American missionary institutions reproduced the imperial character of European counterparts
Evidence
Samuel M. Zwemer, one of the most famous – and perhaps the most well published – missionaries to Muslims summed up this view: “In India and Malaysia God’s favor has given us an open door to 100,000,000 Mohammedans. Under Queen Wilhelmina, the Christian Queen of Holland and under George V, the Christian Emperor of India, 100,000,000 Mohammedans are enjoying the blessings of Protestant Christian rule.” — Peter Gottschalk and Gabriel Greenberg, Common Heritage, Uncommon Fear, 113 (
#corroborates, via linked claim)
America was, in short, exempt from history: from mechanics and industrialization we would derive wealth, power, and productivity; from nature, peace, harmony, and self-sufficiency. — James W. Carey, Communication as Culture- Essays on…, 474 (
#complicates, via linked claim)
Categorization
- XREF: connects to: American Oriental studies were founded to emulate European imperial frameworks — Edward W. Said, Orientalism, 745; Missionaries interpreted imperial conquest as divine endorsement of Christianity. — Peter Gottschalk and Gabriel Greenberg, Common Heritage, Uncommon Fear:…, 113; Missionary conversion relied on state power more than persuasion (+7 more)
Related
- American missionaries followed soldiers and merchants, driven by trade and manifest destiny. (similarity 0.86)
- American missionaries followed soldiers and merchants, not the reverse (similarity 0.83)
- Missionary conversion relied on state power more than persuasion (similarity 0.83)
- European Orientalism was normalized into a coherent US scholarly consensus (similarity 0.82)
- Missionaries interpreted imperial conquest as divine endorsement of Christianity. (similarity 0.81)
- Colonial empire was read as proof of God’s favor on Christianity (similarity 0.81)
- Postwar US empire relied on missionary children and oilmen for regional knowledge (similarity 0.80)
- American Oriental studies were founded to emulate European imperial frameworks (similarity 0.80)
- Empire itself was read as proof of God’s favor on Christianity. (similarity 0.79)
Broader Connections
- Missionaries interpreted imperial conquest as divine endorsement of Christianity.
#corroborates(0.82) — Peter Gottschalk and Gabriel Greenberg, Common Heritage, Uncommon Fear, 113 - Americans believed their nation was exempt from European history’s burdens
#complicates(0.80) — James W. Carey, Communication as Culture- Essays on…, 474 - Missionary conversion relied on state power more than persuasion
#expands(0.78) - European Orientalism was normalized into a coherent US scholarly consensus
#expands(0.75) - US post-war hegemony repurposed Orientalism and modernization theory to justify empire.
#expands(0.75) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 28 - US support for decolonization served its own imperial aims
#corroborates(0.72) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 207