Mother Theresa, the icon has just been put down a notch, or upgraded to a real saint.

Personally, I always admired Mother Thersa, what she did to the poorest of the poor and how she could sway even polititians and Kings.

Am I dissappointed by the newest revelations? Not at all. She went through the 'dark night of the soul' not just for a period of time but for most of her life, yet she continued her mission. Who on earth could have more dedication than she did?

Just before her letters were revealed, I had a real problem with God being in our lives. After all when our president who says that he believes in Jesus and God tells him what to do, believes in torture, war, killings, the death penalty, cutting programs for the poor, etc. etc. etc., one sometimes wonders where God really is.

John Zmirak has just published with Crossroads Press and with the assistance of his photogenic culinary advisor, Denise Matychowiak, a richly illustrated, two-volume study of food, drink and other amenities associated with European Catholic cultures. What is particularly noteworthy about these volumes, The Bad Catholic's Guide to Wine, Whiskey, and Songs and The Bad Catholic's Guide to Good Living, which come to more than 600 pages, is the wealth of theological and historical facts

It's a clever line. When Christopher Hitchens slams Christianity he does it with style. "If we lost all our hard-won knowledge and all our archives, and all our ethics and all our morals...and had to reconstruct everything essential from scratch, it is difficult to imagine at what point we would need to remind or reassure ourselves that Jesus was born of a virgin."

The line employs a sharp edged bathos: End of civilization drama counterpoised with a sneer at that most-despised of pre-modern Christian dogma - the virgin birth. Religious people gasped, and aggressive atheists snickered, but I sat there wishing that Christopher Hitchens knew more history.

It is hard to understand why those who are not cognitively challenged write inexplicably stupid things. Although Professor Allan Wolfe and I would not agree on much politically or philosophically, from all accounts he is an intelligent man. In June 1999 he wrote a reasonably perceptive review of my book After Liberalism for The New Republic, the publication in which his multi-paged rage against Russell Kirk has just appeared (sorry, it's not available to non-subscribers online). Since I was then already under the ban of the neoconservative media empire and its army of drones, the attention he bestowed on my work was

As shown by my piece of a few days ago -"Hope May Spring Eternal, But It Also Has Its Dry Spells"- this has been a week in which my level of hopefulness dipped. Then, Friday, I had one of those days where I managed to find my way back to the well, i.e. to that place of the spirit from which greater strength and courage and faith comes. About the thoughts of that day, I'll be writing soon, as I sort them out and discern how they want to be presented. In the meanwhile, though, I had already followed some of my darker thoughts and feelings into some places that I still want to share. They began with despair but did not end there.

Many Americans believe in the God of the Bible. Many Americans believe in the importance of what is right and good and just. There is, of course, overlap between those two sets of Americans. But they are not identical sets.

Among those who believe in God, I know from experience in discussing such issues on the radio, there are many who think that without such belief no true morality or values are possible. To their way of thinking, God is indispensable to morality. And that notion constitutes a part of the divide that afflicts our polarized nation.

It is in that context that I would like to initiate a couple of relevant lines in discussion. In this first one, I wish simply to raise a question. I've encountered an idea in my reading and I don't understand the reasoning behind it. And I'd like to see if anyone else here can clarify the issue.

THE MORAL IMPLICATIONS OF MONOTHEISM

The wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Israel and in Africa have hijacked Christmas.

This year, the national media hardly ever mentions Christmas , nor does the local media, with the exception of telling us where to deposit our canned food. And even those one minute advertisements only appeared three times.

It may be just as well, since Christ would probably not want to have anything to do with our warmongering psyche. It appears that Christ is removing his energy of good will and peace until we come to our senses.

Mearchants are already complaining that people are not spending enough, which is a good thing as far as I am concerned.

I heard that there is a movie on TV where Santa  takes a year off and does not appear. Forget about Santa, Christ does not want to appear as well, as long as we slaughter each other.

Given the decision making power of Santa Claus on the matter of gifts, my children make sure they leave Mr. Claus some seriously good cookies on Christmas Eve. However, most children don't know that there is much more to the real Saint Nick than toys and cookies. In addition to being generous, the jolly fellow could easily be considered the patron saint of purity.

Once again, Christmas is around the corner. Everything is in full swing. Merchants are hoping for big profits, and some people practically kill themselves in order to get 'Playstation III'.

Laura Bush announced the eleborate Christmas dinner at the White House while her husband was snubbed by Iraqi's PM.

Iraqis are killing each other daily and a coupple of GI's die daily as well, but none of this matters. The Christmas Mania has to continue.'Buy and shop until your drop'. The Food Channel outdoes itself to present us with the most dazzeling expensive food extravagance.

Oh, yes, because it is Christmas most TV channels tell us where we can deposit our canned goods for the less fortunate (canned peas, corn, beans etc)

I wonder how many people really know what Christmas is all about?