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Only one thing I have to say, if we as christain believer follow our comandments the last great comandment he (Jesus) gave us was to go into all the world teaching and preaching the Gospel. And if we don't do this then we are breaking our comandment if you look at all the apostles you will see that everyone was mytared for there believe for tring to spread the good news of the Gospel salvation and a eternal life with Christ when we don't do these fundalmental things we are ask to do then we really are kidding ourselves about our faith in Christ.

P.S. Everyone say that the christain faith is prigedous against all other faith and they the political process suppress our speach. Where is the equality of all this. It is ok if they the other believes try to get us to change to there beliefs but not the Christains.

Sorry about the duplicate reply to Bobby. Computer hiccup and I thought the first didn't post.

Bobby:
**So basically when Islamic countries persecute proselytizers its understandable and missionaries should respect the rites and laws of the land.**

Um, yes. If you go into a country with a theocratic government, and start encouraging people to convert to another religion, you are basically inciting sedition. You're breaking the law and encouraging others to do so, and you should expect there to be consequences.

**But in most non-Islamic and Western countries, freedom of religion is respected so Muslim proselytizers should take advantage of those freedoms to spread their religion.**

Again, yes. In countries where freedom of religion is part of the constitution, that freedom applies to everyone. Muslims have the right to proselytize in the US under our First Amendment, just as Christians or members if any other faith do. And you have the right to walk away if you don't want to be preached to, just as you have the right to refuse a Chick tract or a copy of the Watchtower.

**Christians not allowed to preach in Muslim countries, Muslims allowed to preach in non-Muslim countries.**

Again, that's the difference between a theocracy and a secular government. Our secular government is one of the things I treasure about this country. It's why I join and support efforts to keep it from becoming a Christian theocracy.

**Hypocrisy in a nutshell.**

Nope. Just the difference between theocracy and secular government.

Bobby:
**So basically when Islamic countries persecute proselytizers its understandable and missionaries should respect the rites and laws of the land.**

If you go into a country with a theocratic government and start preaching a non-government-sanctioned religion, expect fallout. You break the law, you get punished.

**But in most non-Islamic and Western countries, freedom of religion is respected so Muslim proselytizers should take advantage of those freedoms to spread their religion.**

Yes. In countries with freedom of religion as part of their Constitution, it applies to all religions, not just some. So people who come here from theocratic countries where you can't practice your religion are still allowed to practice theirs.

**Christians not allowed to preach in Muslim countries, Muslims allowed to preach in non-Muslim countries.**

One of the rights I treasure is my freedom to choose my own religion and not have it mandated to me by a governmental agency. The fact that I have that right here and not in other countries is one of the reasons I live here and not in a country where I couldn't freely practice my religion. Besides, moving all my stuff woiuld be a pain.

**Hypocrisy in a nutshell.**

Not really. Your expectation that other countries would offer American Christians the same rights that they they enjoy in America is a bit unrealistic.

Your argument is well-taken. However, there is a danger that this kind of argument will be twisted by people who support the killing of missionaries. It is common for anti-Christian activists to say, when missionaries are killed, "well, that's what they get for venturing onto hostile territory. I mean, what do they expect? They should know better than to go where they aren't wanted." This rhetoric is then used to justify killing missionaries and effectively blame the victim. For example, check out the creepy English-language propaganda websites set up by Hindu nationalists in India to justify raping nuns and firebombing Christian homes. They appropriate your very own reasoning in ways you might find rather unsettling.

The problem with your cost-benefit analysis is that you obviously think that missionary work has no value. Many secular people privately wish that religions would stop trying to share their faith with others, and therefore set the value of missionary work to zero--or more likely, to a large negative value. This means that if missionaries cause any trouble, conflict, money, or suffering, then that basically justifies reigning them in by any means necessary. In fact, even if there is no demonstrable cost, they'd just as soon use any method to prohibit missionary work to satisfy their own personal preferences.

That said, missionary organizations should consider whether some regions of conflict should be avoided temporarily, or perhaps only visited on a low profile where they won't make themselves targets for kidnapping. That point is well worth considering.

Mohamed MALLECK, regarding request on
September 15, 2007 4:37 PM

Please provide link. I couldn't find post by person you named. Thank you.

