Greg Laden: "Missionaries in Africa" on Atheists Talk #76, Sunday, June 28, 2009

Missionaries tell us that they are saving the world, traveling to foreign lands to help the natives. Of course, "saving the world" means something a little different to those of us who don't believe there's a Satan who needs to be battled at every turn. We usually mean saving lives and bettering standards of living, actions that have meaning in the here and now. How do missionaries do in that regard?

Biological anthropologist Greg Laden joins Stephanie Zvan to talk about his experiences with missionaries in the remotest parts of Africa and answer questions about what missions really offer the indigenous populations. He'll tell us about the good and the bad and let us know where we need to step up to provide secular help uncomplicated by the religion of the missionaries.

This will be the final live Atheists Talk on the radio and the last podcast for a while, until we get the details of the ongoing podcast worked out. If you're not attending the Pride Parade with the Minnesota Atheists delegation, please consider joining us at Q.Cumbers after the show to celebrate our long and successful radio run.

• Dirty poor people living in slime: Missionaries and American Idol, Greg Laden's Blog
• Greg's series on his experiences with missionaries
• Greg's Congo Memoirs or start at The Zodiac
• Greg's Lost Congo Memoirs
• Strategy for religious missions, Africa Mission Resource Guide

"Atheists Talk" is produced by Minnesota Atheists. Mike Haubrich, Director and Host.