I hate missionaries. I don't think they are orientated at helping the sick and such, I think they are colonialist and all they really want to do is destroy cultures that have existed long before christianity in the name of "helping the poor africans who can't help themselves" I think that it's great to help other nations. But you should go there to aid them to become independent on their own terms. Not exactly like the west.

Stop the "Church Trips"!!!

discuss...

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Originally posted by activist8645:
Missionarys are facist no diffrent from hitler. They want people to belive what they belive so they invade spread false messages of love but all they want to do is convert like columbus and what he did to the Native American christanity is the evil that has created all the worlds problem. I mean religon has destroyed life as we know it. I mean the 2 go hand in hand.

Religion may have "destroyed" some life, but on the whole, it has helped. Many people have decided to stay alive because they have found religion. As cliche as that may sound. Personally, I think that love is what people need. Missionaries help spread a type of love, even though it comes laced with religion and a set of beliefs. If everyone loved each other there would be no need for missionaries.

Religion isn't the same as spirituality. Or truth for that matter. Do Not generalize all missionaries. Don't do it unless you know them all personally, and if you know any of them personally, you would never had said this. Shut your mouth unless you know what you're talking about.

Missionarys are facist no diffrent from hitler. They want people to belive what they belive so they invade spread false messages of love but all they want to do is convert like columbus and what he did to the Native American christanity is the evil that has created all the worlds problem. I mean religon has destroyed life as we know it. I mean the 2 go hand in hand.

they were invented to help, but now they really are just people colonizing poorer countries.

i think they help people, even though it may not be totally cool to convert people 24/7 but their doing a pretty cool deed

Well I think that missionaries do good to the world. Why do you hate them? We help people. Every year I go on my mission trips with my youth group. Since were minors we can only help people in our countries though. So whats so wrong with it. I mean we help people. And what do you mean we dont help the poor. In chigago the whole week all we did was help poor Hispanic family and kids. So Keep the missions coming!!!! p.s we dont destroy cultures. We help them. And they dont have to form to our cultures if they dont want to because thats not the point!

My school (Gehlen Catholic) makes yearly student missionary trips to Honduras to do water projects for small villages. The trip is usually open to seniors only, but because the project has expanded into many different facets (Mission Honduras Gehlen, Le Mars, Briar Cliff; Medical team, etc.), I was lucky enough to be invited to go last Thanksgiving with college students from Briar Cliff University - as a 16 year old. It was the most important event in my life thusfar. I never felt any overly religious overtones, but in retrospect I suppose I shouldn't have - Latin America is, afterall, mostly Catholic. Sure, we had a nightly prayer/reflection on the day, but we never forced anything on anyone. It was a happy medium.

Because I did this trip, I was more than thrilled at the prospect of going on a mission trip to Tanzania this summer for a month. I was expecting Honduras with minor changes. I was so wrong. When I return to Honduras again this spring (as a senior!), it will be my last mission trip. My experience in Tanzania has made it difficult for me to even identify as a 'Catholic'. I prefer Humanitarian/Ethicist.

In TZ I was embarrassed to even be associated with the group I went with. TZ is pretty evenly divided between Muslims, Christians, and native religions. But my group truly believes that all Muslims are going to hell. They would talk about how we need to save them, etc. I was so completely and unbelievable mortified that they would dare speak so broadly on behalf of the entire group. To make a statement that hopefully a Muslim woman would convert after being given and necklace with a cross on it made me stop and think - What, the, f***. This woman lived in 8x8 ft (at most) room with her three young children, one who was severely crippled with club feet. Her husband had run out on her and she was left with nothing. And these people were insinuating that her religion was wrong. That she was wrong.

When you have nothing but your faith, whatever it may be, that is your salvation. Your god is your hope, strength, and reason. What gives any person the right to tell someone they're wrong, you're praying to the wrong god - because it's not mine? I hope that woman doesn't think that her daughter's ailment is her fault...I know I would if someone came in and told me that I hadn't been praying to the right god to save my child.

I've seen both sides of missionary work. And to be quite frank, I don't think there is any room for religion when it comes to saving people's lives (which will get me into another qualm with missionaries, but I'll just end it here).

