Reply to Missionaries should be banned

Forum Index » Religion

Reply to "Missionaries should be banned"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Another example of missionaries preying on vulnerable is facilitating adoptions for Haitian children (and other countries). These children are the most vulnerable. They are powerless and not given a choice to be removed from their home/culture/language and taken to be raised in a whole different country/religion. Sometimes they are even kidnapped by these religious groups - literally a captive audience: 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Life_Children%27s_Refuge_case
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zo%C3%A9%27s_Ark

[/quote]

I did volunteer work—not missionary work—in Haiti. I actually worked with a group that helped feed Haitian orphans. I speak some Haitian Creole.

You have no clue. There are tons of orphans in Haiti, especially after the earthquakes. The word “orphan” in creole often extends to kids with a single parent who have been displaced by natural disasters. These kids are either on their own, or they’re with relatives who told us they can’t support them, so we fed the kids and they wandered the streets during the day instead of going to school.

Have you ever seen the effect of starvation? It looks like reddish hair and an extended belly. We had those kids show up.

One Haitian actually offered me a kid to take back to the US. I declined. I’ve always wondered if I did the right thing. Did I?

Church groups are a godsend down there. Hundreds or thousands of religious people are working with Haitians to feed kids, run schools, and rebuild. I can’t condone kidnapping, but from your link it looks like the charge was reduced to illegally transporting kids to an orphanage in the DR. Put that way, it’s hard to know what happened.

You also need to know that a U.S. education is highly coveted in Haiti. I know a couple where the husband is in Haiti while the wife cleans houses (illegally) in Boston so their kid can go to US public schools.

But sure, wave that glass of Chardonnay around from the comfort of your sofa and tell these desperate or ambitious Haitians they’re wrong and you’re cutting it all off. [/quote]

I should have mentioned, secular groups, although many are great, are not up to the task on their own. An aid worker wrote a book about how badly the UN performed in Port au Prince after the earthquake. In the remote town where I worked, and where a lot of refugees from Port au Prince streamed, the UN had some trailer where they did “reconciliation” work. The people who were rolling up their sleeves and actually doing something were us, the missionaries, and the religiously-affiliated volunteers. [/quote]

Why can't they help people without proselytizing? 
[/quote]

I thought the same thing. If you're religious and want to help others, great, but please don't teach/preach/convert to these people. It's insulting. 
[/quote]

PP who was in Haiti here. Some proselytized and some didn’t. The proselytizing was limited to materials or a cross on the wall or maybe a big, syrupy smile and a mention of Jesus. Possibly although not always an invitation to a service.

[b]Nobody, nobody, nobody was denied help because they kept their own faith.[/b] Although most Haitians are Catholic or Protestant Christian anyway, so I’m wondering if you’re equally outraged about work by religious groups (missions or not) in Appalachia.

This is what you guys just refuse to accept, why? And then you go on to act like the recipients of the food or healthcare have no independent faculties to choose what they want to believe. You’re so very patronizing. [/quote]

Nobody has made this claim.

The whole point is that it's unethical to try to convert/influence people while they are in a vulnerable position. Anywhere in the world.

Most Haitians are Catholic - not evangelical.

[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics