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Old 08-17-2019, 03:44 AM
 
1,764 posts, read 1,015,382 times
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On August 29, the United States Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the 2015 conviction of Matthew Lane Durham, a 24-year old former missionary from Oklahoma convicted of sexually abusing Kenyan orphans.

Most onlookers applaud the Court’s decision, confident that a man found guilty of heinous crimes will remain in prison. A closer look at the case, however, suggests that not all who are culpable are behind bars. Americans have bought into and perpetuate a set of fictions about Africa, about aid, and about the inherent good of Western intervention.
Over centuries, these stereotypes produced a context in which a troubled young man with no discernible skills was convicted of abusing vulnerable children in Kenya.https://mg.co.za/article/2019-08-17-...tion-in-africa

Well, this article states that the work of American missionaries on their concept of Africa and their duty to help the Africans can bring more harm than good. Even so, I am sure there is some good work by American missionaries and organisations in Africa yet their western concept of things such as aid to the people suffering from famine. I am sure that the American missionaries come with good intentions, yet even so some of these good intentions can cause more harm than good.
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Old 08-27-2019, 02:16 AM
 
Location: NSW
3,756 posts, read 2,965,268 times
Reputation: 1350
Quote:
Originally Posted by herenow1 View Post
On August 29, the United States Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the 2015 conviction of Matthew Lane Durham, a 24-year old former missionary from Oklahoma convicted of sexually abusing Kenyan orphans.

Most onlookers applaud the Court’s decision, confident that a man found guilty of heinous crimes will remain in prison. A closer look at the case, however, suggests that not all who are culpable are behind bars. Americans have bought into and perpetuate a set of fictions about Africa, about aid, and about the inherent good of Western intervention.
Over centuries, these stereotypes produced a context in which a troubled young man with no discernible skills was convicted of abusing vulnerable children in Kenya.https://mg.co.za/article/2019-08-17-...tion-in-africa

Well, this article states that the work of American missionaries on their concept of Africa and their duty to help the Africans can bring more harm than good. Even so, I am sure there is some good work by American missionaries and organisations in Africa yet their western concept of things such as aid to the people suffering from famine. I am sure that the American missionaries come with good intentions, yet even so some of these good intentions can cause more harm than good.
This is no different to anyone else in a position of trust or authority, abusing their position.
But to say this is widespread I am not so sure.
Many people also go to Africa to do pro bono work or charitable work, that is not religious in nature as well.
You rarely hear of those things with these people either.
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Old 08-27-2019, 07:39 AM
 
Location: Sun City West, Arizona
50,421 posts, read 23,999,031 times
Reputation: 32717
Quote:
Originally Posted by herenow1 View Post
On August 29, the United States Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the 2015 conviction of Matthew Lane Durham, a 24-year old former missionary from Oklahoma convicted of sexually abusing Kenyan orphans.

Most onlookers applaud the Court’s decision, confident that a man found guilty of heinous crimes will remain in prison. A closer look at the case, however, suggests that not all who are culpable are behind bars. Americans have bought into and perpetuate a set of fictions about Africa, about aid, and about the inherent good of Western intervention.
Over centuries, these stereotypes produced a context in which a troubled young man with no discernible skills was convicted of abusing vulnerable children in Kenya.https://mg.co.za/article/2019-08-17-...tion-in-africa

Well, this article states that the work of American missionaries on their concept of Africa and their duty to help the Africans can bring more harm than good. Even so, I am sure there is some good work by American missionaries and organisations in Africa yet their western concept of things such as aid to the people suffering from famine. I am sure that the American missionaries come with good intentions, yet even so some of these good intentions can cause more harm than good.
Back in about 1960, when I was 11, our methodist church minister -- who had previously been the youth minister at Cornell University (which was about a 90 minute drive from our town) decided to encourage parishioners in our town to host foreign students (mostly African)...not on a live-in basis, since that was not practical, but for weekends, holidays, and vacations. It kicked off on a Thanksgiving day when my grandmother (whom I lived with) hosted a Kenyan student, an Indonesian student, and a Nigerian student for the day. The Kenyan student spend many holidays and vacations with us for over two years. His name was Stephen Machooka, and if you look him up on Google you'll find he was the first Kenyan long-distance runner to compete in the United States, and he became the first Black student-athlete to earn first-team All-Ivy League honors in cross country. My grandmother was on a civil rights kick of sorts. Another year...perhaps 1962 or 1963...when we went to visit my mother in Florida, my grandmother decided that as a family we should go to an all-Black church one Sunday. It was a mixed experience...some welcomed us, others were clearly nonplussed by our presence. But back to Stephen Machooka. Even though I was only 11-12 years old when Stephen was visiting us regularly, one day as I listened to my grandmother talking to him I suddenly realized what my grandmother always seemed to emphasizing, albeit subtlely: Aren't we wonderful for opening our home (and in going to the all-Black church) to these poor African/Black people. It was about her, when it really should have been about them. It was about inculcating the greatness of America -- and her religion -- on them. I remember one day one of the neighbors saying to her, "Someday when Stephen goes back to Africa, you can go visit him". "Oh no", she replied. "We couldn't do that!" Why the hell not?

