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"When the missionaries came to Africa, they had the Bible and we had the land. They said "let us close our eyes and pray." When we opened them, we had the Bible, and they had the land.” —Desmond Tutu Let us Prey  Last week a funeral was held for a South Korean protestant pastor who was one of two hostages killed by the Taliban in Afghanistan before the remaining missionaries were repatriated by the South Korean government.
I think we need to critically examine the role of Christian missionaries and their effect on peace in the mideast and the world. Even though the United States seemingly played no role in dispatching these South Korean missionaries to Afghanistan, there are many mission programs that congregations in this country do sponsor. Everyone is familiar with commercials celebrating the good work that world missions do to feed the hungry, fight disease and save children around the globe. I have reason to doubt not only the overall good these programs do but I also question the effect they have on our attempts to combat terrorism. What is of primary concern here is not their good works but their stated attempt to use these programs as vehicles of conversion. For example, International Buddhist groups bitterly complained, that after the tsunami devastation in Sri Lanka, Christians were responsible for making the reception of aid to desperate people contingent on conversion. We see some of the worst effects of Christian attempts at conversion when missionaries are sent into Islamic dominated countries. There is already strong anger against Christianity as being the front wave of Imperialism used to soften up Islamic populations, making them subjects of the United States. Many perceive that the west is engaging in a crusade against the Prophet. I am not so sure this Islamic paranoia is wholly unjustified. To my knowledge there has been no attempt on the part of out government to, in any way, put the brakes on these missionary programs. Quite the contrary there are numerous disturbing reports of collusion between the administration and evangelical groups. “The DoD has been delivering "Freedom Packages" to U.S. soldiers in Iraq containing proselytizing material both in English and Arabic as well as the apocalyptic video game "Left Behind: Eternal Forces." In the video, the soldiers of Christ hunt down enemies.” - Toledo Blade September 10, 2007 Sending Bibles, proselytizing materials and missionaries into Iraq and Afghanistan makes the dumping of gasoline onto a raging wild fire seem a positively benign activity. I think that the American public, particularly those who are members of mainstream Christian congregations, need to become aware of the harmful effects many who go out to preach the gospel to the world are having on the peace we are all supposedly attempting to achieve. I personally have always opposed the longstanding Christian missionary tradition that would have the whole world converted to one religion. The fact that, often as not, bribes, intimidation and force are used to this end, damns this effort even more. Bob Boldt
Jefferson City, MO
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