Don't be difficult, Jenos.

She's absolutely right. People just want to share the thing that makes them happy and whole. What is wrong with that? 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. So what's so bad about it.

Except that people don't worship ice cream to the point that their entire lives revolve around it. That's the difference.

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.

I have two siblings who are currently missionaries. One in Russia and one in Brazil, and all that they want to do is share what is precious to them. If you don't want it, they are required to leave you alone.

A lot of the time, they are doing other things as well. In Brazil, they help build houses and do service for the people. In Russia, they teach English and encourage marriage and childbirth (marriage mostly to encourage the childbirth. They have negative population increase over there, which is a setup for economic failure).

If someone's culture is hurting them, I think that we should go and help them. For the longest time in Africa, it was considered good to practice female genital mutilation. If it weren't for those evil westernizers, this would be more widespread than it is. Bringing medicine and things that have helped us, isn't wrong. It's inhumane to let someone wallow in poverty, sickness and such when we have something that could help them out.

I understand your greif with missionaries, I completely agree, they shouldn't go into these communities and try to turn them into this westernized place. But the view in missionaries minds are not that of destroying culture, but instead of saving those souls who are naive of whatever it is they believe. I personally do not like it when somebody comes up to be and shoves a religious paper in my face and trys to alter my beliefs, but in some religions this is what they are brought up to do. so give them a break, some just don't know any better.

Hate and love two very strong words....
you can't say you hate them because they are just like you and I a person with a belief, if you had just a bit of humility you would actually read into the history of missionaries and really see what they do, they dont shove the books into peoples faces, they do work through there actions as invisiblegirl said and me for one found that pretty harsh by using the word hate.....
there is many christan organisasions that you can go through such as YWAM who offer artistic people to help them through art, medical people who will help save lives, builders to rebuild there villagers, people who educate and cover every need of which will help them survive. if we didnt have these missionaries the world wouldnt be the same.
so before you over generalise missionaries think before you say something and if you would like to express how you feel say it in a more humain way while also knowing that there are many christans like myself who find that very general with way to many floors.....

Yes, that's true. But if you have true faith, it's not all about getting everyone to convert. It's about showing everyone that Jesus loves them through what you do. When I lived as a missionary, I only brought up my faith if I was asked.

Yes, the Bible tells us to teach our religion, but teaching your religion can be as simple as helping someone up.

I don't know... Christians are told in the bible to go into the world and share their religon, to teach the nations of God or something like that. I mean, it's dictated to them that they should do it, and for some people, it's their primary goal, to share with everyone what they believe. That's shoving it down your throat, to some people.

As a general rule, true Christians don't shove their views down anyone's throats. They try to live out their faith through their actions.

I have actually been on a few mission projects and you are completly wrong. The entire time we were there we were building houses, raising money, and making friends. Not once did we force the religion on the people there we simply told them who we were and waht we believed and sadi if they would like to ask any question about our religion then they could talk to us at any time. TV gives missionaries a horrible image but have any of you acctually been on a mission. And Christianity is not meant to be shoveed down anyones throat those who do so are not very good christians. But please dont bad mouth the entire religion, because you dont know everything. And im not saying i do becasue i definitaly dont. but I do know from my perspective that we werent shoving anything down these peoples throats. OK?! Also when you dont know about chritianity others can tell by your comments (for example:

quote:

religion is not going to feed you, or help you when you are sick or injured. It just doesn't.

) if you knew anything about christianity then you would know that that isnt why people believe in god.

PS: when i was on my mission we didnt build a church but we didnt build a hospital either. We built 3, 2 family houses.

i know a few missionaries and they are some of the nicest people ever! Christians define missionaries as people who share Christ with others. I am a missionary. I plan to go to India one day and do mission work there. I don't know what kind of stuff you've been told or what you've seen, those of you who are saying missionaries are annoying and couldcare less about people, but i think you're misinformed. If you've seen anyone claiming to be a missionary and not sincerely taking care of people, then s/he was NOT a missionary. Missionaries' ultimate goal is to help more people become Christians. And they do other things too, they build relationships with people in villages(for example) first, help with things, maybe get cleaner water, build houses, help in disaster areas, etc. and then share Christ. Missionary work is the most compassionate work I've seen, not forcing, so I'm sorry that you have the wrong perception of them.

