Book Review: The Missionary Position by Christopher Hitchens

Written by renowned polemicist, Hitchens, "The Missionary Position" is a sort of sting operation conducted on the life of Mother Teresa. At 99 pages, it is also probably among the thinnest yet incredibly good books that I have read.

Hitchens lays bare Teresa' life like it should have been. After all, what's wrong with a little bit of devil's advocacy? And, you have to hand it to him for his courage in taking on someone who has clearly been one of the most important icons (nay holy cows) of the Catholic Church.

Hitchens reveals the Mother's dubious connections and dealings with dictators, scamsters and people with dubious backgrounds, all for the sake of donations to the Missionaries of Charity. Her stance on abortions, the condition of medical care for the dying at the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta, etc. all seem unanswerable blots on the aura of Saint Teresa.

Was Mother Teresa really a saint? Or a Roman Catholic opportunist with a rather narrowminded agenda, who was at the head of a global PR movement?

Read the book to question your blind faith in Mother Teresa's goodness.