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Originally posted by clpo13:

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Okay, say that you found an ice cream parlor. It's so good. You love it. Naturally, you want to tell your friends about it and show them where it is right. Why? Because you want them to enjoy the really good ice cream just like you did. It's the same thing in missionary efforts. If we have something wonderful that has made a big difference to us, we just want to share it with everybody. It's that precious to us.

What if the other people already know of a good ice cream parlor and think it's the best place? Sharing is all well and good, but it assumes that people want you to share your stories with them.

They can if they want to. People do it all the time to me. I make a point to listen to what they say. They're only trying to do the same. I haven't found an ice cream parlor I like better than the one I've found, and I intend to stay with this one forever. But I appreciate them taking the time and courage to share what they have. It's not easy to share, trust me, and they're only trying to help people.

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Okay, say that you found an ice cream parlor. It's so good. You love it. Naturally, you want to tell your friends about it and show them where it is right. Why? Because you want them to enjoy the really good ice cream just like you did. It's the same thing in missionary efforts. If we have something wonderful that has made a big difference to us, we just want to share it with everybody. It's that precious to us.

What if the other people already know of a good ice cream parlor and think it's the best place? Sharing is all well and good, but it assumes that people want you to share your stories with them.

Hate Missionaries? That is a little strong don’t you think? First of all don’t generalize. There may be some missionaries that have not conducted themselves but that does not mean that all missionaries are bad. Several other people on this thread have mentioned that they spent sometime as missionaries, and I have also had some experience in that area. I went down to New Orleans twice on short term mission trips. Both times the groups that I was with did not really engage in talking to people about god, we were just there to help them rebuild. But it was a ministry given to them by the church, and if they had questions about Christianity we would answer them.

You may feel that missionaries really don’t care about people but Christian organizations are one of the biggest providers of aid to people in trouble. So they are oriented to helping people, and then additionally we share the gospel with them.

Lastly Christianity is not about destroying the world’s cultures. Now they will change, many of these cultures are modernized but that is not necessarily a bad thing. If they want to keep their culture they can but if they want what we are offering they can take it. It's their choice.

Ikki, you're right. My context was messed up, and I wrote it wrong. Of course, some things mean nothing to some people, and lots to others. I like dancing, language, music and stuff like that. One of my brothers really likes geography. He likes to memorize countries and capitals and such. It fills him up. I'm not much for geography. My other brother loves knowing how things in the world work. Physics and biochemistry are his favorite things. I'd rather die than study physics more than is required.

However, if something improves the quality of life or general happiness as a whole, like say, penicillan, music in general (not specifically a type) or things that you need in life, it will apply to everyone. I'm not being very clear right now. Let me try to explain it later and see if it makes more sense.

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If something improved our lives, it will improve theirs.

Not necessarily. There are things that other people do that have made them happier, but when I tried it, it made me feel worse.

Besides, who's to say it's really an improvement? It may seem so now, but with every action, there is an effect, and for all we know, the effects are not worth the so called "improvement."

Absolutely, Shade. That should never be the first thing that you say. That's not only stupid, but it's also extremely rude.

Testing123, that's where we disagree. I think that there is a right and a wrong. Definite and defined. You apparently don't believe so. It's not all about perspective. We are all people. The same people, the same species, and we all have the same needs. If something improved our lives, it will improve theirs. And this is why we must also take what improves their lives and try that out for ourselves, too. It's a circle of human charity. This is all what sets us apart from animals: we change, and we share and we love.

Or do you not think that we're all human beings with no distinctions between us as to our nature? Do you think that they're different because they're a different race?

Or to tell them they're wrong... If that's nigh the first thing you say, they're not going to respond well, at all.

But its not your job to do anything to anyones culture. Improve or make worse, it's all about perspective.

In my church, missionaries aim to incorporate truths and beneficial things into their already-existing culture. However, if they have a cultural belief that is wrong, if there is a true religion, that religion is obviously wrong. If we didn't believe there was a true religion, why would be spreading ours. We feel that if there is something in their religion that is a mirror of the truth, than it is worth keeping. If is something that harms and destroys, it's not. The values that are good remain, and their mythologies are precious to human development and also remain. We don't want to destroy their cultures, only build upon them.

Not all of them do. Let's not generalize.

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They don't have to go on a crusade against a country to do it. They don't have to tear down their cultural beliefs.

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So what's so bad about it.

They do though...

Thanks Shade.

And Jenos, they still have to pay for the ice cream, don't they?