I wouldn't go so far as to call them terrorists, as to me, that does bring up images of extreme violence and hatred spewing.

Joe, though, do really believe Mothre Theresa did no harm to the women she served, if she converted them to the notion that they must have children regardless of their circumstances? That is one of the biggest bugaboos I have with the RC Church.

You also stated that the missionaries who came to this country were "well-meaning." Of course they were within their own paramaters of belief. Their well-meaningness carried through well into the recent past with whole generations of Native American children taken from their families, incarcerated in strict schools where they were forbidden any of their culture, as you know. I don't consider that well-meaning, nor any less disruptive than what the other "conquerers" did.

Most of the missionaries at the time preached a hellfire and damnation theme which also wreaked havoc with the already well-established Native American spiritualies.

I am going to stop because I don't want to go overboard, but I think there are plenty of instances wehere religious zealotry has been far from benign. Witness what the Spaniards did to the indigenous cultures of Central and South American and Mexico; all in the name of their god.

I have never understood the mindset which creates a missionary; it seems very egotistical to me, rather than "god" centered. By that I am not referring to the Mother Theresa types who work among the poor, but more th types who feel they must travel about foreign lands pointing out how wrong everyone is for not believeing in their god. I wonder if the indigenous cultures along the Amazon have seen the bumper sticker, yet, "God save me from your followers."