Many of you might be familiar with New York City’s most popular building – The Empire State Building. You’ve heard of it right? It’s a very nice building and it’s a real treat to go up to the top of it. If you ever get a chance you should check it out.
Anyway, the Empire State Building has this tradition of lighting up its upper floors with colored lights to commemorate occasions. Everything from sports teams to Mariah Carey to the Westminster Dog Show to holidays to The Grateful Dead have gotten the light treatment.
The upcoming 100th birthday of Mother Teresa brought supporters around to submit a request for the top to be lit blue and white in her honor on August 26th, the centennial of her birth.
Can you see where this is headed?
The request was denied for the reasons that the ESB has a specific policy against any lighting for religious figures or requests by religions and religious organizations.
That explains how the Grateful Dead got their lighting.
Naturally supporters went berserk, citing past examples of lights honoring the death of the Pope and religious holidays and saying this was a bigoted decision against Catholics and there’s a some hypocrisy going on and all that.
Well, that might all be true but the fact is that The Empire State Building is privately owned and the ones in charge don’t have to do anything they don’t want to and can make up any reason as to why. Whether you agree with it or not, that’s the way it is.
Of course this reasoning didn’t quell any emotions and the supporters didn’t let their anger go and that’s why we’re talking about this now. So now they’re plan is to hold a demonstration outside the ESB about this decision on August 26th – Teresa’s birthday.
I just don’t get it.
For one thing, like I said it’s privately owned. If the owners don’t want to put up blue and white lights for her that’s their business. Get over it. Was this the only celebratory way they were going to wish her a happy birthday? So now that there won’t be any lights for her is that going to completely ruin her birthday celebration?
Another thing is that the event that was so special in the first place, the reason they wanted the stupid lights up in the first place I now going to be eclipsed by the lack of a bunch of lights on the top of building. Instead of spending the day doing stuff that might be more in keeping with what Mother Teresa did with her life – like spending the day feeding the hungry, volunteering at a hospital, helping the homeless, now they’re going to be standing outside a building with signs? They’re more than welcome if they want, but is that really the best thing they can do to honor her on this all-important day?
As I was reading about this in the newspaper I was completely confused by it all and was wondering how this even became a story. Like I said, it doesn’t make sense to me.
Leave a Reply