Excited
I was talking to a friend about Akrypti’s article “A Comment on Asian Christians earlier this evening.
“I’m surprised that all of the comments so far are supportive of the article. I expected a strong backlash.”
“Why?” asked my friend. “What she says is entirely true. It is an utter fact that Christianity has been a tool of Western imperialism. Just look at any history book.”
I nodded. “True enough. I guess I figured there’d be at least one Asian Christian reading that article and writing a counter-argument.”
“This is probably un-PC to say, but one ironic example of this is the incident with the Korean Christian missionaries in Afghanistan. That was where a group of them were taken hostage by the Taliban. The Taliban has since agreed to release the hostages, but have killed two of them already.”
My friend sat back in his head and shook his head. He continued, “This is an ironic case because here you have an imperialistic religion that has so successfully penetrated a culture that it’s resulted in that culture sending out missionaries of its own. And into an openly hostile environment, no less.
“But that’s what Christian imperialism is—the extension of its beliefs and dominance, sometimes through force, and sometimes through more subtle methods like evangelism. In the case of these Korean missionaries, they unfortunately and tragically encountered a group who didn’t take kindly to their evangelism: the Taliban.”
After the conversation, I went online to research this incident. So far, two of the twenty-three hostages have been released. And like my friend said, two have been executed. The Taliban and South Korean negotiations have recently reached a deal to release the rest of the hostages.
According to the above link, the South Koreans were not there for evangelism; instead, “the group of volunteers was only offering free medical services to poor Afghans.”
Also, “South Korea is currently the world’s second largest missionary sending nation after the United States.”
I don’t mean to make light of this incident. My heart goes out to the hostages; I can’t even begin to imagine what they’ve been through and what they’ve sacrificed. But as an example of Christian imperialism, I can see my friend’s point.
What do you think?
How does this post make you feel?
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- Amused
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http://blog.oup.com/2007/09/faith_school/
The Reverend Peter Gomes, Minister of Harvardu00e2u0080u0099s Memorial Church, says, u00e2u0080u009cThere are probably more evangelicals [on Harvardu00e2u0080u0099s campus today] than at any time since the seventeenth century.u00e2u0080u009d The Ivy Leagueu00e2u0080u0099s desire for diversity opened new doors for religious students. Evangelical groups today sponsor campus-wide forums, Bible studies, and debates about the relevance of faith to everything from science to international affairs.
In part, this can be attributed to the growing number of Asian-American students. On many Ivy League campuses, they have come to dominate evangelical groups. At Yale, 90 percent of the Campus Crusade for Christ members are Asian American; in the 1980s, the same chapter was 100 percent white. In fact, the growing presence of Asian-Americans on elite campuses may be the single largest demographic factor in evangelicalismu00e2u0080u0099s ascent at places like Yale and Harvard.
http://blog.oup.com/2007/09/faith_school/
The Reverend Peter Gomes, Minister of Harvardu00e2u0080u0099s Memorial Church, says, u00e2u0080u009cThere are probably more evangelicals [on Harvardu00e2u0080u0099s campus today] than at any time since the seventeenth century.u00e2u0080u009d The Ivy Leagueu00e2u0080u0099s desire for diversity opened new doors for religious students. Evangelical groups today sponsor campus-wide forums, Bible studies, and debates about the relevance of faith to everything from science to international affairs.
In part, this can be attributed to the growing number of Asian-American students. On many Ivy League campuses, they have come to dominate evangelical groups. At Yale, 90 percent of the Campus Crusade for Christ members are Asian American; in the 1980s, the same chapter was 100 percent white. In fact, the growing presence of Asian-Americans on elite campuses may be the single largest demographic factor in evangelicalismu00e2u0080u0099s ascent at places like Yale and Harvard.
lol. Yes, it has been a very civil discussion over there. Sorry for being a bit MIA lately. Work overload. =*(
lol. Yes, it has been a very civil discussion over there. Sorry for being a bit MIA lately. Work overload. =*(
@Jesse & Chook, oh yea, I re-read your comments and oops. My bad. Maybe I was expecting some openly venomous comments or something. In any case, I'm glad to see pro and con arguments on this topic (now that I'm re-reading those comments).
@Jesse & Chook, oh yea, I re-read your comments and oops. My bad. Maybe I was expecting some openly venomous comments or something. In any case, I'm glad to see pro and con arguments on this topic (now that I'm re-reading those comments).
