Missionary Work and Colonialism

Day 1 of 5: Selfish Single — Jesus Is Not My Boyfriend

Colonialism is about domination through expansion and settling in new territories. It has economic and political consequences for those expanding (colonizers), as well as those being expanded on (Natives). Obviously, the consequences are vastly different from one group to the other, as Colonialism often includes the imposition of religious, cultural, economic, and linguistic practices over Native peoples.

In 1492 Christopher Columbus left Europe and headed west, seeking a shorter route to India. According to his journals, the purpose of this voyage sponsored by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain was “to see the said princes, people, and territories, and to learn their disposition and the proper method of converting them to our holy faith.” On October 12th, he landed in Guanahani in the Caribbean and encountered the Lucayan Arawak, a people described in his journals: “They are all of a good size and stature, and handsomely formed... It appears to me, that the people are ingenious, and would be good servants and I am of opinion that they would very readily become Christians, as they appear to have no religion.” What happened after this first encounter was the beginning of brutal conquests of Native peoples and the land of what we now know as America — at the hands of many European nations.

According to Brené Brown in Braving the Wilderness, most humans are hard-wired to not desire to harm others; we have to find a way to bypass our own natural instincts to justify causing harm to other people. This is where developing an “enemy image” of others and later dehumanizing them comes into play.

Throughout history, oppressors have dehumanized individuals and then entire people groups in order to justify — to themselves first and then to others — the harm they cause those people. To justify the enslavement, murder, and subjugation of Native Americans — Europeans relied on Christianity.

There were many theological, political, and ethical debates that arose from the colonization of America. The thoughts of Pope Innocent IV, who lived before that time, were used to explain the importance of dominating the Natives and taking the land. Pope Innocent IV believed that war could not be waged against non-Christians, and their land could not be taken from them just because of their unbelief. Non-believers had dominion over themselves and their land; however, this dominion was revoked if they were incapable of governing themselves. But who determined whether they were capable of governing themselves? Christians.

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Natives had different customs, ways of life, governments and beliefs. Many of the societies found throughout the land were more advanced than many European countries at the time. Cities like Teotihuacan, Cuzco, Tenochtitlan, Tiahuanaco, and many others had impressive infrastructures, and the people lived with their own forms of government and their own cultural beliefs.

For European Christians, however, the differences served as evidence that they weren’t capable of governing themselves. The subjugation, enslavement, and stripping of Native cultures was then legitimized as a mission from God to “civilize” them and thus introduce them to Christianity.

While many clergy were open opponents of the abuses and militaristic approach of these “missions,” the various European governments who had colonies in America continued to justify their conquests as ‘mandated by God.’

While Colonization may seem like a story of the past, modern colonialism happens all around us. It occurs at the government level, but its principles have been so internalized by our society that they also occur in small ways — in interactions we have with people who are different from us.

Colonization is what happens when an individual or group dehumanizes people groups to justify removing agency from them, based on the sole belief that the colonizers know what is best for everyone else. We have accepted so many different myths allowing us to rationalize the colonization of others.

In the next few days of this devotional, we will uncover some of those myths.

Journal Prompt:
Take a few minutes to consider if and how you have internalized the belief that only Christians and “Christian values” allow for people to govern themselves.

Jo Luehmann

Day 1 of 5: Selfish Single — Jesus Is Not My Boyfriend

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