JD

The problem with missionaries is that they do not provide enough of the essential proteins to sustain healthy human development. Perhaps they should be served with beans and rice? And a little hot sauce, please!

I've always thought that missionaries were best with lots of garlic and seasoned with fresh thyme and sea salt.

I've always thought that missionaries were best with lots of garlic and seasoned with fresh thyme and sea salt.

Mr. Salhani The missionaries I know, along with their families, know and accept the dangers therein. As missionaries they are noncombatants, yet their mission places them alongside oppressed people who exist inside combat zones. Similar to firemen who forgo their own safety and enter burning buildings to help desperate people.

I understand what “irks” you and it’s a valid point, but it solves nothing. Again the question is “If not missionaries who then will render aid to these persecuted people”.
Those oppressed are your fellow countrymen, why do none of your fellow citizens extend a helping hand to a neighbor in need? Instead of requiring foreign missionaries to carry the heavy load.

Perhaps this is a question the Middle East Times should pose --- to the Middle East.
Sincerely

I don't see any mention of freedom from religion. Missionary's are by definition intrusive and offensive. The hubris of claiming a personal knowlege of absolute truth is asking for retribution.

Russell above makes some good points but I don't agree with him 100%.

Below copied article illustrates the ultimate "let's not offend anyone or potentially cause any problems by having diversity of expression." The article illustrates how absurd things can get in a politically correct world where we would rather have uniformity than protect others from the intolerance of bullies. We should not back down on a person's right to proselytize or criticize someone as brave as these Korean missionaries. By doing so we just give power to all the bullies in this world and we end up suffering for lack of diversity in opinions and thoughts. Freedom of religion and speech is not free and must be defended.

SAMPSON COUNTY, N.C. – On the sixth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, students at one high school were not allowed to wear clothes with an American flag.

Under a new school rule, students at Hobbton High School are not allowed to wear items with flags, from any country, including the United States.

The new rule stems from a controversy over students wearing shirts bearing flags of other countries.

Gayle Langston said her daughter, Jessica, was told to remove her Stars and Stripes t-shirt.

“Today she wanted to wear her shirt, and I had to tell her no,” said Langston. “She didn't like it at all because I knew it would get her in trouble. Of all days, 9/11, she could not wear her American Flag shirt.”

The superintendent of schools in Sampson County calls the situation unfortunate, but says educators didn’t want to be forced to pick and choose which flags should be permissible.

What you atheists don't understand is how much work God has to do all day and everyday caring for us all,even agnostics,muslims,and atheists.( i'm not sure about the Hindus and Jews).
The Cosmos are enormous;it must take even God days,maybe weeks to get from one side to the other.
He cannot be everywhere all the time.There may well be other worlds where he has to listen to other prayers,and help the downtrodden on other planets.
I think that explains his sometimes seeming not to exist,and sometimes seeming not to listen to our prayers.
I'm sure He'd like to spend more time with us,He loves us all so very much.
We have to be more patient with Him.We know He means well.He's God.

Mr Salhani starts his essay with an erroneous statement. Not every government recognizes or affirms the individiual's right to practice the religion of his or her choice. If missionaries venture into countries where freedom of religion is not recognized, then they should expect to face the consequences of their proseletizing.

I'm glad to live in a country where I have (at least in theory) the full right to freely practice my religion, but I would not expect that right to be automatically granted to me in another country, especially if that country had a theocratic government.

JD,

I am waiting for your response to Maurice Beck, my friend. He posted at 1:19 a.m. today Sept 15.

This is in response to 4th Watch... i have nothing against the work of missionaries. Much of it is carried out under very difficult and dangerous circumstances. what irks me is that they go about heir business placing the lives of others in danger. similar to some who engage in extreme sports and then require helicopters to save them.

J.
Your comments allow us to hear both sides of the story, thank you.
Stay safe and strong.
Your brother in Christ.

Don't miss the articles on the front page her at the WPost;
under the heading "More non believers speaking out".
Very encouraging reading.Keep it up non believers everywhere.Just keep on making sense.

