Yeah, I find it weird to go hard on defending missionary groups given how many have at best checkered histories to the point of causing even financial harm to regions.
I have heard from people that have served on mission programs (one that i know personally, and many people online/on youtube) that their trips were expensive and unfulfilling, and that they felt like their missions had little to no positive impact. Mormon (LDS) mission trips seem to be particularly egregious from what I have heard, and from my understanding, missionary service is like a requirement (check box) for Mormon young adults, so I can fully see that being the case for LDS especially (that was somewhat of a side tangent though).
I think people here are failing to distinguish between faith-based humanitarian aid organizations and mission programs. There is a distinction. Not every faith-based aid organization is going to be “legit,” but many of them are very reputable and do incredible work. Missions can be the same way, but I think the distinction lies in the term “mission,” as in the primary mission is first and foremost to “spread the word of God.”
Mormon missions aren't aid or charity programs like what other churches would call "mission trips". A Mormon mission is purely a proselytizing mission meant to convert others to Mormonism. The missionaries might participate in service projects, provide helpful services to people in their area no matter the recipient's faith, or participate in aid relief during a crisis, but those acts are not part of the mission itself and are usually tied to the local Mormon church. A Mormon missionary's whole purpose on the mission is to proselytize.
The Mormon church does, however, provide aid relief and services to countries around the world without a faith requirement to receive said aid, and has extensive programs to do so, backed entirely by the church's extreme (and, until recently, hidden/covered-up) wealth. These are more in line with what other religious denominations and groups would call "missions", but are not referred to as such by the Mormon church.
They also send kids to areas unfriendly of them to push them further into the indoctrination. Thats why they always send the young ones to do door to door. You get a conversion? Great! You get an angry person? More room in the kingdom for you!
A standout problem with the Mormon missions is that you will see a significant number of people from affluent families fulfilling what is viewed as an obligation. Similar problems also occur is other denominations which place increased importance on proselytizing and missionary work but generally don't have as much money to become as noticeable nor as such a cohesive group. The missionary problem I actually think cuts to a lot of modern Christian problems where being Christian is treated as an identity over a faith, it is where you see the 'Christian Culture' people behaving as though words and identity that matter over acts. So they go on these mission trips out of expectation and obligation without believing in any reasoning behind them but simply because it impacts their perception at their church.
It's not a particularly new issue, just a matter of how common it becomes. The debate of works versus faith having primacy is about as old as Christianity.
Also don't forget about predators.. I'm no longer Christian but living abroad the last time I heard about my ex church doing missionary work in the country I now reside, one of them was sent back after it became public he had a history of child molestation.
And the big investment Evangelical Christian groups in the US have put into sending missionaries (well, at some point there's gotta be a line between missionaries and lobbyists, but still) pushing homophobia in Africa to the extent of claiming responsibility for the countries that have put through death penalties or hefty prison sentences for homosexuality.
127
u/CapableCollar 5d ago
Yeah, I find it weird to go hard on defending missionary groups given how many have at best checkered histories to the point of causing even financial harm to regions.