US Postal Service under fire from 'atheists' for releasing 'religious' Mother Teresa stamp

Washington, Jan. 29 (ANI): The US Postal Service has come under fire for its plan to release a commemorative stamp in honour of Mother Teresa, as the move violates the country's postal regulations against honouring "individuals whose principal achievements are associated with religious undertakings."

The atheist group called, the Freedom from Religion Foundation, is urging its supporters to boycott the stamp, besides launching a campaign to reveal about what it calls the "darker side" of Mother Teresa.

"Mother Teresa is principally known as a religious figure who ran a religious institution. You can't really separate her being a nun and being a Roman Catholic from everything she did," Fox News quoted Freedom from Religion Foundation spokeswoman Annie Laurie Gaylor, as saying.

"There was criticism by the end of her life that she turned what was a tiny charity into an extremely wealthy charity that had the means to provide better care than it did," Gaylor added.

Postal Service spokesman Roy Betts expressed surprise at the protest, given the long list of previous honorees with strong religious backgrounds, including Malcolm X, the former chief spokesman for the Nation of Islam, and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a Baptist minister and co-founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

"In fact we honored Father Flanagan in 1986 for his humanitarian work. This has nothing to do with religion or faith," Betts said.

The stamp, set to be released on Mother Teresa's 100th birthday on August 26, will recognize the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize winner for her humanitarian work.

"Noted for her compassion toward the poor and suffering, Mother Teresa, a diminutive Roman Catholic nun and honorary U.S. citizen, served the sick and destitute of India and the world for nearly 50 years," the Postal Service said in a press release.

"Her humility and compassion, as well as her respect for the innate worth and dignity of humankind, inspired people of all ages and backgrounds to work on behalf of the world's poorest populations," it added. (ANI)