A comment on another thread concering the ebola crisis really bothered me. It was snark about Christian missionaries. I dont know what people *think* missionaries do but these days its rarely conversion. If anyone converts its because they see them living their principals. What I saw in Somalia was people teaching kids to read and write in both English and their native languages, teaching mothers about nutrition, disease, breastfeeding, and *contraceptives*, providing medical services and vitamins to counter the effects of poor nutrition, and providing comfort to orphaned children. What preaching I Witnessed was them discussing the sameness between God and Allah in an attempt to stop the hatred in young minds. The troops in Somalia provided security and transportation among other things. This sort of petty hatred has no place in discussions about providing relief for disasters and epidemics where all hands are needed and not enough are available. Its especially nasty coming from someone writing in the comfort of their first world luxury, with no intention of volunteering themselves. All the people flocking to Africa, not just Christians, to help are intentionally putting themselves in harms way for people who will never be able to repay the favor. If morality and compassion dont need religion to be expressed then its absolutely vile to put down those who do have religion to make yourself feel superior, especially in a situation like this. This isnt about who has a better motivation behind their compassions, its about saving lives in places that are being shredded by an epidemic.
Posted on: Sun, 21 Sep 2014 17:43:56 +0000