A Bright Spot in the Chaos

Hmm...well, I have to be honest here. While I hope this project works, I am always suspicious of actors getting involved in politics (I think their real motivation is to get their names in the papers). However, I suppose it's better than spending their money on hookers, drugs, mansions and fancy cars. Good luck to them, let's see how it goes. Lengthy discussions about helping Iraqis over Merlot and a dinner at Pinot seems a 'tad' removed from the reality there, but at least they mean well.

I really hope that porjects such as these spread. The real problem in the ME and the reason for extremism is just that. Lack of education and other supporting social infrastructure, and that unfortunately is not a problem confined to iraq. it is rather widespread all through out the middle east.

Does anyone else see the problem here.

At the base of this group are missionaries whose mission is to spread Christianity in Iraq. Helping children is a very good thing, but do you think that American Christian missionaries are going to make the situation any more stable?

Heck, even Hamas builds schools and hospitals. These efforts have a latent mission that is often not in the best interest of the people they are "serving".

I see the problem ebrown.

Ah, yes, those bleeding heart liberals would come up with something like this.

Frankly I think those who are hurting and in need don't much care where help comes from, even if those 'evil missionaries' are involved.

I don't have a problem with rich actor/celebrity folks doing good deeds. I think god would do that too if he had enough money.

And truthfully, I have no particular problem with missionary work either. Even non-faith based groups can produce some negative consequences along with the good. One of my anthropology profs related how a new hospital built with charitable funding (on a small South Pacific Island where she was doing research) had led to decreases in birthing related medical problems, but at the same time, it had dismantled the existing midwife social structure, which had far more benefits for the women than just childbirth assistance.

I have some relatives who have spent their adult lives doing missionary work. Such charity and self-sacrifice is part of the very good story of Christianity. The evangelical part is less good. And rather unhumble.

Some of my best friends are missionaries, have carried out good works in many backward nations and are specially delicious, after boiling lightly for five hours, according to several reformed cannibals in my Diocese.

I hear they taste like pork.

I rest on my signature line which neatly ties in missionaries with politicians.

Ebrown - clearly I am dumb - I cannot see the connection with missionaries. It is called a mission - is it actually church sponsored? If it is, is that necessarily a problem, if they keep their mitts out of Iraqi religion?

actually didn't see any reference to religion. Mission referred to the mission statement. Hope it is successful

Ditto.

I am pretty sure it is church sponsored. It has links to Heart-to-Heart ministries. I agree that this is in itself not a bad thing.

My concern is that, especially in Iraq, this is ill-advised. First, there are obvious sensitivities. Second, there is always the temptation to use this to affect the religion of the region-even unintentially. This is a real danger for both the Americans and the Iraqi's.

There will always be the appearance that there is more than one reason that organizations like this are there. If they are either promoting Christianity, or acting as propaganda for the US occupation, this is a bad thing.

There are organizations that can meet the humanitarian needs in Iraq without a conflict of interest. I would suggest that Americans of all creed consider giving to the International Red Cross/Crescent or MSF (Doctors without borders). These are secular organizations with no competing or secondary missions.

I did check (with apologies I didn't check sooner) and it looks like although this organization is soliciting help from churches, it is trying to present itself with a purely humanitarian mission.

I suggest that others can do the job better. With groups like this, there may always be the urge to accomplish something more than pure humanitarian aims.


[from Foxfyres website]

As long as the Arabic says Allah, I have absolutely no problem with the plaque. And I would bet neither do the Iraqis.

A number of evangelical groups have organized since before the war started to take this opportunity to 'spread the good news'. To what degree, if at all, this particular group might be motivated in that manner is hard to discern here.

And of course, anybody is free to try to pass on their faith ideas to someone else, unless local laws exclude such activity, and so long as the intended recipient is interested in listening.

I just happen to have nothing but disdain for evangelism of the sort which holds that other faith traditions are inferior or false.

I think evangelism in Iraq would be insanity at present!

Thing is, lots of christian organisations do work without preaching - think of where the Red Cross comes from!

Christian friends stationed for long tours of duty in Turkey tell me they were able to find Christian churches where they could worship and that there were no restrictions imposed by the predominantly Moslem population EXCEPT that they were to do no advertising or recruiting.

I would think the same rules would apply in Iraq. The fact that the group is identified as Christian and is working side by side with Iraqis to help them rebuild the country that Saddam (not we) decimated is okay. The fact that the Christian group did not include any reference to Jesus Christ on that plaque says to me they are doing okay.

What few people seem to realize is that there is a substantial Christian community in Iraq and it has been there since the 2nd or 3rd century. inserting an evangelical Protestant mission into Iraq at this time is not only bad politics from the US point of view but could be disastrous for those Christians already there as it opens them to charges collaboration with those attempting conversion (whether such conversion are being attempted or not), a subject Moslems have been hyper sensitive about since the 8th century. There was a murder of several western doctors in Yemen several years ago at a charity hospital run by a Baptist group over this issue. The hospital was run on a strictly secular basis but because of the christian connection radicals saw it as a religiously subversive activity.