Missionaries using secret audio devices to evangelise Brazil’s isolated peoples
Guardian2 days
Report: Missionaries Using Bible-Preaching Devices to Secretly Evangelize Remote Amazon Tribes
Above: A group of Korubo people on Aug.17, 2022. Image copyright: Rafael Vilela/The Washington Post/Getty Images
The Spin
Narrative A
Missionaries contact isolated people — sometimes in good faith — under the guise of helping, but their work is actually harmful. Let alone the risk of spreading diseases, they promote white supremacy and colonization using tools of cultural imperialism that destroy Indigenous communities.
Narrative B
Missionaries have long been the ones providing essential services and dignity to isolated and recently contacted communities. Given that the Korubo have access to other sources of information, including radio and the internet, it's not a big deal that missionaries have left Bible-preaching devices in their home territory.