Hacker News Reader

Comment by lostlogin | Hacker News Reader

> Volunteer work is a good start, missionary work is even better.

I couldn’t disagree more with regard to missionary work.

Having someone tell me why their sky friend needs to be in my life is outright offensive. I get a fair few US 20-25 year olds trying this crap out at my home in Auckland, New Zealand.

View on HN

On the other hand, beneficiaries of missionary work may be more interested in the actual tangible benefits they receive from missionary initiatives than they are in your imaginations about reality (which is what they are).

Missionaries also have "imaginations about reality" but they think that their imaginations are so much more important and meaningful than everyone else's. It's annoying. I don't care that they get value out of it. They get value out of something that's annoying and offensive to others; that's just selfish.

I wasn't suggesting anything secular. Programs like Doctors Without Borders was more what I had in mind, but that particular example requires specialization and longer-term commitment.

The point is to travel, see the real rest of the world, and to get something from the experience other than hangovers and gonorrhea.

Door-to-door evangelism amounts to harassment and is not at all in scope.

Absolutely agree that this example is a good things.

I’ve never heard Doctors Without Borders described as missionary work.

I've always used the term to describe anything with (an ideological) Mission. Looking it up, it appears to have strictly religious connotation. Oops...

jstarfish did not say that missionary work would benefit the target audience of the missionary, and you did nothing to disabuse what he did say.

Same issue in Wellington. Really grinds my gears.

Highly recommend asking them for help with chores when they come knocking.

I was firewood cutting last time. It was only getting cut due to that being god’s will, apparently.

Username checks out.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com