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Quote by: Keith Hamburger  Many of the colonizers of the third world were missionaries. Their goal was to "bring God to the heathens". By that measure, many of the colonized areas which have been discussed, thus far, had VERY successful outcomes. Before colonization, the indigenous populations had never heard of the Christian God. Today, most of the people in those areas, in particular the Pacific islanders and Latin Americans are Christians of one sort or another. By the measure of the European missionaries, the outcome of colonization was positive. |
The European missionaries were part of the colonial projects in the Pacific and Latin America. Of course they would view their activities "positively." But it's debatable that the introduction of the Christian god, and the destruction of indigenous religions and cultures, were "positive" to the indigenous peoples. Many people died after the missionaries introduced new diseases or were "assisted" by European militaries in the pacification of "heathen" areas.