Comments on: Missionaries. Ick.

By: Greg Laden

Greg Laden — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 16:41:19 +0000

Scott: There are lots of charities that are not missionaries.

By: Scott

Scott — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 02:46:06 +0000

I’m with Anne. Not all of them are as provincial and myopic as the evangelicals. Some of them actually accomplish something…bridges, schools, etc…

I’m not entirely willing to believe that ALL of them have a conversion agenda. If that were to be true…well…then there isn’t a charity on the planet worth giving to.

By: the real cmf

the real cmf — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 23:48:13 +0000

Yeah, TX for the clarity…I was also kind of nudging at that comment one above…I mean, I would be a heretic to say that my uncle–a missionary in India for some 40 plus years–didn’t do some kind of good, but that whole Catholic breeder cult thing? More harm than good, no matter how many ol’ ladies you help across the street.

By: Greg Laden

Greg Laden — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 22:38:17 +0000

No, and in fact, there are no good missionaries. I was trying to be nice but it didn’t work. Last time.

By: the rail CMF

the rail CMF — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 22:11:42 +0000

Hey Greg, I sent you some stuff about modern missionary positions at your U of MN acct, that might tie in nicely with this discussion.
Now I am wondering: is their also such a thing as good and baad Nazi’s, good and bad fascists, racists, etc–people who fall into the neat dualistic paradigm where one side is good and one bad, or one side bad and one better at least than them?
I mean, can I sell two different people fishcake soup and, at least, I gave only one of them the soup with the vermin waste in it, rather than the one with the rotten tomatoes and the salmonella? After all, you can eat rat poop (metaphorical *you* can eat it, I said), as long as you cook it well first.

By: Anne Gilbertav

Anne Gilbertav — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 19:11:10 +0000

There are missionaries and missionaries. The good ones don’t have to be Catholic to be good. There are a number of Christian groups that actually do things that benefit local people, like starting schools and hospitals, building houses, creating safe water systems, etc., helping farmers, and the like. But there are the others. . . .unfortunately, I think they are the majority. These people are generally from certain “evangelical” Christian traditions. And they aren’t in the least concerned about their effect on the local cultures, bad or good. In fact, they are often hostile to the local cultures, and they want to change the local culture to something much more like the culture they come from. Which, of course, doesn’t work. and causes a lot of problems for the local people. The more “mainstream” Christian groups recognize this, but, as I said, those whose only goal is to convert armies of Christians from their sinful “pagan” ways, do not. And I don’t like this any better than you do.
Anne G

By: Greg Laden

Greg Laden — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 15:48:34 +0000

There are large patches of the planet where almost every non-native you will see is either missionary or a plantation owner.

By: ed kupfer

ed kupfer — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 12:58:41 +0000

There are still missionaries in the world? Call me naive or ignorant, but I thought they belonged to the same category as pirates and travelling salesmen and chimney sweeps — vocations of a bygone age. Huh. Learn something new every day.

By: TrekJunkie

TrekJunkie — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 11:44:46 +0000

I’m a tropical ecologist working mostly in Central America. During the last ten years or so, it seems that every time I go down there is a missionary group in the plane. They always have a “hook”, help build a school, a clinic, etc., and then they snag you.
The ones I really hate are the ones that do it to indigenous populations. The social and cultural consequences of converting indigenous people are disastrous. Families split, people kick out of villages, social tensions, etc. In one occasion I even had to arbitrate a dispute between two individuals over the role of God has over animals! Scientist must know those things, you know!