Originally Posted by
Rufo4506
I may be terribly wrong, but sometimes I feel that religious missionaries believe that they are somehow protected from crime by divine powers. I don't think so.
Finally, do you think it's OK to go to a Catholic country to try to convince people to switch to your religion? If your targets are poor, and you bring valuable gifts (valuable to them), aren't you abusing your position? Perhaps if the slum dwellers were not so poor, they'd tell you to beat it and respect their religion.
I travel frequently to Central and South America and have talked to church groups going to or from such missions. I believe that many are building or restoring homes, helping with health care, and other positive things. I don't believe that they are going to preach, but merely to help the needy. I'm pretty pessimistic towards religion, but all the groups I've encountered were doing really good things.
Would you say the same thing about a US soup kitchen? How dare they want to say a prayer before the meal and convert people.
I have taken my teenager to countries with real poverty. I think it helps to understand how the world is, and appreciate the people, rich or poor in it.