Missionary Zeal...

[2ndRateMind]

Of course, we all know full well that if ordinary right thinking Christians didn't depart for the darker places on the map, the Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses still would. So perhaps we mostly are the lesser of alternative evils. Nevertheless, I cannot help but wonder if 'primitive' tribes, with 'primitive' beliefs, that have survived thus far, have survived for a good reason; that reason being that their societies 'work'.

And what right do we have to subvert them?

Best wishes, 2RM

[Divine Insight]

Nevertheless, I cannot help but wonder if 'primitive' tribes, with 'primitive' beliefs, that have survived thus far, have survived for a good reason; that reason being that their societies 'work'.

Work in what way?

From the perspective of Christianity it's not how well a person or tribe is doing in terms of earthly survival, but the real question is whether or not they will be saved from eternal damnation.

So the Christian missionaries are supposedly trying to save people from damnation by bringing them to Jesus. In fact, Mother Teresa is a good example of this kind of mindset. She was far more concerned about saving souls than helping people to live happy productive lives. She did try to keep people alive, but that's about as far as she went in terms of the quality of someone's earthly life.

And what right do we have to subvert them?

For me this is a wrong question entirely. Instead of asking about "rights" why not ask about "why" an omniscient omnipotent God should need to depend on human evangelists to help execute his "Perfect Justice".

I always say that evangelism is the greatest display of a distrust in God. All it says is that the evangelist doesn't trust God to save decent people who should be saved.

How could an evangelist possible play a role in someone's eternal fate? If the evangelist plays any role at all in someone's eternal fate, this means that without the evangelist the person who was "saved" because of the evangelist would have been condemned to eternal damnation otherwise.

After all, if the above isn't true then why would an evangelist be required at all?

Let's say you become an evangelist and your evangelism causes x number of people to be saved who would have otherwise been damned.

This means that if you had chosen to not become and evangelist God would have needed to condemn x number of people to eternal damnation.

Suddenly God's supposed "Perfect System of Justice" depends entirely on you.

That can't be right.

In short, evangelism cannot be part of a "Perfect System of Justice". Therefore all an evangelist is doing when they evangelize is publicly demonstrating that they don't believe that God's system of justice is perfect, and that they don't trust God to do the right thing without their help and intervention into the lives of others.

Evangelism is therefore an oxymoron.

Evangelism = Distrust in God to be able to excuse perfect justice on his own.

[JP Cusick]

Of course, we all know full well that if ordinary right thinking Christians didn't depart for the darker places on the map, the Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses still would. So perhaps we mostly are the lesser of alternative evils. Nevertheless, I cannot help but wonder if 'primitive' tribes, with 'primitive' beliefs, that have survived thus far, have survived for a good reason; that reason being that their societies 'work'.

And what right do we have to subvert them?

Best wishes, 2RM

It is because they are the true lost sheep, the most lost of the lost sheep.

The point and purpose of Israel was to be a Shepherd to lost humanity, and it was meant to be to the farthest ends of the earth.

We need to view the worst and the most extreme of lost people or lost tribes as being our brethren and as our neighbors and as our lost family members.

We do now know about the primitive societies in that they do function by cruelties and barbarism, and none of them live as in some paradise or in a utopia - none of them do - they are the lost sheep.

[2ndRateMind]

[Replying to post 3 by JP Cusick]

Can't help thinking that it could be us, in the greedy, wealthy West, who are the real 'lost sheep'. Without wanting to romanticise a life without formal education or dependable healthcare, some of these primitive tribes live sustainably in harmony with their surroundings, in a way we do not. Our lifestyles take 3 to 7 or more planet earth's to sustain, and clearly that can't go on for long, even if we do believe in Jesus.

Best wishes, 2RM.

[JP Cusick]

Can't help thinking that it could be us, in the greedy, wealthy West, who are the real 'lost sheep'. Without wanting to romanticise a life without formal education or dependable healthcare, some of these primitive tribes live sustainably in harmony with their surroundings, in a way we do not. Our lifestyles take 3 to 7 or more planet earth's to sustain, and clearly that can't go on for long, even if we do believe in Jesus.

I did not mean to say that the West or the USA were not lost too, because surely the entire world is spiritually lost and in need of salvation.

It does seem like the huge difference between people are there to teach humanity a lesson or 2 about what it means to be lost, because our western riches and luxuries do not really make us any better spiritually then the primitive peoples of this world.

And I would not want to judge which society was more sinful and which is less sinful.