A lot of missionaries are centered around religion, but this does not just mean that they preach the word of God while helping people, it means they help people because that is preaching the word of God! "Love your neighbor as yourself," and there are probably a billion other quotes that would fit this..But the bottom line is, you can say what you want about Bible-quoting, fire-and-brimstone preaching "Jesus freaks" that try to "force their religion" on people, but take religion completely out of the picture and see how many missionaries you have left. (Translation: See how many people you have left helping the poor.) I'm not saying that atheists don't help, I'm just saying I think the numbers would significantly decrease if you took out all the Church-affiliated organizations.
And also, technically the success of missionaries should be decided by the people actually being helped by them, because none of us really know. But if a mother in Africa is being given enough food to keep her child alive, I sincerely doubt she would care whatever the heck kind of preaching she had to endure listening to from a missionary.
That's just my opinion on the topic.

I can't believe what all you guys are saying about missionaries. "Toughshorty", have ever even been on a mission trip? I didn't think so. If you don't know about them then don't criticize them. Missionaries go to countries/areas where health care and violence are horrible.They give the people food, take them to doctors, and them just talk to them. Then, the missionaries may say something like "Keep your faith in God, He is with you" If they ask who is God or how He is with them, they tell the person more. MISSIONARIES DO NOT SHOVE THE BIBLE DONE PEOPLE'S THROATS! And it's stupid that someone who has never been on a mission trip would say that.The people that come to your doors are just Christians that want to get you involved with their church. Don't be so harsh by saying you hate them. They're just trying to help spread what they believe in, just like you all are trying to spread knowledge of recycling! Think about that.

My family went on a mission trip to a foreign country for tow years. This was through our religion. None of it was about converting people - we pretty much left religion out of it. But there was a lack of good education and way too much child abuse, so that's what we tried to work on. I met a lot of kids my age who had a lot less than I did. We did not force religion on anyone - we were just trying to help people in need. Not all missionaries are all about religion.

What do you mean on their own terms?

And I am personally annoyed by missionaries as well. But I do not hate them. Religion is no longer a colonialist tool as you seem to think.

Missionaries annoy me. Even the evangelicals who show up at my door asking if I've been saved bug me. If I lived in a country that had missionaries coming in, I would run to another country even if I didn't speak the language.

A non-related "cousin" of mine is the child of a preacher, and she's now a full-fledged missionary.

However, she went to Japan. A country whose technological advances make my desktop PC look like a stick and wheel. Whose society is one of the most ancient in all of current civilization. Whose religion (Buddhist/Shinto) is an engrained part of the culture.

And yet a Christian missionary needed to go there. Because clearly, a country with internet access flowing out there assholes couldn't POSSIBLY find out about Christianity if they wanted to.

I mean geez...if they want to spread Christianity, they should do it the old-fashioned way: torture, war and intimidation.

quote:

okou go and try living there like they do...i bet you couldn't last a month

We probably couldn't last that long because we're not used to it. We're from completely different cultures than they are. It doesn't mean one is better than the other, or one needs more help. They're just different.

quote:

Originally posted by Wolfie:
to me tribes in africa or pacific islands don't really need as much help as most believe. think about it... they've been independent for how many hundreds of years? why would they need help (aka relgious preaching) now?

okou go and try living there like they do...i bet you couldn't last a month

quote:

Originally posted by Meagan87:
Most of the people we get banging on our doors (mostly for the somewhat obscure Christian religions) will go away after I tell them that I'm a practicing Catholic.

According to my mom, all they really care about is that you HAVE a religion...interesting...

you are wrong...as christians, God says it is our job, to spread His word, and save as many people as we can...as a catholic you are saved, and you will go to heaven....you should know that, since you are catholic...that is whythey left you alone...they believed you were saved....next time try telling them you are buddist, or islamic, i bet you they will stay, and tell you about christianity, or tehy will give you a bible, or something.

quote:

Originally posted by clarke959:
Ugh...I hate missionaries too. They could care less about helping to feed the hungry, or take care of the sick and injured. All they care about is forcing religion down peoples throats, which is usually Christianity.

Instead of giving a starving person food for nourishment, they give em a bible. Yeah, that is really going to help them

Instead of building a hospital with doctors for the sick and injured, they build a church. Again, that is so going to help these people

And dont start thinking that I am some kind of godless heathen. I am a Christian, but I dont believe that these people need a different religion, because wether you want to believe it our not, religion is not going to feed you, or help you when you are sick or injured. It just doesn't. I see that on a daily basis in my life, which is a horrible, horrible mess

ok, i am not a full-time missionary, but i do go on trips with my church, and just to inform you, it's not all about shoving the gospel down your throat....we dont even do that, some others might, but we do care about feding the people, and helping them, you may not think so, but it's true, i totally agree with ohmybex, if people ask, or bring it up, then we will talk about it...and tell them what we know....but we don't shove the bible in their faces.....so don't say what we do on missions trips, unless you have been on one, and know what you do.