Mallison

When somebody believes in something unreal to the depth of their soul,they are,in effect,hypnotized into believing it through the lifelong indoctrination process that begins at home,and continues in the community,at school,and at church or mosque,or temple or synagogue.
If it hadn't been drummed into them yesterday,
they wouldn't be believing it to the depths of their souls today.

Said, THATS the difference between YOUR religion and Christian Faith. Eternal Life and eternal death.

J, I have TREMENDOUS respect for you.

What boggles the minds is not these Evangelists going to spread the good word, but their lack of basic common sense.
They set out to spread the 'word' in a country made of fanatic tribes that are killing each other daily,
in a country where a Christian is considered an aggressor (NATO-USA armies).

Reminds us of the poor Jewish-American journalist who ended up dead in Pakistan as he made his way up the Taliban-Al Qaida network... hoping to get a good story.

What ever happened to common sense?

Anonymously written...

I find Mr. Salhani's article polite, but still misleading in regards to missionaries working in 'closed' countries, i.e. countries not allowing proselytization or the freedom to 'change' religion. I work in the country referenced in the article and know for certain that the last thing this country needs is for the christian aid workers to leave. Most of the lasting and solid development work is done by selfless, hard-working, and committed christian aid workers. And the majority of them know the risks to their lives in this undertaking. Most of the people of this country appreciate and are so very hospitable to them, that it makes western hospitality look like a slap in the face.
The Korean aid workers, though perhaps foolish appearing in their bus ride into the heart of Taliban territory, knew these risks as well. Regardless of whether one agrees with their motivations, they shouldn't be blamed for the mistakes of the South Korean government in negotiating with, paying ransom to, and in some ways offering the appearance of legitimacy as a political organization on the world stage.
As for the change in geopolitical scenes, it remains to be seen what will happen in the region of Ghazni in the next few years. There is news here locally that the people of the province are looking outwardly for answers to their most pressing questions of life. Such openness is the death knell for the Talib movement, which thrives on the ignorance and poverty of the people.
As for the rest of us, we will stay and work, knowing that it is right and just to be here. And the Talib have the most to fear.
Sincerely,
J

There is something inherently offensive to proselytizing. What a missionary, any missionary, is saying in effect is "I don't care what you have come to believe, or how much thought, reflection, and prayer has led you to those beliefs. I don't care if you think your religious beliefs work for you, and the way you live your life. If your beliefs are different from mine, then your beliefs are wrong, and I am entitled to pester you about them. In fact, my right to pester you about your religious beliefs supersedes your right to privately hold those beliefs."

I rather liked the old idea of boiling a big pot of water and cooking the missionaries. I was especially disappointed when the South Korean missionaries didn't get to die for Christ by having their throats slit. Every time I read about a missionary who died doing the lords work, I raise my eyes to heaven and thank god.

I would like to say that I believe there is another worthwhile however painful perspective to consider. If a person believes to the depth of their soul the need to tell others of something they believe is worthy then they should go into it willing to pay the price of that. I think there should have been no bargaining, no acquiesence of the Koreans intentions and certainly no ransom. If they all died then however sad that would be, then and only then would their statement be made in a more powerful way than ever. The same statement their Lord made 2000 some years ago.

This is just unoriginal regurgitation of the spin that's being perpetuated by media regarding this story. But this spin only works if you have selective amnesia. A few facts... Let's all remember that the Taliban had issued a decree calling for foreigners to be abducted because Karzai had engaged in prisoner exchange with the Taliban and had released multiple Taliban prisoners for a SINGLE Italian journalist. The mistake of negotiating and encouraging the Taliban had already been made and Korea had the unsavory job of having to deal with the fallout from earlier mistakes made in earlier abduction cases. Why the heck would the Koreans have a special duty to bear the blunt of mistakes already made? Furthermore, the US engages in negotiating, communicating with the Taliban forces ALL THE TIME directly and through intermediaries. E.g., it's amazing how people seemingly have forgotten Karzai's suggestion that US negotiate with the Taliban for the handover of Bin Laden. Such an offer and ensuing communication with the Taliban involved negotiations and communications among the Taliban warlords, Karzai/Afghanistan and the US. Lastly, many abduction cases in Afghanistan including US missionaries and other abduction cases in Iraq have been resolved through payment of ransom. Why are we pretending this unsavory outcome is some novel evil? We've seen it all before people. At least this time around, the people being rescued are humanitarian aid volunteers instead of private mercenaries or private corporate staff out to make a buck. If you get abducted making a buck it's ok, but if you get abducted trying to help people, it's not???