A little over 20 years later, I began my almost yearly travels to Southeast Asia -- Burma, Malaysia, Singapore, a little bit of Indonesia, and mostly Thailand. I don't know why or how, but my goal in those travels (and eventually living in Thailand for a couple of years) wasn't about expressing to them wonderful things about America or christianity (I was still a christian...at least at first)...not something I had any desire to talk about. I wanted to learn from them. Learn about their way of life, their customs, their histories, their cultures. I don't remember a single time that my grandmother ever asked Stephen about Kenya and his culture.

I mention this all because of your comment about "the inherent good of Western intervention". We Americans (and I think at various times in history other Western nations) have an awful ego that we must fuel about how great we are and about how our cultural realities should be inculcated on other nations. It's really quite nauseating, especially because all too often it's not about "them"...it's about "us" needing to validate our beliefs about our own nation/culture. We don't take it as far as the sun never setting on the American empire, but we do take ourselves all too seriously.

At 70, looking back, I have few regrets. But one is that I never visited Stephen in Kenya, where he went back to. He became a lecturer of agricultural economics at two Kenyan universities, became Field Controller in the Ministry of Finance & Economic Planning, worked at the Pan African Institute of Development in Zambia as a consultant and senior researcher, and worked in Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Swaziland, Malawi, Lesotho and Botswana. He later became the managing director of a non-profit organization that consulted with farmers about modern farming.
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Old 08-27-2019, 08:13 AM
 
18,900 posts, read 6,909,573 times
Reputation: 3549
Quote:
Originally Posted by herenow1 View Post
On August 29, the United States Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the 2015 conviction of Matthew Lane Durham, a 24-year old former missionary from Oklahoma convicted of sexually abusing Kenyan orphans.

Most onlookers applaud the Court’s decision, confident that a man found guilty of heinous crimes will remain in prison. A closer look at the case, however, suggests that not all who are culpable are behind bars. Americans have bought into and perpetuate a set of fictions about Africa, about aid, and about the inherent good of Western intervention.
Over centuries, these stereotypes produced a context in which a troubled young man with no discernible skills was convicted of abusing vulnerable children in Kenya.https://mg.co.za/article/2019-08-17-...tion-in-africa

Well, this article states that the work of American missionaries on their concept of Africa and their duty to help the Africans can bring more harm than good. Even so, I am sure there is some good work by American missionaries and organisations in Africa yet their western concept of things such as aid to the people suffering from famine. I am sure that the American missionaries come with good intentions, yet even so some of these good intentions can cause more harm than good.
yay. Yet another hateful, bigoted post blaming of society's ills on religion.
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Old 08-27-2019, 08:23 AM
 
Location: Sun City West, Arizona
50,421 posts, read 23,999,031 times
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Originally Posted by BaptistFundie View Post
yay. Yet another hateful, bigoted post blaming of society's ills on religion.
Well, who was the convicted -- a missionary. Duh!
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Old 08-27-2019, 08:40 AM
 
18,900 posts, read 6,909,573 times
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Originally Posted by phetaroi View Post
Well, who was the convicted -- a missionary. Duh!
Reread the post. Have someone read it to you if you need to. The missionary in question is guilty and should be punished. I am not. Nor are the millions of American religious.
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Old 08-27-2019, 08:40 AM
 
Location: Ontario, Canada
31,374 posts, read 20,074,720 times
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Originally Posted by phetaroi View Post
Well, who was the convicted -- a missionary. Duh!
Fundies don't let facts get in the way of a good tantrum.
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Old 08-27-2019, 09:31 AM
 
Location: Sun City West, Arizona
50,421 posts, read 23,999,031 times
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Originally Posted by TroutDude View Post
Fundies don't let facts get in the way of a good tantrum.
Gotta keep up the Jerry Falwell/Pat Robertson/Rush Limbaugh personas.
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Old 08-27-2019, 09:42 AM
 
18,900 posts, read 6,909,573 times
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Originally Posted by phetaroi View Post
Gotta keep up the Jerry Falwell/Pat Robertson/Rush Limbaugh personas.
we aren't the ones lobbing personal attacks and insults every time someone disagrees with us.
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Old 08-27-2019, 09:52 AM
 
Location: Ontario, Canada
31,374 posts, read 20,074,720 times
Reputation: 14069
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Originally Posted by BaptistFundie View Post
we aren't the ones lobbing personal attacks and insults every time someone disagrees with us.
Unless, of course, they're gay and want equal treatment -- then it's Fundie Tantrum Time!
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