Christian colonialism and imperialism

Christian colonialism

Last updated 12/28/2024

1. Since many Christians believe you must believe in Jesus or you'll go to hell, they make evangelism a big part of their culture. Because of this, colonizing non-Christian cultures is portrayed not only as a good thing, but as necessary.

Uncritical examples

The Meaning of the Native Graves by Declan Leary | The American Conservative (July 2021, tries to reframe mass deaths of indigenous children as not that bad)

Archived on Wayback Machine, Archive.today, and Ghost Archive

The Left Hates Christopher Columbus. Here are Five Reasons Why We Should Still Celebrate Columbus Day by Zachary Mettler | The Daily Citizen (October 2019)

Archived on Wayback Machine, Archive.today, and Ghost Archive

Commentary

None yet

2. In the Old Testament, we see God telling his people to slaughter Canaanites so they could occupy the land. Since many Christians believe God and the Bible are infallible, they try to justify the divinely-ordered genocides as necessary or righteous.

Uncritical examples

#16 Slaughter of the Canaanites | Reasonable Faith with William Lane Craig (August 2007)

Archived on Wayback Machine, Archive.today, and Ghost Archive

How Could God Command Genocide in the Old Testament? by Justin Taylor | The Gospel Coalition (September 2009)

Archived on Wayback Machine, Archive.today, and Ghost Archive

Bryan Fischer: Native Americans Morally Disqualified Themselves From the Land | Rightly Concerned (February 2011)

Archived on Wayback Machine and Warren Throckmorton's blog

What Made It Okay for God to Kill Women and Children In the Old Testament? by John Piper | Desiring God (February 2010)

Archived on Wayback Machine, Archive.today, and Ghost Archive

Commentary

I Drew the Line at Canaan by Neil Carter | OnlySky (February 2017)

Preserved on Wayback Machine, Archive.today, and Ghost Archive

Moral Failings by Captain Cassidy | Roll To Disbelieve (December 2014)

3. A lot of right-wing Christians are Zionists who treat Palestinians as obstacles to Israel fulfilling its purpose. They justify this by assuming most Palestinians are in favor of terrorists or by downplaying the harm colonialism has done.

See this document for examples.

4.American Christian cultures strongly encourage mission trips that treat foreign people as pitiful beings needing American Christians to save them from poverty and Satan.

Uncritical examples

None yet

Commentary

American With No Medical Training Ran Center For Malnourished Ugandan Kids. 105 Died by Nurith Aizenman and Malaka Gharib | National Public Radio (August 2019)

No White Saviors: Woman Accused of Letting African Babies Die at Fake Medical Facility in Uganda by Michael Harriot | The Root (June 2019)

White Christian saviorism is a helluva drug by seelolago

5. Many Christians have a cisnormative and heteronormative worldview that rejects genders outside a very narrow context. This and their longstanding support of colonialism has resulted in the erasure of culture-specific genders.

Please note that not all people of these genders are comfortable defining themselves as LGBTQ+.

Uncritical examples

None yet

Commentary

Navajo Nation's LGBTQ Pride Event Celebrates A Return To The Culture's History by Cayla Nimmo | National Public Radio (July 2019)

[video] What Does ”Two-Spirit” Mean? | InQueery | them. (December 2018)

More on Christian colonialism and imperialism

Those Evil European Invaders (10/21/00) | Blue Corn Comics

Bryan Fischer prefers European depravity to the native kind | Warren Throckmorton (February 2011)

Bible gave America to Anglos | Newspaper Rock (January 2008)

Fear Is a Bad Teacher by David Neuhaus | Commonweal (February 2022, discusses how western Christians and politicians distort the situation Middle Eastern Christians are in)

Cultural Christianity, Christian Appropriation, and Derailment | Writing With Color (February 2020)

How Christianity Was Used to Exploit Africans by Takudzwa Hillary Chiwanza | The Africa Exponent (September 2017)

America and the ”Heathen”: How we set ourselves apart from ”sh**hole countries” by Kathryn Joyce | Salon (July 2022)

When White Saviorism Turns Deadly: American missionary played doctor, children died, when will there be justice? | No White Saviors (September 2018>

Voluntourism Is Colonialism Wrapped In The White Savior Complex by Naila Aroni | Wear Your Voice Mag (March 2020, warns for ”sexual assault against and surgical procedures on Black children”)

Further information

International Adoption and the White Savior Industrial Complex | No White Saviors (September 2019)

What Is Orientalism? A Stereotyped, Colonialist Vision of Asian Cultures by Namrata Verghese | Teen Vogue (October 2021)

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