Blog post no 3: Do missionaries destroy culture?

At first I was not really sure if missionaries did spoil culture though I was leaning a bit towards the idea that they do. When you see countries and their historical buildings, songs, prayers, whatever; culture is based around the religion and the religion around the culture. I think that religion and culture go hand in hand. You wouldn’t find ancient Buddhist temples in England or paintings or carvings of Christ in the caves of Ajanta and Ellora in India. As Buddhism did not come about in England neither was Christianity a religion in the culture of India. In India Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam were the religions that existed for the longest time and hence there are the relics and historical cultural views that you can see. When missionaries come they changed the religion thus modifying the culture and changing the view of the people.
Even though cannibalism is ridiculous it was a part of the Sawi culture and their religion did not have anything against that. After they become Christians they cannot kill and hence they will not follow that part of their culture and that will also stop them from having the ceremonies related to that event as there is no significance in having them anymore. That’s a good thing as there is nothing good that comes out of being a cannibal. Still, I was thinking maybe missionaries do not change the culture as long as the main art and culture remain however when I started reading the writings by Don Richardson I was thinking I would start afresh and build my views. I was waiting for some biased view however, he starts his writing giving examples of the missionaries that destroyed culture and this just made me decide, missionaries DO destroy the culture. He should have give examples of missionaries that do no. I thought he would give one example and then stop and saying “but, unfortunately, “Abne Hale” came to be synonymous with ‘missionary’.” Instead he goes on giving more examples, Fray Diego de Landa and the destroyers of the totem poles. He says that it is better if missionaries go there before others as missionaries are sympathetic. That is being biased and what does he really mean by “agents”?
Does he mean people from other religions? Or people who want to take capture animals and lumber men; they only destroy the nature and not the people. I really hate people who destroy nature. I am not an animal activist or anything but I would rather live in a world filled with trees than with sky scrapers. Back to the topic: In the case of the Sawi even if others came would they not have just eaten them? After all they were cannibals! Whether culture change is arbitrary, forced or for the change to live according to the New Testament. It is change all the same. Culture change will always occur some how of the other if it is not missionaries then it will be other people or just modernization however, what is important is the amount of culture loss. What I liked from reading the book peace child was that he learnt the language and using their own language he taught them God’s word. However, isn’t a time going to come when they are going to be forced to learn English? Even if people speak their own language there is culture loss sometimes. For example: in Hindi and in Korean there are English words being put in. After a while these seem part of the language. Aren’t the missionaries and other people coming into the tribe’s own little Garden of Eden. It is said that when God had not revealed everything to Adam and Eve they did not realize they were naked and hence they did not cover up all that much. That is something the tribal people and they had in common. In some cases when the tribal people refuse to convert Dan Richardson mentions how the missionaries do not give up and they keep forcing them to convert. Sure perseverance is good but only for some things. In this case it would be considered forcing religion on them and even if they finally accept it most likely would be just to keep the missionaries away. “Unity is strength” and all Christians irrespective of their denomination, worship Christ and hence whether Roman Catholic or Presbyterian missionaries it does not make a difference. If people always show the difference and keep saying that there are different denominations that only shows that there must be something wrong if there have to be so many dimensions for worshiping the same God as we all have one thing in common; the belief that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life.
Do missionaries destroy culture when they evangelize people? I conclude that they do and the amount that is destroyed changes from missionary group to missionary group. I do not think that this is bad as long as the main cultural view or most of it remains. Cultures should remain as they are, unless they are harmful.

Blog post no.2: question no.3:What should we do when we are confronted with other cultures?

There are many countries, states, cultures, religions and languages. If there was only one of each the world would be an extremely boring place to live in. Culture should be respected and kept. Without culture, there would be no variety and colour in the world. Now days with uniformity taking over the world and English the auxiliary language there are languages, cultures, world views and priceless interesting historical facts being lost.
When confronted with a new culture. One must respect it as they are new and different to that culture and hence they have no right to judge. If they want to fit in they should learn the foreign language instead of trying to educate the people about their own. Culture consists of traditions, ceremonies, legends, art, music, folklore, supernatural beliefs and many other things. Obviously, people cannot be left to suffer if their culture is harmful (for example cannibalism,) instead they need to be corrected. However, all the culture must be recorded with detail and a whole new view must not be forced on them. I dislike the way all countries are becoming westernized as I think that would make the world a really boring place to live in. For example; when people get married many no longer wear their traditional attire instead they would rather have their bride in a white dress dream come true. Even though I was born and brought up in India I can hardly speak my own languages. I feel really ashamed and sad because that makes me one more person who helped in the loss of culture. However, I came to South Korea and since I love the culture and the language I would love to fit in. I am trying to learn some Korean even though I am going at ‘snail pace’ I am at least trying. I do not like it when people visit countries and then complain about how the people are illiterate because they cannot speak English. I do not like it when people move into areas that were left untouched by their culture and try to take over and change aspects of that culture. For example: how the English tortured the Red Indians and destroyed a lot of their culture to try and impose their beliefs; whether right or wrong. Overall we cannot always have the world as we would like it to be "We must have strong minds ready to accept facts as they are; rather than how we would like them to be.”. However, if we do not accept them we must not insult them. We must respect people as they are human just like you and they have their own view just like you do, they think their view is right just as you would think about your own. From my own experience it is not nice being left out just because you are not from the same cultural background. Hence when others are new to your culture it is basic manners to accept them and make them feel ‘at home’ instead of treating them as if they are unwanted.

