Mother Teresa et. al.

I've been reading lots of online posts from atheists condemning religion as the cause of almost every atrocity in history and arguing that systems of ethics formulated without reference to any idea of the divine are by definition more humane.  I do not question that there are ethical atheists and that there may even be ethical systems based in an atheistic understanding of the universe that are positive.  I also have no illusions about the history of religion and know that many atrocities have been and continue to be committed in the name of just about any religion you can think of. 

So, here's my question... if atheism can produce the same or higher quality of person as a religious system why is it that we see no atheist Mother Teresa's, Gandhi's, or the like?  Granted the list of such folk coming from religious backgrounds is not a huge one, but it does exist and includes many less famous folk who have given themselves to make the world a better place.  I'm not aware of any atheists who have made similar ethical impact in the world.  On the other hand, we can find atheist leaders who have committed the same kinds of horrific violence that has been attributed to religious folk.

What do you think?

The Dark Night of the Soul

Jesus has a very special love for you. As for me, the silence and the emptiness is so great that I look and do not see, listen and do not hear.
— Mother Teresa to the Rev. Michael Van Der Peet, September 1979

Last week, Mother Teresa's letters to her friend were released to the public, showing a woman who struggled mightily with doubt. Immediately people like Christopher Hitchens came out saying that ths was more proof that faith is ridiculous and even Mother Teresa didn't really have any. Indeed, Hitchens essentially says that she was trapped in a hole she had dug for herself during her time of delusion... i.e. faith.

Hitchens suffers from a common misconception - that faith and doubt are opposites. They are not. Indeed, they are twins and without doubt, there is no faith. When Mother Teresa audibly heard Christ speak to her and call her to ministry among the poorest of the poor, she knew. She did not need or have faith. She had heard the voice of God speaking. There was no question. There was no trust. There was only the choice of whether or not to obey. When she later knew Jesus as "The Absent One," it was only faith that kept her going. Remember that the writer of Hebrews tells us that "Faith is the substance of things not seen." It is precisely when we doubt that we find faith. It is in the dark night of the soul that we discover faith and stand upon that which we cannot see.

Obviously Hitchens and his like see proof that she was just a crazy masochist doing what no sane person would ever do. For me, my respect for the woman has sky-rocketed. She was not a super-hero, just a woman with doubts and struggles like any other who happened to do lots of small things with extra-ordinary love. In doing so, she brought the kindom of God a whole bunch of steps closer. And Mr. Hitchens... if she was just crazy... oh that the world would be blessed with more crazy people like her.