mighty7, knee deep in BS. In America Mighty7 thats what bulls crap.
Arminius oh thats rich! LOL You really make me laugh! Heeheehahahohoheehee I gotta stop reading your stuff Arminius! My sides are hurting now LOL! I gotta go I just peeed a little bit. Arminius...practicing Christian...You vererate Mary...is that what you mean? LOL. Whew. My sides hurt now.

what the writer is trying to say(in my opinion) is not that the koreans are to blame but that it is not a good idea to send missionaries to an unstable country. of course they weren't intending to do anything wrong however, we live in the real world.

if i throw a ball into the middle of traffic, my dog who is chasing the ball isn't trying to do anything wrong by chasing it, however if he gets hit by a car that is the result. the difference between the korean missionaries and my dog is the korean missionaries have the ability to use reason.

Mr. Salhani
Although the following account is taking place in Iraq you know that Afghani Christians are enduring similar unjustifiable persecutions.
Is this not a valid reason for missionaries to render aid to these persecuted people? If not missionaries who, Sunnis, Shiites, or perhaps your own Middle East Times would be so benevolent?
If you are so inclined please respond.
Sincerely

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Michelle Vu
Christian Post Reporter
The situation of Iraqi Christians is worse than being reported and nothing is being done to help, testified the pastor of one of the largest churches in Iraq Wednesday before the U.S. government’s special religious freedom commission.
“The situation is more than desperate,” said the Rev. Canon Andrew White, vicar of the 1,300-membered St. George’s Anglican Church in Baghdad. White provided a first-hand, in-depth witness of the current situation of Christians on the grounds in Iraq to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom – a bipartisan government task force responsible for monitoring religious freedom in the world.
The USCIRF hearing was the first of its kind, and resulted after the Iraq Study Group and representatives of Iraq’s minority communities urged the commission to provide a platform where testimonies of Iraq’s religious minorities could be heard.White, who noted that his church members are not only Anglicans but Christians from many different denominations, reported that within only the last month, 36 of his own congregants have been kidnapped. To date, only one has been returned after the church gathered the money for his ransom.
Moreover, White and other Iraqi witnesses spoke about the situation in Dora, Iraq, where over the past few months all Christians have been forced to abandon their homes and flee after receiving systematic death threats. In addition, almost all the churches in Dora have been bombed and burnt. Christians reported that Islamic extremists warned Christians living in Baghdad's Dora district to convert, leave, or be killed.” “Violence against all Christians are increasing all the time,” emphasized White.He explained the aggression against Christians resulted from the fact that they are not Muslim, are considered to belong to a Western religion, and are seen as being close to or even part of the Coalition.Gen. Petraeus is a regular attendee at White’s St. George’s Church.
”USCIRF this year added Iraq to its Watch List of countries requiring close monitoring because of reports of religious freedom violations tolerated by the government. The commission acknowledges reported abuses in Iraq such as assassination of Christian religious leaders, bombing and destruction of churches, and violent threats intended to force Christians from their homes.
“In some areas, ordinary Christians have reportedly stopped participating in public religious services for fear of inviting further violence,” said USCIRF chair Michael Cromartie.
The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees estimated Christians make up nearly half of the refugees fleeing Iraq although they make up only three percent of the country’s population.Over 1.8 million people have been displaced from their homes in Iraq and close to 2 million Iraqis have left since the 2003 U.S.-led offensive.

Mighty7:

And that was a grand belly laugh, thank you!

I am a practicing Christian, but have no use for that type of 'missionary'. And I certainly would have enjoyed the scene, especially the topless young lovelies. God's most beautiful creation.

But be careful - I live in Georgia! (LOL)

Thanks again.

You are, I assume, interpreting Article 18 of the human rights declaration to assert that proselytizing is a human right. I suppose you will argue that your little book says proselytizing is your religious duty. If so, the other group will say my little book says hacking off the heads of those who do not believe in my god is my religious duty. So there you have it, everything is hunky-dory, isn't it? One group exercised their human right to proselytize and the other exercised their human right to hack off heads. I think more of the religious nuts should go into the land of other religious nuts and continue exercising their human rights.

