New York City, N.Y., Jan 29, 2010 / 14:28 pm
Following the U.S. Postal Service announcement that they are featuring the late Mother Teresa on an upcoming stamp, the atheist group Freedom from Religion has urged its supporters to boycott the stamp on the grounds that it violates postal regulations.
The stamp is scheduled for release on Aug. 26, which would have been Mother Teresa's 100th birthday, and is intended to honor the Nobel Peace Prize recipient for her humanitarian work. A press release from the U.S. Postal Service issued last month praised Mother Teresa for her 50 years of service to “the sick and destitute of India and the world,” as well as her “humility and compassion” and “respect for the innate worth and dignity of humankind.”
However, Annie Gaylor, spokeswoman for Freedom from Religion, told Fox News on Thursday that the stamp goes against a postal stipulation that prevents the Postal Service from honoring “individuals whose principal achievements are associated with religious undertakings.”
“Mother Teresa is principally known as a religious figure who ran a religious institution,” Gaylor argued. “You can't really separate her being a nun and being a Roman Catholic from everything she did.”