One of my modules this year is Missiology - the study of Christian Mission. It's surprisingly a great subject despite the Catholic side of the lecture hall having the one up on the protestants for starting mission 150 years before them ;] [Wee jokes]
But i was wondering what are your views on Christian mission. Originally (as seen in the Great Commission) it was to spread the word of God. Has all sense of mission been lost with 'aid' being coined as 'mission' without the conversion? Or do the likes of Mormons and JW contribute greatly to the call or the Great Commission? [Something i do agree with].
I saw a movie called "The Mission", and it showed good and bad qualities to those Missions. (I think it was realistic.) If it was, then at least some people were saved from the portuguese, who wanted to kill/enslave natives. But on the downside, people were forced to change their entire culture to survive, and during the process people were still killed/enslaved.
I really don't like missioning, not in any religion. Actually just talking and informing people is ok, but often it's not just that. Often it's manipulating and guilt-tripping people into joining, it's importunating weak, old or lonely persons, it's taking peaceful little groups out of their cultural context and imposing a new life on them that for which they don't have the matching mentality. You know what happens when you convert hunter-gatherers to christianity? Well, why should they hunt or gather anyway since god is here to care for and love them? I'm not making this up, there have been cases where a mission converted a few people of a tribe, and those converts now hang around all day and wait for food packages/shipment and development aid. No joke. I can understand that christians really want to help people and stuff, but they just don't understand that you can't necessarily strap your own religion on other people if the cultural background and mentality is in conflict with it. Also look at Haiti (I think it was that) after the natural disaster; people of all kinds of religions and sects stormed the place and offered help at the condition of a conversion. All missions there, without exception, shamelessly took profit of the misery of the victims.
/rant
I hope you don't mind an atheists opinion in this thread, I also hope I wasn't too much off-topic or strayed away from what you wanted to hear as an answer... oh, and welcome back^^
I really don't like missioning, not in any religion. Actually just talking and informing people is ok, but often it's not just that. Often it's manipulating and guilt-tripping people into joining, it's importunating weak, old or lonely persons, it's taking peaceful little groups out of their cultural context and imposing a new life on them that for which they don't have the matching mentality. You know what happens when you convert hunter-gatherers to christianity? Well, why should they hunt or gather anyway since god is here to care for and love them? I'm not making this up, there have been cases where a mission converted a few people of a tribe, and those converts now hang around all day and wait for food packages/shipment and development aid. No joke. I can understand that christians really want to help people and stuff, but they just don't understand that you can't necessarily strap your own religion on other people if the cultural background and mentality is in conflict with it. Also look at Haiti (I think it was that) after the natural disaster; people of all kinds of religions and sects stormed the place and offered help at the condition of a conversion. All missions there, without exception, shamelessly took profit of the misery of the victims.
^that.
i hope i even understand this subject because english isnt my first language XP...
anyway, from what i understand i agree with hahiha. i think that religion should have nothing to do with helping people or anything physical like that. you should help people becasue you want to and not becaues your religion sais so or to convert others. i think that religion is a personal belief that you can talk about. but you shouldnt convert people who lost hope by showing them hope.