Well, I am not going to give my opinion (the point being, makes no difference), but I will share one funny story with you:

I went back to Spain last year, down to the islands. Now, where I am from is ultra-liberal. Makes California look like a convent by comparison: Warm weather, gay people can marry, all public beaches are topless, nude beaches everyhwere, lots of partying, pot is quasi-legal....Basically, what the US wouyld be was not for the Regulators (christians).

On a Sunday, which is when locals tradionally go to mass and then take a walk on the beach boardwalk, there was a US baptist missionarty, mic, guitars and all that evangelist troupe behind him. And they sang, and he preached, Georgia-style....At one point a group of Swedish girls coming back from the ice cream parlor walked by, all topless, wearing nothing but their skimpy bottoms, and stopped to listen to him, which of course, made him vey uncomfortable. The swedish girls thought it was kind of funny to see a preacher is such an odd place (not common to see street preachers in Europe period, at least in southern Europe.) So the missionary begun to get annoyed, and not even five minutes later he was screaming at the girls, telling them to leave, to get dressed, not to be sinners. He was so mad, at one point he went to push one of the girls out of the way by the arm: Big mistake. Not only it is not customary to touch a owman you don not know, it was a public place. So people started to watch the preacher loose it, and the crowd kept getting bigger, he kept getting madder. At one point, and in loud Spanish, he begun to tell the crowd present that Spain was a sinning nation, that they needed to convert from Catholism, the sort of out-of-his-mind crap that Baptists preachers scream when they are on a roll. I mean, one thin hair away from speaking tonge The guy went crazy with religious rage.

Then the cops showed up to try to tell him to come down because he was making a racus, blocking the avenue and threatening the public peace. That made the guy go ten times more crazy: He started to call the cops "communists" and "nazis" and blabering some non-sense about freedom of religion, abourt Cathloics persecuting Evangelist martyrs and so on and so forth. Then he finally crossed the line and pushed a cop away.

The "missionary" was dragged away by the cops, arrested for disturbing the peace and assulting an officer and violating the Public Streets Fair Use laws which govern the beach.

Yet, you often see many Muslim families at the beach, always fully dressed, very traditional and conservative...And they never seem to mind the naked swedish women.

hehehe.

This prophesy in Isaiah cannot happen under natural man's or Muslim rule. God Himself will restore this reality as it was before the fall of mankind.

Isa 11:6
And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, And the leopard will lie down with the young goat, And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little boy will lead them.

As far as the Koreans:
Pr 30:30
The lion which is mighty among beasts And does not retreat before any,

Defiant? Defiant? Answer me this, why are most if not all muslim/islamic countries dictatorships and their populations ruled with an iron fist? Compare Iraq under Saddam and now in particular.

God's Kingdom under the Lord Jesus Christ WILL be established in Israel. You will waste your time taking odds against it.

I know many many Muslims are a peaceful people but SO many are not and HATE Israel for no reason except ignorance of God's will WHICH Muslims claim to love. God's promise was NOT through Ishmael -even though he was first born, even though Abraham loved Ishmael- but God Himself said Isaac was the Promised child. Most of humanity doesn't understand, its not what they think but what God, the Creator says that matters. God said to the Christians, "Go into all the world..."

JD,

You seem to refer to my comment in your answer although you don't make specific mention of it, except the name of Cat Stevens.

I want you to get me right --- I am NOT justifying what was done to the Koreans and most emphatically not the killing of two them. However, as Mr. Salhani says (or rather stops short of saying), they were being defiant -- yes, not just naive or rash, DEFIANT -- in going to Afghanistan to proselytize, even after warnings by their authorities and the TIME magazine article I referred to, which everybody must have heard of if not actually read.

As for Cat Stevens and Tariq Ramadan, they were not coming to the US to proselytize. I have also mentioned the cases of two univesity professors who only published opinions.

