alternative to unrestrained capitalism and state run socialism. Heinrich Pesh a Jesuit priest and university educated economist who penned his magnum opus the so-called, "Summa Economica." Pesh developed a much more in-depth economic model (I don't mean "model" in the mathematic sense) than Chesterton, and one that was predicated on the concept he called "solidarity." Essay: [url]http://distributist.blogspot.com/2008/03/gk-chesterton-and-heinrich-pesch.html[/url] For those that do not know, what is termed "Catholic Social Teaching," is a [b]body of work[/b] that began in the late 1800's with some Papal encyclicals. This social teaching was absent from Catholic history until then, as might be noticed, with centuries of Catholic acceptance of slavery (what economist define as the ownership of persons and their work, as opposed to post-slavery times in which employers own their labor's work but not person). Indeed, must human history has been absent of our refined understanding of social justice. Even our contemporary understanding may be lacking. - e harmony Wed, 20 Jan 2010 15:20:54 +0100 http://www.brazzil.com/home-mainmenu-1/212-january-2010/10335-brazils-own-mother-teresa-haitis-star-helped-the-poor-but-first-she-created-them.html#comment-43745 Source for the "ten volume tome now available in English." [url]http://www.newoxfordreview.org/reviews.jsp?did=0205-storck[/url] - e harmony Wed, 20 Jan 2010 15:01:20 +0100 http://www.brazzil.com/home-mainmenu-1/212-january-2010/10335-brazils-own-mother-teresa-haitis-star-helped-the-poor-but-first-she-created-them.html#comment-43744 German Jesuit economist ten volume tome now available in English. [url]http://credo.stormloader.com/Morals/summaeco.htm[/url] - e harmony Wed, 20 Jan 2010 14:58:53 +0100 http://www.brazzil.com/home-mainmenu-1/212-january-2010/10335-brazils-own-mother-teresa-haitis-star-helped-the-poor-but-first-she-created-them.html#comment-43741 [b]Continued[/b] But that has little to do with the issue poverty and children. Poverty has always existed in this world - long before Pentecost and the birth of Christianity. War predates Christianity as well. If we were to use the rational methods of thought used in the fields of science and logic, dispassionate and objective, we might investigate those societies past and present with little to no influence by the Catholic Church. Say... modern day Islamic Indonesia, the Dali Lama's Tibet (before China's invasion) or Russia when it was under atheist communism. Did poverty exist? Is the mean (average) quality of life higher in Rome, Milan, or Venice than in most of Indonesia or the most enduring atheist parts of Eastern Europe? Osama Bin Laden was came from a wealthy family, despite being his father's 50th or so child. On the other hand, there a single women in the United States, drug addicted, high school dropouts with no children but still impoverished. Mind you, sometimes in what economist refer to as "relative poverty" as opposed to "absolute poverty" or abject poverty. If you are poor, having children will impact your ability to escape poverty. In a society that is not so corrupt, were capitalism governed by some government regulations exists, where the "playing field" is made somewhat fair, a person with a dependent can still rise out of poverty, albeit with correct or wise choices and help. The Catholic Church does not teach that poor people should intentionally have more children then they can afford. Quite the opposite. It was a Catholic Priest - now become a black Catholic Bishop in Chicago - that advised me to enroll in college, so that if I ever have children, I can better provide for them. What the Catholic Church teaches against - whether one agrees with the Church or not - is that abortion and artificial birth control methods are sinful. Furthermore, statistical science would show most Catholics do not adhere to Catholic moral teaching regarding condoms. In fact just within the United States, Catholic women have more abortions than any other religious category of women in the U.S., So, by scientific query, it does not bear out Catholic Bishops birth and propagated poverty throughout atheist Soviet Russia, Hindu India, Confucius China, Buddhist Tibet or the societies of Mississippi and Haiti that share a heritage of exploitation and slavery built around race and color. - e harmony Wed, 20 Jan 2010 10:59:14 +0100 http://www.brazzil.com/home-mainmenu-1/212-january-2010/10335-brazils-own-mother-teresa-haitis-star-helped-the-poor-but-first-she-created-them.html#comment-43740 [b]Continued[/b] Given all of this who decided what texts would be placed in the bible and which texts would not? Ancient Christian communities read many Gnostic texts that are not even in the bible. The Christian bible was canonized as we have it today - birthed in other words - about 300 years after the death of Christ in a North Africa by a meeting of Catholic bishops of the world at that time. This was before Catholics divided into the Catholic West, Nesotorians, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox. Nesotorians persecuted by Byzantine Christians and Emperors went into their own worlds stretched throughout Iraq into China and Tibet. They were the great scholars of the Mongols and usually the wives of their Khans. They formed some of the greatest schools of the ancient era incorporating Syrian, Indian, Greek, and Roman learning. Later they would pass much of their learning on to the Islamic Arabs who would establish renowned schools of medical science and perform eye surgery centuries before secular American high schools some how accomplish graduating functionally illiterate and fully illiterate pupils. Nesotorians like the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox are truly [i]catholic[/i] with the small "c." They are as catholic as Catholics of the Catholic Church. Nesotorians had and have priests, Bishops, and sacraments. Look up the modern day Assyrian Church of the East. To understand catholicism or [i]catholicity[/i] one needs to look toward ancient Iraq, China, Tibet, and Egypt as much as Rome and Greece. - e harmony Wed, 20 Jan 2010 10:57:51 +0100 http://www.brazzil.com/home-mainmenu-1/212-january-2010/10335-brazils-own-mother-teresa-haitis-star-helped-the-poor-but-first-she-created-them.html#comment-43739 [b]Continued[/b] I actually do a bit of reading on Christian and Catholic history. I've read books from scholars and historians that are Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox, and even agnostic in creed. I do a little bit of military history reading too. I think you could do a little more of both. The bible is a book written by human beings. Given that it is subjected to the natural phenomenon we might denote as time. By that I mean we can date it to having a beginning, as opposed to having always existed even before time - or temporality. What we call the Christian bible is something specific. It is single book that is a composition of multitudes of texts of various dates ranging from B.C.E. to C.E. These texts were originally written in Hebrew and Greek. Hence the book of John referring to Jesus by the Greek pagan philosophical concept of [i]Logos[/i]. The author being exposed to and influenced by Greek culture. - e harmony Wed, 20 Jan 2010 10:56:22 +0100 http://www.brazzil.com/home-mainmenu-1/212-january-2010/10335-brazils-own-mother-teresa-haitis-star-helped-the-poor-but-first-she-created-them.html#comment-43738 I'll have to break up my reply into separate posts because my original is too long and will not post. [quote]e Harmony , you miss the point. The PROBLEM is the Church making up rules not found in scripture which adherents THINK they are follow. And having more children than you can afford to have as a direct result of biblical spiritual ignorance IS in fact a problem in a world with limited educational and economic oppurtunity. And this BY DESIGN. The same thing with the Church forbidding priest to marry. Which ultimately ends up attracting perverts to the clergy! How can you conscientiously defend this madness?!!!! The writer of this article is ON POINT. WITH Biblical evidence to support her argument. Supporting and promoting spiritual LIES has been the cause of ALL the bloodshed and corruption on this earth. And the Church is the most responsible because it CLAIMS to serve the interests of the God of the Bible. smilies/angry.gifsmilies/angry.gif The "Mother Theresas" of the world may INDIVIDUALLY have good intentions. But the organization they are sponsored by is as corrupt as it gets. Please come with evidence otherwise. Please even TRY to defend the Church from a biblical standpoint. (?) .... YOU CAN'T![/quote] You might want to look at this annual report as one small example of global Catholicism within the avenues of charity (in a secular government sense, we might refer to it as a redirecting government funds, or a "cash transfer program"): [url]http://www.caritas.org/resources/CaritasAnnualReport08.html[/url] That is one organization within global Catholicism. But imagine this, last I've read, the German Catholic Church (the Catholic Church in Germany) alone spends more money on Latin America than the entire U.S. budget for world development. Of course, I read that several years ago, so my information may be dated. Nonetheless, if you read the first 4 pages of that Caritas 2008 annual report, it should state that the U.S. Governments $700 billion dollar bailout to the banks etc, was approximately what the 24 richest nations on earth collectively paid over 10 years time to global aid. - e harmony Wed, 20 Jan 2010 10:54:43 +0100 http://www.brazzil.com/home-mainmenu-1/212-january-2010/10335-brazils-own-mother-teresa-haitis-star-helped-the-poor-but-first-she-created-them.html#comment-43736 [quote]That is a good point,e-harmony. They didn't ask to be brought to this world. However, I must seek clarifications from you on one point: Why cite China which has been practicing birth control and forced abortions for decades?[/quote] Because China has always had a large population with most the population being serfs. There are other reasons - more significant I would say - for the rising quality of life in China. Poverty has existed under officially atheists governments (the U.S. Government in contrasts is secular but not officially atheist by creed). - e harmony Wed, 20 Jan 2010 09:49:09 +0100 http://www.brazzil.com/home-mainmenu-1/212-january-2010/10335-brazils-own-mother-teresa-haitis-star-helped-the-poor-but-first-she-created-them.html#comment-43733 Work ethics not ethos Dante, actually it was refreshing to read your words as it nourishes a small hope not all is lost. - nancy lima cardoso peixoto Wed, 20 Jan 2010 08:06:12 +0100 http://www.brazzil.com/home-mainmenu-1/212-january-2010/10335-brazils-own-mother-teresa-haitis-star-helped-the-poor-but-first-she-created-them.html#comment-43734 Work ethics not ethos Dante, actually it was refreshing to read your words as it nourishes a small hope not all is lost. - nancy lima cardoso peixoto Wed, 20 Jan 2010 08:06:12 +0100 http://www.brazzil.com/home-mainmenu-1/212-january-2010/10335-brazils-own-mother-teresa-haitis-star-helped-the-poor-but-first-she-created-them.html#comment-43732 [quote]The author's contempt for matters temporal concerning the Christian Churches is as valid as the growing alarm over the way the US appears to be controlling the aid and relief effort in Haiti. [/quote] Good analogy! BTW, our Fearless Defense Minister seems to be no different from the author or the Consul of Haiti.;) - João da Silva Wed, 20 Jan 2010 07:07:14 +0100