[lbo-talk] Arguments for a Secular America (Was : 77% of Americans support the cretinous judge)

Thiago Oppermann thiago_oppermann at bigpond.com
Wed Sep 3 18:28:31 PDT 2003


On 4/9/2003 9:27 AM, "lbo-talk-request at lbo-talk.org" <lbo-talk-request at lbo-talk.org> wrote:


>> and worship. Maybe the old imperialists knew what they were doing
>> when they sent in missionaries to convert the colonized.
>>
>> Doug
>
> Or maybe not. Mission-created educational institutions in Africa often
> served as the training ground for the future cadre of independence
> activists (cf. Jomo Kenyatta, Arap Moi, Milton Obote, or Julius
> Nyerere).
>
> Wojtek

But in a way this illustrates the point even more incisively. People need to be taught - or made into - the sort of people who run states, who aspire to nationalism, who work through western concepts of organization. Where I have looked at this in detail - Melanesia - missions were central in this work of disciplining the colonized, and recognized as such by the authorities.

Thiago



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