The Korean missionaries were preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. THAT is the offense in a muslim country and the Taliban. Period. Nothing else. Those who HATE the Gospel of God hate what the Korean missionaries were doing and NOTHING would justify their actions. Its obvious to all except those blinded by hate towards God! But the haters of God are unreasonable. And Cat Stevens was not persecuted for his religions LOL! Made fun of maybe but NOT jailed or kidnapped or murdered. He's still writing songs last I heard.

The Korean missionaries were preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. THAT is the offense in a muslim country and the Taliban. Period. Nothing else. Those who HATE the Gospel of God hate what the Korean missionaries were doing and NOTHING would justify their actions. Its obvious to all except those blinded by hate towards God! But the haters of God are unreasonable. And Cat Stevens was not persecuted for his religions LOL! Made fun of maybe but NOT jailed or kidnapped or murdered. He's still writing songs last I heard.

Great article I feel the same way about missionary groups. They are naive and to selfish to see what danger they can put other people in. Even the people they might think they are helping may be killed for talking to them. The Taliban are ruthless people and will kill anyone for no reason at all. Christain missionaries have done some good work around the world but they always require the people they are helping to convert. This is a selfish act. There should be a UN rule that while a country is engaged in conflict civilian groups should stay out. Someone gave them a visa.

"Freedom of religion is a fundamental human right. That includes the right of individuals to practice, preach and proselytize without fear of persecution or retribution."

No, it DOES not give freedom to proselytize especially with hidden ulterior motives or coercion.

bbb

bbb

Mr. Salhani has resorted to the "blame the victim" tcatics instead of condemning particularly the Taliban and Muslims in general for being intolerant.

The problem here arises when aid workers become associated with one side or another in a conflict. Then they become targets.

This is why the most successful NGO's are secular, non-political entities. Unfortunately, in Afghanistan such groups have been placed in danger by the American led coalitions attempts to use their work for a political agenda. After twenty four years of heroic work in Afghanistan MSF was forced to leave the country because of these misguided policies:

http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/news/afghanistan.cfm

"The violence directed at humanitarian aid workers in Afghanistan comes amid consistent efforts by the US-led coalition to use humanitarian aid to build support for its military and political aims. MSF has repeatedly denounced the coalition's attempts to do so. The organization has also spoken out against the military's attempt to usurp humanitarian aid. In May 2004, MSF publicly condemned the coalition's decision to distribute leaflets in southern Afghanistan that conditioned the continued delivery of aid on local people's willingness to provide information about the Taliban and Al-Qaeda."

--------

Before the usual knee-jerkers jump on this comment let me point out that this in no way defends or justifies the actions of the Taliban, but if we're going to be successful in our fight against them we need to be smarter about our tactics.

Regards

A Hermit

There are many people who balst WAPO for its bias. I have not done so, so far. I shall still not do so today either.

But I don't know whether reads an invitee commentator's contribution before it is posted on the website. But, this particular piece i such an affront to commonsense, one wonders whether WAPO does not have an unspeakable agenda.

The commentator mentions the case of the 22 South Korean missionaries in Afghanistan. How come there was not even the equivalent of one-millionth of this type of protest when Cat Stevens was barred from the US and Tariq Ramadan was denied a work visa at Notre Dame University? Today there are two news items reporting the abject knowtowing to power of two top-rate universities, one involving the appointment od a dean of a faculty of law, the other involving the pressure for self-censure being put on a professor of theology who voiced mild reservations about the decree of a Pope with inquisitional tendencies.

No refrence to nay of these. Just the 22 South Korean missionaries. Have we forgotten the time cover story "Onward Chritian Soldiers" warning, at least two years in advance of the 22 South Korean missionaries' rash adventure, that there would be a great scepticism and possibly much danger that evangelists would have to face who jumped on the bandwagon of Condoleeza Rice's enormity "Let's convert them, the Iraqis".

One more point I wish to add. one WAPO South Korean invitee (Asim) who had commented on the situation in Pakistan and the 'war on terror', had initially sided with Musharraf (and my comments) for being 'secular', then had castigated Musharraf as a dictator for admittedly unwisely firing Chief Justice Chaudhry, then again apparently welcoming the Musharraf-Benazir alliance-in-the-making. It is very glaring what one constant is in all this cacophony --- the Bush agenda and American interest, even when they run counter to world interest.

