Easy access to disaffected children
Open head, pop brain out, give it a quick scrub, off you go. Remember it was *GOD* that saved you!

Pushing your belief system in the name of charity is both morally disgusting and dangerous at the same time. Anyone remember Rwanda? Examine the root causes of that genocide and tell me that "missionary" work is harmless.
( emvee cruor deo cruoris, Mon 23 Mar 2009, 10:34, 2 replies)

In fairness...
... you can't lay Rwanda at the door of missionaries. It had far more to do with colonial and post-colonial politics.
( Enzyme is powered by sunlight, Mon 23 Mar 2009, 10:51, closed)

I'm not denying that colonial politics was involved
The Tutsis were deemed to be more "European" than the Hutus during the early days of colonialism. That's why they were brought into the Protestant church, and given positions of power by first the Germans, then (post WWI) the Belgians. But it wasn't until the French missionaries spread Catholicism amongst the supressed Hutu majority in the sixties that they came to believe in the "All men are created equal" creed. This spread until it reached a flashpoint in the nineties and Catholic seminaries were used as recruiting points for machete gangs.

The official African Union report names both the Anglican and Catholic churches as culpable in the Rwandan genocide. Rowan Williams even apologised for his church's part in it.

In a nutshell, I'd say it was part racism and part colonialsim, but the lion's share of the blame has to rest on our old friend, religious sectarianism - which you can always rely on when it comes to outrageous bloody violence.
( emvee cruor deo cruoris, Mon 23 Mar 2009, 11:05, closed)

On the other hand
let's go out there and convert loads of people to a different religion than their neighbours...hey, what harm can it do?
( emvee cruor deo cruoris, Mon 23 Mar 2009, 11:17, closed)

Wait, that sounds more like the spread of democratic ideals was responsible.
"...it wasn't until the French missionaries spread Catholicism amongst the supressed Hutu majority in the sixties that they came to believe in the "All men are created equal" creed. This spread until it reached a flashpoint in the nineties..."

So, know your place and all will be well?
(Skittlemcfluff ......................, Tue 24 Mar 2009, 11:03, closed)

I agree entirely.
I know the people I've cited though and I know they don't do this.
( teedyay, Mon 23 Mar 2009, 13:41, closed)

Their blind following of the same religion that caused the problems
however, just gives it some unwarranted legitimacy.
(Garnett, Mon 23 Mar 2009, 21:25, closed)

I call bullshit right there
From Keith and Kathy's website:

"Our values

Biblical belief:
God and His word, has the authority in everything that is done & we are led by the Holy Spirit.
Prayer:
Our dependence is on God
Gift of compassion:
To share our love unconditionally.
Commitment:
Be excellent at what God has called us to.

The Statement of Faith
To be available to the Holy Spirit’s leading.
We follow the old & new testament of the bible & we believe in one God.
We believe Jesus is our only way to our Father God.
We live by faith through prayer."

They don't sound like the evangelising sort at all, do they?

"Our aim is to take the children wherever they are at and build them up to self-sufficiency. HOW? Feed them weekly through a church then teach them to plant and grow their own food."

So they have to go to a church first? Why? Indoctrination is present from the ground up. Children's minds are like sponges. I appreciate the things these people are doing to help, but if they are doing it in the name of God then they are only exacerbating things and doing it for entirely the wrong reasons.
( emvee cruor deo cruoris, Tue 24 Mar 2009, 16:46, closed)