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I've been thinking about this a lot since dinner last night with my husband's cousin. She is a member of a church that does yearly missions to Haiti. When she started talking about it, I had a sort of unconscious immediate negative reaction. I have been reflecting on this today, and granted I am not religious, but I think the thing I really react badly to is the whole proselytizing/converting aspect. I've always felt more comfortable with Judaism, since my understanding is that it's really difficult to convert if you marry into a Jewish family for example. They are not going out trying to make everyone Jewish. Kind of an aside, but I just mean to illustrate that I have a "live and let live" philosophy, and I am happy for anyone who is fulfilled and satisfied in their religious belief. I just don't like the "we're right you're wrong and you're going to Hell unless you do XYZ" aspect, and missions seem to be built upon this approach.
So I asked her what they do exactly while they're down in Haiti, and there is the preaching/Bible School part, but they are also building schools, providing supplies for the students, improving other infrastructure like roads and bridges, and also bringing down tons of food to people living in the worst poverty in our hemisphere. So now I am just mulling this over, because it seems that a lot of good comes from this, and that those kids in Haiti would probably rather be fed and preached to than not fed at all. In an ideal world this type of relief wouldn't be necessary, or would be provided with no strings attached -- but isn't it better that it is provided in this context than not at all?
Just sitting here thinking about this while I should be working, and interested in other peoples' thoughts!
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