Some Mormon missionaries came knocking at my door in Sudbury, Ontario, in a winter storm.
We chatted, with them on the outside of the door, and me on the inside in the heated entrance way, until they started shaking and went away.
Going to help the poor is a great thing regardless of motivation; but I think proselytizing to people in undeveloped countries is one of the most obnoxious and immoral things you can do. It’s cultural genocide made possible because of the power you have coming form a more affluent society. Imagine if the Saudis decided to come in and aid the Katrina victims, but also set up Mosques and had people pray to Allah before being fed.
What a frightening viewpoint. Converting people to your particular brand of superstition is as important as making sure they have food, safe water, and schools.
Here in a small town in Wicklow, Ireland, we have a mission from the Assemblies of God (http://www.agireland.com/), which I understand is one of the more right wing US churches. I don’t personally see much evidence of it, but I understand they’re here to convert Ireland from wrong-Godliness Catholicism.
I would consider this a Sisyphean challenge, as the major detectable spiritual movement among my compatriots is towards atheism.
Actually that IS one of the major drivers behind the evangelicals’ drive to proselytize in Western First-World societies – the idea being not only that there is a greater spiritual need because we have drifted towards godlessness, but also that it means the work of overcoming the deep entrenchment of “cradle” religions is already done for them. And I can see a point there: as I mentioned before, in much of the West the members of mainstream religions often tend to treat it as something of a mere cultural formality, and may be susceptible to the preaching of a belief set more oriented at being an active part of your life.
Terrifel, thanks for the elaboration. Yes, ideally* good * missionary work would be a combination of exemplary charity backed up with moderate proselytizing. Of course you would always have folks like DanBlather (nothing particular, Dan, just using you as the most recent example on this page) who may consider that combination to be morally reprehensible(*), and probably have a low opinion of any act of proselytism in and of itself.
(*Note: BTW *NOT ALL * (and I’m not sure if we can even say a large majority of) charity missions impose a condition of conversion or of listening to preaching or participating in proselytist activities as sine-qua-non for the food/medicine/etc. Often it can be as simple as building the clinic/soup kitchen and chapel next to one another so while you get the food/medicine w/o religious tests or conditions, they get you to walk past the church/madrassa on your way to and from [… hey, religions have been into marketing for 5 thousand years; they know every trick]. Others ARE far more aggressive about it. You have all kinds.)
In any case, that many people, like Dr. Qadgop, would think first of works of charity as opposed to unadulterated proselytism when hearing the term “missionary” is somewhat a tribute to those in that field in some churches who made the effort, in historically very recent time, to turn around their trade from the earlier, historically longer-running, “Do away with the false gods! Repent! Or burn!” crusading ways of seeking converts (that many DO still hang on to…) towards a kinder, gentler approach.
Not the décor, certainly.
My ex served a full-time (Mormon) mission in France. She said the white Catholics were impossible to preach to; they were either hardcore Catholic and wanted nothing to do with her, or were disenchanted Catholics who kind of rolled their eyes at religion in general. Her only success at converting people (and even that was very meager compared to my own experiences in South America) was among African and Middle Eastern immgirants.
1ç, a story for your wife. It’s said to be true.
In the late 1960s, there was an Ecumenic Meeting in Seville. After a hard day of theological discussion and the occasional argument, a protestant bigwig who happened to speak Spanish thanks to the time spent as a missionary in Latin America returns to his hotel and heads to the bar for dinner. While he’s here, he hears a local cursing Catholic priests with language that would be deemed uncouth outside of the Pit (plus I just don’t consider my English good enough to do it justice). The protestant engages the other guy in conversation, they talk for a while, and then the protestant starts explaining why his own church’s structure would be so much more suitable to his companion’s views, not being formed by “bossy fags in skirts.” At this point, the local guy says “eh, eh, waitaminute: I don’ believe in MY Chuch, which is the True Church, an’ I’m gonna believe in youse?”
I’m AoG, and the missionaries to Europe which come to our church usually focus on the internat’l/immigrant communities first & then the native Europeans.