Missionaries

"Money to Blow" by Birdman featuring Drake & Lil Wayne (I had no idea this was Birdman's song)

...no particular lyrics / I just feel like missionaries and churches have money to blow...

I hate missionaries.  I hate the idea of missionary.  I hate the idea of any persons representing a religion going to a developing country, especially, to go and preach their Truth.

It's absurd.  For one thing, the idea of missionaries is nourished by a sense of cultural elitism.  Those going to spread their Truth are typically under the impression that their way is right, that the the 'natives' are pagan, poor, unhappy, and have no idea what they are doing (despite the fact that most of these 'natives' have a history far longer than the few hundred years of these uppity White and Western nations...you really think you discovered the Native Americans?).

It's absurd!!  Additionally, these missionary trips are made somewhat successful due to the poverty of the people who are being preached to.  I know if I were starving and some White lady said she'd feed me if we talked about some man born to a virgin and read some leather book, I'd be all about it.  I'd do it now, even though I'm not starving, if only it would get me out of class and get me a free lunch before I go to work.

I don't say that to belittle the Messiah or the Holy Bible.  But to a starving child, that's what the situation is reduced to when your basic needs are not met.

Why aren't these missionaries lobbying for free trade? Education? Finding a way to bring electricity and clean running water to people?

I have always felt like the issues missionaries have the clout to correct are left unaddressed.  The soul and salvation of a people supercede their physical and material needs.  Heaven is all the compensation you need for the misery (or bliss, depends on who you ask) you currently live in.

I once heard a pastor say, "If you wanna go to hell, you got a right to go".  I love that quote because it's the realest thing they ever wrote.  Religion, believing, God, reading holy texts are all optional activities.  If there is a God, She ain't finna strike you down the minute you decide you don't believe.  We all have free will.

So if religion doesn't come to a people, that is okay, as long as there is a moral code that works (because being religious does not denote being moral).

How about helping people procure the basics for survival and introduce religion in a time of comfort and not as an 'alternative' to their duress?  I think it's cruel  It is the most unappetizing aspect of organized religion, but especially Christianity because Christians go hard body for some missionary stuff.

Don't let me catch a missionary on the streets of Freetown, Sierra Leone.  You are likely to catch fade.