Empire State Building and Mother Teresa

UPDATE, June 9, 2010: Empire State Building: No Lights for Mother Teresa.
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Since the World Trade Center was attacked and destroyed by terrorists on September 11, 2001, the Empire State Building stands again as the tallest building in New York City.

In recognition of special occasions, holidays, and causes, and in honor of special people and sports teams, the top of the building is bathed in colorful lights.

For example, after 9/11, the Empire State Building glowed in red, white, and blue.

Last fall, the great American building displayed special lighting, that time to honor an anniversary, the 60th anniversary of COMMUNIST CHINA.

From the New York Times:

The nighttime lights atop the Empire State Building are a source of visual pleasure but also of frequent mystery for New Yorkers. What was with all that red last Thursday? It was a nod to the 70th anniversary of “The Wizard of Oz” — ruby slippers and all that. How about the green a few days before that? That was for the Muslim holiday of Id al-Fitr.

If you wonder why the Empire State will be red and yellow Wednesday and Thursday nights, it is to honor the 60th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China. Looked at another way, it is to honor the 60th anniversary of the Communist takeover.

Not everyone in New York thought this was an especially wise move, including 20 or so pro-Tibet protesters who stood outside the building’s Fifth Avenue entrance on Wednesday morning to denounce the Empire State’s collaboration with a regime that has harshly occupied Tibet for the last five decades. They carried signs bearing slogans like “Mao’s Empire State Building.”

“It’s kind of like a red star over the Empire State Building,” Lhadon Tethong, executive director of Students for a Free Tibet, said of the lighting.

At the same moment, a ceremony was held in the building’s lobby to observe the occasion. Peng Keyu, China’s consul-general in New York, flipped a switch that bathed the top of a replica of the Empire State in red and yellow. “This is really a great gesture,” Mr. Peng said to Joseph Bellina, the building’s general manager, who described the nighttime lights as “a symbol of unity between our countries and our peoples.”

Why did we celebrate the 60th anniversary of a communist regime?

NEW YORK -- Red and yellow lights shone from the top of the Empire State Building at dusk Wednesday, a tribute to communist China's 60th anniversary that protesters labeled "blatant approval" of totalitarianism and criticized as inappropriate for an icon in the land of the free.

The building is routinely lit with different colors to mark holidays and big events, but opponents questioned whether it's right to commemorate a sensitive political issue, particularly when China has such a poor human rights record.

About 20 supporters of Tibet, which China has ruled since shortly after communists took over in 1949, protested outside the building during a ceremonial lighting of a scale model inside the lobby. They chanted "No to China's empire; free Tibet now," and held signs reading, "Empire State Building celebrating 60 years of China's oppression."

Lhadon Tethong, executive director of Students for a Free Tibet, called the lighting "outright, blatant approval for a communist totalitarian system."

"It's a great public relations coup for the Chinese state," Tethong said as tourists gawked at the protesters. "But on the other hand, it's sure to backfire because the American public and the global public will speak against it."

I agree with Tethong.

It was crazy that we would honor the beginning of a communist state that has oppressed billions of people.

Why would we celebrate 60 years of human rights violations?

It was truly a disgrace.



The question now is: Why wouldn't we honor and celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Mother Teresa?

From FOX News:

A nationwide petition has been launched by the Catholic League after the Empire State Building denied a request to commemorate Mother Teresa's 100th birthday.

Bill Donohue, president of the New York-based Catholic civil rights organization, submitted an application to the Empire State Building Lighting Partners in February to have the skyscraper feature blue and white lights -- the colors of Mother Teresa's congregation -- on Aug. 26 to commemorate her centennial. The request was denied without explanation last week, and more than 6,000 people have signed a protest petition in just one day, Donohue told FoxNews.com.

"I'd like to find out what's driving this," he said. "But I'm confident it's just a matter of time before we win on this thing."

...Donohue called on Anthony Malkin, owner of the Empire State Building, to reverse the decision.

"Mother Teresa received 124 awards, including Nobel Peace Prize, the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Medal of Freedom," Donohue's statement continued. "She built hundreds of orphanages, hospitals, hospices, health clinics, homeless shelters, youth shelters and soup kitchens all over the world … Not surprisingly, she was voted the most admired woman in the world three years in a row in the mid-1990s. But she is not good enough to be honored by the Empire State Building."

A spokeswoman for the building's public relations firm declined comment Thursday when reached by FoxNews.com.

Mother Teresa, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979, died in 1997 at the age of 87. She was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 2003, a step in the path to being declared a saint.

I guess Mother Teresa just doesn't have the same appeal as Mao.

Very sad.
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Online petition here.

Dear Mr. Malkin:

As the owner of the Empire State Building, we implore you to reverse the decision made by Empire State Lighting Partners to deny Mother Teresa the honor of having the towers shine in blue, white and blue on August 26. On this day, the U.S. Postal Service will honor her with a stamp, marking the 100th anniversary of her birth.

Mother Teresa received 124 awards, including the Nobel Peace Prize, the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Medal of Freedom. She built hundreds of orphanages, hospitals, hospices, health clinics, homeless shelters, youth shelters and soup kitchens all over the world, and is revered in India for her work. She created the first hospice in Greenwich Village for AIDS patients. Not surprisingly, she was voted the most admired woman in the world three years in a row in the mid-1990s.

Last year the Empire State Building shone in red and yellow lights to honor the 60th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Revolution. Yet under its founder, Mao Zedong, the Communists killed 77 million people. In other words, the greatest mass murderer in history merited the same tribute being denied to Mother Teresa.

We look forward to your intervention in this matter.

Communist China - YES

Mother Teresa - NO

It's sick.