https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/american-couple-missionary-work-killed-gangs-haiti-wife-daughter-misso-rcna153925
David Lloyd and his wife, Natalie, the daughter of Missouri state Rep. Ben Baker, and a third member of their missionary group were fatally shot in the attack.
Good god. I feel bad for them on two fronts.
In no way is religion worth the events.
In case anyone was curious about what sort of politician has a daughter who's a full time missionary, yes he is exactly the cruel and corrupt grifter you'd expect, and a notably half assed one.
He introduced a bill to "regulate sexual content" in libraries, which he claimed was inspired by drag story hour, however drag story hours were not addressed in the bill.
He sponsored a bill to let parents sue schools if they don't like what their children are learning.
He's tried to pre-emptively block ranked-choice voting and forcibly de-transition adult prisoners as part of the "Missouri Child and Adolescent Protection Act."
My favourite is that he tried to pre-emptively block cities from banning pet store animals, at the request of Petland and others, after Petland was linked to bacterial infection outbreaks, puppy-mills and some fairly obvious cruelty. "He further acknowledged that he had not researched existing Missouri law on the matter." (per wikipedia)
If you're cruel or rich, Ben Baker's got your back.
Part of that RCV bill is also aimed at outlawing the current Approval Voting primaries they use in St. Louis. There's been interest in switching the entire state to approval, and Ben Baker just can't have that happen.
Couldn't have happened to a better person. It's a shame child protective services didn't intervene in time. Indoctrinating children is child abuse.
A lot of victim blaming in this thread.
I don't agree with their theological views, and I don't love that indoctrination is so often tied to humanitarian efforts.
But these are people who were trying to help out children in the middle of the second worst humanitarian crisis in the world right now, and the one that very very few people are giving much attention to as the other dominates news cycles and most of the Western world has just written off Africa as a whole (oops). (Also, I think this may be the only story about Hati on Lemmy in recent history, in fact).
They didn't 'deserve' getting brutally murdered for sticking around and not abandoning the children's schools and homes they spent the past decades cultivating.
They did a lot more to help people than I ever have, even if a key factor in their doing so was what I might consider delusional thinking.
And so even if I'm not a fan of some aspects of their lives, I respect what they did do, and think it's a bit fucked up to be making light of their deaths.
Haiti is not in Africa. Also, Biden literally announced a partnership with Kenya this week.
I agree with you overall though.
I'm surprised myself at the amount of people wishing death onto others throughout this community. It's definitely weird to me.
If you want an unsettling thing to think about, look into Calhoun's rats.
Social media has essentially overcrowded our functional distance with one another.
You could be on a ranch with no one around for miles, and yet you have hundreds if not thousands of other people are directly interacting with you giving and competing for dopamine hits.
And just like the rats we now have people not leaving their domiciles, being apathetic, hedonistic, etc. We're mentally falling apart because we're just too overcrowded.
"Tankie!" "Fascist!" "Heathen!" "Religious nut!" "Zionist!" "Antisemite!"
(Eventually the rats end up eating each other.)
Yet here we both are. That dopamine drip sure is nice...
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So, we are 100% that they weren't proselytizing while doing their charity work?
It's sad they were killed but any sort of missionary work is colonialism. "Your religion isn't good enough. We're here to save you."
Additionally, they probably knew how dangerous it was. It's not they were killed doing missionary work in Denmark.
Absolutely one of the worst takes I've seen.
These aren't settlers and they weren't running a Canadian Indian school burying children out back either. Kids trying to share their beliefs (misguided as they may be) aren't colonizers and if they aren't welcome, execution is not the right answer you troglodyte.
It's not rocket science to expect a society to condemn extrajudicial violence. Your opinion is bad and you should feel bad about it.
It was all a part of God's plan. God works in mysterious ways. Jesus pulled the trigger.
Surprise Side Jesus
We jest, but they really do believe that. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elisabeth_Elliot
I guess you don't have to go all the way to the Indian Ocean to be an idiot missionary that gets yourself killed...
I respect the work they were trying to do, but like... everyone was saying to GTFO of Haiti nearly a year ago. It's not worth your life.
Sounds great on paper but I'd have to know the details to give them any credit. Definitely heard of 'Christian' groups claiming to provide for 3rd world children that were outright fraud and\or actually abusive as fuck.
I've seen some Christian run homeless shelters that are basically just there to proselytize... and I've seen ones that are irreligious in appearance and service and just funded by Christians. I detest the proselytizing just as much as any other devote agnostic, but I'd like more information before judging this orphanage either way.
Christian run homeless shelters routinely make worship and unpaid labor mandatory if you want to stay there. Otherwise they kick you to the streets.
Some even demand that you don't seek employment (so they can exploit your unpaid labor indefinitely).
The place where I live requires unpaid labor too. I don't get why Mom has such a problem with Doritos dust. Let it lie, I say!
Some even demand that you don't seek employment (so they can exploit your unpaid labor indefinitely).
I'm gonna' need a citation for that one.
Happily: https://thebaffler.com/latest/between-a-rock-and-a-god-place-whitcomb
Once an individual is accepted, they must comply with all of the “house rules,” or “sacred covenant,” which hammer home the conditional nature of the charity on offer. In exchange for a bunk for thirty days, individuals are required to work without pay for six hours a day, six days a week. Jobs include working for various Mission business ventures and cleaning streets downtown—for which the Mission, but not the resident, is compensated. During this thirty-day period, residents are not permitted to look for outside work, which all but forecloses the hope of acquiring secure housing. For Dolores Nevin—who once went to the Mission with a torn rotator cuff and was turned away when she couldn’t work—disabilities that prevent you from “participating in daily Mission life” effectively bar you from staying there.
Absolutely 100% true for some, probably most, Christian run homeless shelters. Untrue for some (likely a minority) of homeless shelters. I've got no qualms about shitting on shitty Christians being asshats - I just have a problem generalizing this to everything.
I don't agree with their religion and they shouldn't have even been there. But to say that they were tourists is unfair. They were full-time missionaries. They (sadly) dedicated their lives to spreading their religion. They also probably tried to help meet basic needs like food, shelter, etc.
Religion is complicated and this was a preventable tragedy.
I respect the work they were trying to do
Why? They were missionaries. That's not a good thing. Not saying they should be murdered of course but I think respect is really not what they deserve either.
I don't respect the work they were doing. Shoving the Bible down people's throats isn't a nobel cause.