h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

It seems to me that the missionary had no intent of passing on the flu to the tribe. Therefore you can't really blame it on him. You could say the same thing of a (picking out of a hat), say a scientist. He goes in search for an herb to cure ____(fill in the blank). He stays with this tribe a while and comes down with the flu... everyone dies, blah blah blah.

The whole issue is ____(fill in favorite "naugty" word here)... From a Christian perspective, saying that the whole tribe became Christians you could say that that God decided it was thier time to come to Him. Which isn't saying that God is cruel, because I personally would trade Heaven for this c**p hole known as Earth. It all depends on your perspective. If you DON'T believe in Heaven or Hell, it would be really easy to say that the missionary robbed the tribe of life...

To
What a load of crap!
Bringing them to god so they can die of your diseases and go to what you believe to be heaven?
That reasoning is no better than the taliban's view of the world.
What is it with people who want to shove their way of life down everyone else's throat?
Can't you mind your own business?

The important thing is the dedication - the baptism simply makes your decision public.

In the end, Jehovah decides who is ressurected and who isn't, and that decision is based on the individual, with all mitigating circumstances taken into account. After all, if there were some kind of strict criteria to follow, none of us would stand a chance. We don't "deserve" salvation, it is a gift. But we do our best to please God, out of appriciation for this gift.

Cadi

I have to say, I agree with Rocket Rod on this one. The whole argument assumes that Christianity is right. What would you think if somebody converted you to Paganism (just a random religion that isn't christianity) before killing you?

However, really the whole thing seems to be a mute point. The missionary had no intent of killing the tribe, so the entire argument is pointless, null, and void. As far as the death goes, he was just a guy with a desease who accidently infected a bunch of people and accidently killed them all. The fact that he'd just converted them to Christianity is completely irrelevent to everybody other than the natives, who were thinking "what a scumbag" as they died.

Basically, the whole argument seems kinda strange and off topic. Maybe I'm just missing the point

It's always been a big Christian debate as to what happens to unborn children who die or isolated tribes in Africa. I personally believe that everyone is called to God through Christ, be it through other humans or through spirits (a.k.a. angels). God knows whether an unborn child will die, so perhaps He appears to them in the womb, explains the history of Earth, tells of Christ's sacrifice for humanity, and pleads with them to accept the gift of salvation. The same goes for isolated tribes. This is just my theory though. There are other explanations from those in better standing than I.

Cadi-
I have to disagree with you here. If God judges us by our actions, we all go to Hell. He's perfect. We are most definitely not. We can't work hard enough to get to heaven; it has to be given to us (and it has).

Hey Rocket... I was momentarily surprised at your post... then went back and reread mine, and realized that portrayed something completely different than I had in mind... but as Strider said... it's a moot point...

peace.

Who said anything about converting them! They didn't become Christian because the missionary had brought evil to their village. My point is, the tribe died after hearing about Christianity. If they hadn't they would not have died. It was the missionary's ignorance that killed the tribe.

Alji

Amazing what persective does to a problem... the origional post says nothing about ignorance... only the flu...

peace.

That said - in practice, missionaries often use rather unsavoury tactics when in the field. As a child in Malaysia, my mother remembers the missionaries coming round to tell everyone that they must convert to Christianity, and then when they refused, telling them that they would probably 'die in a car crash and go to hell'. At which point she set the dogs on them.

It's perhaps not so extreme (at least there) today, but I know a friend of a friend who is a missionary's daughter, and I heard from her that since they were having little success in converting South East Asians, they were going to try and 'market' Christ as 'the Ultimate Ancestor' (one of the root figures of the old Chinese faith). If you ask me, it's all a bit mercenary and about trying to up the figures in the 'most followers' table each year, not about trying to save our 'souls'.

*agreed*





*sadly*

peace.

Let's not be unfair though. There are plenty of good and moral missionaries out there.

Certainly! Its just unfortunate when somebody who ought to be doing something to (at least in their view) help somebody resorts to unsavory tactics (i'm sure I pinched that phrase off of somebody in this thread...)

It is well to remember that foreign travel can bring about major illnesses. There are now 30 disease's in Britain for which there are no antibiotics.

Alji

It's as well to remember though, Aljiis, that a good many of those have actually developed in Britain itself through the over-use of antibiotics - antibiotic-resistant strains develop and the disease evolves to survive, just like anything else, with the individuals most likely to survive (those with antibiotic resistance) becoming the most commonly found.

I read with great interest the replys concerning christianity.The Jew are a special people and God has given many promises that have not yet been received.If you are Jewish I think you know what I am refering to.Jesus Christ was a Jew.His human family back ground came from King David.His spiritual father is God
through the Holy Spirit.God desires for persons to come into a relationship with him.Jesus is the one that makes that possible. I welcome any remarks or questions.

researcher Dave

*tips cap*

peace.

...

*is kind of confused as to what Dave's post was actually saying*

Could you elaborate some for the less intelligent of us?

This sort of thing is by no means new. They are trying to convert them by blending Christianity with what the people already believe. Christmas and Easter are just the same - they came about to get more converts. Pagans were much more willing to convert to Christianity if it meant they could keep their fun celebrations to Saturnalia and Eastarte. Some doctrines too, like hell, the immortal soul, and the trinity, didn't come from the Bible but from Greek philosophy. Some church leaders knew the learned Greeks would look upon christianity more favourably if it included some of the Greek philosophies, but none of those things were spoken of in the Bible.

Actually, hell is mentioned quite often in the Bible, just as often as heaven and therefore the immortal soul is evident. The trinity, while I cannot think of a specific use the the word 'trinity' is also evident in the Bible. John 1:1 says "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among men..."

The Word refers to Jesus, so we see that Jesus and God are the same. I have been told a few verses that figure the Spirit into the Godhead, but I can't remember them. I'll see if I can find them when I get home.

I do think it is sad when missionaries change church doctrine so that they can curry favor with the locals. This happens in the western world as well. Look at the mess the Catholic church is in!

Good Day!