For 48 years, TIME Magazine selected what it called the “Man of the Year,” although in 1936 the person was Wallis Simpson, for whom the King of England gave up his throne, and in 1952 the person was Queen Elizabeth II.
This year, in lieu of the man of the year, TIME selected twelve women. This may be a demeaning implication that it takes twelve women to equal one man. One of the twelve women so selected distinguished herself by giving an interview favoring abortion, and by not opposing premarital sex and experimentation with marijuana by her own children.
TIME’s selections for the last 48 years have certainly been top-heavy with men and politicians. Joseph Stalin, who was twice so honored, has been described by two knowledgeable witnesses, namely, Nikita Khrushchev and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, as one of the most evil murderers in all history.
Premier Pierre Laval, another TIME selectee, was later executed by France for collaborating with the Nazis. Another European poli tician honored by TIME, West German Chancellor Willy Brandt, de parted abruptly from the councils of the mighty after admitting on television that his top aide was a Soviet espionage agent.
Three of the American politicians chosen by TIME (two of them twice), namely, Presidents John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon, significantly lowered the White House reputation for morality.
TIME twice honored General George C. Marshall who was never a combat commander, but TIME never recognized General Douglas MacArthur who was a victorious combat commander in World Wars I and II, and whose Inchon Landing during the Korean War, which so mas terfully crushed the North Korean army, is one of the great military feats of all history.
On December 29th, TIME featured a cover story on Mother Teresa who would have better graced its January 5th issue as the woman of the year. Mother Teresa is an Albanian nun who has made it her mission to minister to the poor and dying in Calcutta, India. She has become a living legend throughout the world.
The thousands of pitiful human beings who starve, sleep naked, live painfully, and die in the streets of Calcutta must present as depressing a sight as anything in the world. The task is so great and the possibility of achievement so little. Yet for 27 years, this remarkable woman of compassion and perseverance, with daily dedication, has been bringing a message of love and hope to those whom the rest of the world has written off as loveless and hopeless.
With all due respect to the twelve women selected by TIME as the women of the year, it is unlikely that all together they can equal Mother Teresa’s lifetime of good works.
The English scholar Malcolm Muggeridge, a recent convert to Christianity, eloquently described the impressive saintliness of this humble nun, saying: “Something of God’s love has rubbed off on Mother Teresa.”