I am sorry, but, whatever the cost, I must denounce this unreason.

Claude Salhani, your post is NOT accurate. You cannot use the last few years or even the last couple of decades to justify your view! Only Christianity (NOT the Catholic kind which is blaspheme) sends missionaries into other nations to evangelize. All other religions send armies to convert or die; Catholic and Muslims to name two. The Koreans did NO harm to anyone. THEY killed no one. In fact theirs were killed by Muslims. WHY? YOU blame the Koreans?! LOL. Up is down and down is up in todays world. I think God is getting ready to shake the wicked out of the world.

Are you daft? This has nothing to do with missionaries or proselytizing. It has to do with elected officials that are too fearful of their jobs and exert the type of will that it takes to win wars.

The Korean government did not need to negotiate with the Taliban. They could have simply stated that they will not negotiate and leave the missionaries to the fate that the church should have realized as a possibility when it sent them out. The Korean government could not risk losing the votes at home if they refused to negotiate.

Yours is the type of half-wit logic that liberals spew. The actions of the government has nothing to do with the actions of the missionaries. The situation is a matter of choices, and the Korean government chose poorly. It was not the missionaries that put others in danger, it was politicians seeking votes.

The Koreans should not have negotiated, they should have threatened to send 1000 fresh killers/soldiers to the villages of the Taliban if the hostages were not returned immediately. But they couldn't do that now could they? It would have cost them votes in a country that fears war.

Spare the rod, spoil the country...

SR:

Would you please share your thoughts with your local Muslims?

To me the problem seems to be that folks think that religious prosleytizing is a "fundamental human right." It's not.

Definitely it as a bad judgment for the S.K. missionaries to go to Afghanistan irrespective of the honorable and good intentions and nobody in his/her mind should attempt such help.
However the missionaries works wherever they went,especially the American missionaries,way before 911 terror act offered great things especially in spreading education and principles of democracy and making the Western culture more understandable and tolerated . More missionary work like in the old days should be attempted everywhere it is safe to operate and the people accept it with open minds. The mission shall not be the spread of Christian religion, but help spread education, cultural exchanges and understanding of different cultures with tolerance, then the miracle of winning the hearts and minds will happen. At gunpoint only misery, hatered and intolerance
will happen.

Paganperson says-

"proselytizers ought to look at the big picture before they go waltzing into insecure situations"

Lets hope freedomfighters don't adopt the same jaundiced view. The world would become one livingHELL.

good piece, the writer is merely pointing out that messionaries should not go to
a troubled region and i think that is a very informed opinion, regardless of where it is. imagine bosnian muslims going Serbia during the 90s! will they be welcomed?

I'd say you have it wrong, Bobby, and you should read the article again.

You're darn right proselytizers ought to look at the big picture before they go waltzing into insecure situations, from which they'll have to be extracted at great cost to everyone involved's safety and security.

Basically, it looks like they forced their government to pay off the Taliban, not only feeding them a great deal of money, but also putting a lot of people at risk by undermining the solidarity of nations who do not negotiate with terrorists.

Bringing another radical religious element into an unstable situation is bad enough: why don't you just go handing out handbills that say, "Yes, in fact, the Christian world wants to abolish Islam, you'd better fall in with the radicals if you happen to believe your soul's in peril," and dash off a multimillion dollar check to the Taliban for the privilege.

It'd save time.

The world is as it is, even if we don't like it. America must maintain the values and ethics that we believe and espouse, but we cannot assume that other countries will agree with our values and live according to our ethics.

I would have thought that the moral of this story is that religion makes people do the darndest things.
Christians trying to convert the Taliban to the Christian religion is a movie Monty Python should have made.
We live in e mad,mad,mad,mad,world,where ths skygod reigns supreme,even though nobody has ever caught sight of him. We believe he's up there because we were told by other believers,who were told by other believers,who were told by others who were told and on and on and on as far back as our ancestors in the stone age.
Taking down the WTC on 9/11 was another darndest thing religion put us through.
Enough already.There is no skygod,no matter what our cave dwelling ancestors told their offspring to pass on down the line to future generations like us.They had everyright to believe whatever got them through the night,was all right,even the idea of a skygod to watch over them.
But it was just an idea.