Proselytism

Proselytism confronts Western development workers in various ways. They may be confronted with national and international missionary activities from mostly Christian and Islamic organisations. In those cases, power plays an important role in these activities: not only in a financial way, but also psychologically. Especially in non-stable multi-religious settings these missionary activities may contribute to increasing conflicts between (religious/ethnic) groups. On the other hand, Western development workers from Faith Based Organisations may be falsely accused of converting the people they work for. In order to prevent these accusations, religious development organisations should either conceal their religious inspiration, or be completely open about it, depending on the circumstances they work in. If they choose an open attitude, it may help to use and internalize ethical guidelines.

Esther Dwarswaard, staff member of the Knowledge Centre, has written a paper on this topic.