I think that in my comment I was trying to draw a distinction between a cynical use of Christianity to impose colonialism on native peoples and Christian principals as a valid and powerful code through which East Asians can find identity and purpose. So, I don't think that I was entirely supportive of the arguments put forward in the original article. Jessie made an excellent point - Christianity is not a "white" religion. Although the Imperial Powers wanted us to believe that God is white, we only have to read the New testament to see the universal nature of the social justice it espouses. Whenever I hear "white-washing" I am always a little confused. What exactly does it mean? Is there actually a rigorous code of behaviour that Asians must follow in order to be able to proclaim "Asian Pride"? My sister was married to an African American and she attended a black Christian church - was she "black- washed" and therefore not a "real" Asian? It brings up for me an interesting observation - Asian Americans seem to have a need to create very clearly defined boundaries on what it means to be Asian - Asian are "white -washed" if they are Christians, asians should date/marry only other Asians, Asians must be Democrats/Republicans, Asians must be liberal and so on and so forth. For a community that struggles against vicious stereotyping we seem all too willing to impose our own stereotypes on ourselves. I think this topic exposes what for me is a sad fact - Asian Americans don't seem to be accepting or suportive of their own diversity and complexity as individuals or as a community. As for the Koreans in Afghanistan were they imperialists? I don't think so they were trying to promote Korea as a superior society. If anything they were naive but genuine about their faith.
I think that in my comment I was trying to draw a distinction between a cynical use of Christianity to impose colonialism on native peoples and Christian principals as a valid and powerful code through which East Asians can find identity and purpose. So, I don't think that I was entirely supportive of the arguments put forward in the original article. Jessie made an excellent point - Christianity is not a "white" religion. Although the Imperial Powers wanted us to believe that God is white, we only have to read the New testament to see the universal nature of the social justice it espouses. Whenever I hear "white-washing" I am always a little confused. What exactly does it mean? Is there actually a rigorous code of behaviour that Asians must follow in order to be able to proclaim "Asian Pride"? My sister was married to an African American and she attended a black Christian church - was she "black- washed" and therefore not a "real" Asian? It brings up for me an interesting observation - Asian Americans seem to have a need to create very clearly defined boundaries on what it means to be Asian - Asian are "white -washed" if they are Christians, asians should date/marry only other Asians, Asians must be Democrats/Republicans, Asians must be liberal and so on and so forth. For a community that struggles against vicious stereotyping we seem all too willing to impose our own stereotypes on ourselves. I think this topic exposes what for me is a sad fact - Asian Americans don't seem to be accepting or suportive of their own diversity and complexity as individuals or as a community. As for the Koreans in Afghanistan were they imperialists? I don't think so they were trying to promote Korea as a superior society. If anything they were naive but genuine about their faith.
I didn't think my comment was all that supportive. The argument she posed there and you pose here is atheist. No true believer is going to buy the imperialism argument totally because it nullifies the religion, relegating it to just an imperialist tool. I'm not saying it hasn't been used as such, even by true believers, but the discussion was framed around the idea that an Christian Asian is assimilated because they're Christian and I'm just not buying that. Case in point: Korean Missionaries. That's some real faith right there. (calling it brain-washing is rude to say the least).
I'm not the biggest fan of any kind of religious missionary or "democratic nation building" imposed on some people by another people, but let's not forget the Taliban were and are doing just that by violently enforcing their will on the people of Afghanistan and elsewhere... and look, even Bin Laden is encouraging us to convert, how sweet.
I didn't think my comment was all that supportive. The argument she posed there and you pose here is atheist. No true believer is going to buy the imperialism argument totally because it nullifies the religion, relegating it to just an imperialist tool. I'm not saying it hasn't been used as such, even by true believers, but the discussion was framed around the idea that an Christian Asian is assimilated because they're Christian and I'm just not buying that. Case in point: Korean Missionaries. That's some real faith right there. (calling it brain-washing is rude to say the least).
I'm not the biggest fan of any kind of religious missionary or "democratic nation building" imposed on some people by another people, but let's not forget the Taliban were and are doing just that by violently enforcing their will on the people of Afghanistan and elsewhere... and look, even Bin Laden is encouraging us to convert, how sweet.
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