The Sawi culture was rare and one of its own. However it had some major aspects that needed to be changed. ‘Do not kill’ is not only one of the Ten Commandments but it must be one of your basic morals as well. They did not only kill people, they ate them as well. This goes against everything. It shows no respect what so ever for people, relationships or life. Passion comes from relationship and without that there is no way to live a proper live or gain a connection with God. The word of God must spread but it must not be forced upon them. God created each of us in his image does that not mean that they were eating God’s image every time they ate someone? The fact that they ate humans does not disgust me as I have heard about it many a time before, it’s just that I cannot comprehend how they would find eating a human normal and how they were comfortable with killing and viewed each death with pride and boasted about it as if it were a trophy. Instead of mourning at the death of a fellow human being, they celebrated their victory with song and dance. I think that people need to live their life with satisfaction. God is surely a part of my life; hence, I think that they do need God to be introduced to them. However, they must not be forced or tortured into believing. “Each time a language or culture is lost, we loose an irreplaceable and exquisite way of being. Each time a well-loved building is torn down without a trace, or a gathering place paved over, a strand of culture is frayed.”

Citations
Quote from: http://www.earthministry.org/3e/pmap/culture.htm
"We must have strong minds ready to accept facts as they are; rather than how we would like them to be." Harry S. Truman

picture from : http://www.visitmaui.com/MauiHwnCulture.jpg

Blog post no. 1: What factors of your native culture have informed your religious world view? Explain the impact of these factors

I was born and brought up in Mumbai, India. India is a country with various religions; Hinduism, Islam, Jainism, Sikhism, Catholicism, Judaism, Buddhism and many others. Living in a ‘Hindu Colony’ most of the people around us were Hindus. There were a few others that weren’t but they were a minority as the whole area was a Hindu area. Most Hindu people are rather friendly but there are exceptions. When we were children, my sister and I were told to go back home and play as we were different. After a while they accepted us but my sister refused to play with them and so did I. We went to ‘St. Agnes High School’, an English medium Catholic school about a half an hour bus ride away from where I lived. There we had weekly chapel time, daily pray time and religious education. The school was run by the sisterhood of Jesus and Mary. I went for Sunday school Bible study every Sunday. I was introverted and except for school, church and rare outings with my parents, I never went out. I did not have any friends and so there were no real cultural factors that affected me. At home I prayed with my parents whenever they did. After a while, I decided I did not want to anymore but they forced me to join in anyway. That made me dislike religion and the way it is often forced upon others. I assumed that all religion was just a way to view the world and make sense of it and focus the blame for events on other things. I looked up different religions online and read about them in the library. I liked the way Buddhism viewed Gautama Buddha as a preacher who was telling them the right thing and not a God and how they liked preserving nature: however I did not want to become a vegetarian, I like the Hindu belief of karma and the Muslim belief of ‘an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth’. I believed there was a God but I just was not sure what the true view was. Obviously every religion views their path as the right one and so there was no use asking believers. I viewed Humanism and what explanations it offered for life, evolution, and science. I was an Agnostic and separated myself from everyone. Looking at everything, I came up with conclusions slowly day by day. I moved to Ireland and whatever little belief I had built up was broken down and I did not know if I believed in God anymore. I prayed daily on my own hoping that my prayers would be answered but I did not have enough faith. I prayed telling God that if my prayers were answered then I would believe in him even though that is not what one must do. However, I realized that my prayers were coming true slowly and then I came to South Korea that was a turning point and I decided that I wanted to be a Christian. Once I made that decision I did not feel lonely or unhappy as often as I used to. My native culture made me stop and wonder what my real beliefs were. I appreciate that as I would not have liked become Christian just because my parents and family were. I made the decision by myself. I still dislike when people try to preach to me or convert me because they find my view incorrect. My native culture taught me to accept people whatever religion or view that they follow as t.hat is their view and everyone by their human right can choose. By forcing people to believe what you believe one only makes them dislike the religion but it also does not give them their human rights. I do not think that other religions are wrong I just accept the fact that there are other views out there. After all if one is meant to be open-minded and explore, they must accept that people have other beliefs whether they agree or disagree with it.