--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Missionaries in the developing world…" description: "\"Missionaries in the developing world waste a lot of time and money (not to mention the goodwill of non-Christians) proselytizing to the needy. . . . Wh..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a94/sam-harris-457_aids_missionaries-in-the-developing-world-was_1725743.jpg" --- # Missionaries in the developing world waste a lot of time… ![“Missionaries in the developing world waste a lot of time and money (not to mention the goodwill of non-Christians) proselytizing to the needy. . . . While missionaries do many noble things at great risk to themselves, their dogmatism still spreads ignorance and death. By contrast, volunteers for…” quote by Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a94/sam-harris-457_aids_missionaries-in-the-developing-world-was_1725743.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a94/sam-harris-457_aids_missionaries-in-the-developing-world-was_1725743.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a94/sam-harris-457_aids_missionaries-in-the-developing-world-was_1725743.jpg) > “Missionaries in the developing world waste a lot of time and money (not to mention the goodwill of non-Christians) proselytizing to the needy. . . . While missionaries do many noble things at great risk to themselves, their dogmatism still spreads ignorance and death. By contrast, volunteers for secular organizations . . . do not waste . . . time telling people about the virgin birth of Jesus. Nor do they tell people in sub-Saharan Africa - where nearly four million people die from AIDS every year - that condom use is sinful.” [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Missionary work often mixes aid with religious conversion, leading to wasted resources and potential harm, while secular volunteers focus solely on practical help without imposing beliefs. **In simple terms:** Missionaries mix aid with religion, causing waste; secular volunteers help without preaching. Key Takeaway Prioritize aid without religious agendas. Themes humanitarianism religion ethics aid effectiveness secularism Mood critical reflective Type ethical analytical When to use this quote - NGO work - development projects - public health campaigns Key Concepts cultural imperialism resource allocation health interventions faith vs. science Questions to Reflect On - How can aid be truly neutral? - What safeguards prevent hidden agendas? A Different Perspective Secular aid can still be culturally insensitive or impose other biases. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Aids](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aids/) [Birth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/birth/) [Birth Of Jesus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/birth-of-jesus/) [Christian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/christian/) [Condom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/condom/) [Condom use](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/condom-use-36278/) [Contrast](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contrast/) [Developing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/developing/) [Dies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dies/) [Dogmatism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dogmatism/) [Four](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/four/) [Goodwill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/goodwill/) [Great risk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great-risk/) [Ignorance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ignorance/) [Jesus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jesus/) [Jesus birth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jesus-birth/) [Millions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/millions/) [Missionaries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/missionaries/) [Missionaries Developing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/missionaries-developing-1382225/) [Money](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/money/) [Needy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/needy/) [Needy Missionaries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/needy-missionaries-1382222/) [Noble](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/noble/) [Organization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/organization/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Proselytizing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/proselytizing/) [Proselytizing Needy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/proselytizing-needy-1382223/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Risk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/risk/) [Secular](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/secular/) [Spread](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spread/) [Stills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stills/) [Sub saharan africa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sub-saharan-africa/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Time and money](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time-and-money/) [Use](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/use/) [Virgin birth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/virgin-birth/) [Virgins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/virgins/) [Volunteer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/volunteer/) [Volunteers Secular](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/volunteers-secular-1382224/) [Waste](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/waste/) [Wasting time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wasting-time/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) [Years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/years/) ## Related quotes > [There may be a basis in the case of some individuals, as perhaps when a male prostitute uses a condom, where this can be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-benedict-xvi/there-may-be-a-basis-in-the-case-of-some-individuals-as-perhaps-when/) [Pope Benedict XVI](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-benedict-xvi/) > [I've been studying how quickly we can get energy out to the poor countries - a lot of which are in Africa - and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gates/i-ve-been-studying-how-quickly-we-can-get-energy-out-to-the-poor/) [Bill Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gates/) > [When you're sharing a mud hole with a wildebeest derriere in sub-Saharan Africa, that's a living hell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-miller/when-you-re-sharing-a-mud-hole-with-a-wildebeest-derriere-in-sub/) [Dennis Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-miller/) > [One of the challenges for sub-Saharan Africa is that markets are of modest size. This makes regional integration important.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-zoellick/one-of-the-challenges-for-sub-saharan-africa-is-that-markets-are-of/) [Robert Zoellick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-zoellick/) > [My wish and hope, every year, is that people's life chances - their chances of having a happy, prosperous, healthy life for themselves and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-elliott/my-wish-and-hope-every-year-is-that-people-s-life-chances-their/) [Michael Elliott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-elliott/) > [Birth control has almost completely and totally disappeared from the global health agenda, and the victims of this paralysis are the people of Sub-Saharan…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melinda-gates/birth-control-has-almost-completely-and-totally-disappeared-from-the/) [Melinda Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melinda-gates/) > [There's so much stigma around HIV/AIDS. It's a challenging issue, and the people that already have been tested and know their status find it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-lennox/there-s-so-much-stigma-around-hiv-aids-it-s-a-challenging-issue-and/) [Annie Lennox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-lennox/) > [“I have had my mother's wing of my genetic ancestry analyzed by the National Geographic tracing service and there it all is: the arrow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/i-have-had-my-mother-s-wing-of-my-genetic-ancestry-analyzed-by-the/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [There's always a joy in newness as a painter, and in sub-Saharan Africa, I encountered different realities with regard to light and how it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/there-s-always-a-joy-in-newness-as-a-painter-and-in-sub-saharan/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [The Middle East is the only region in the world outside of sub-Saharan Africa where rates of malnutrition actually rose over the past decade…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annia-ciezadlo/the-middle-east-is-the-only-region-in-the-world-outside-of-sub/) [Annia Ciezadlo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annia-ciezadlo/) > [To be able to achieve the laudable goals (of preventing and treating HIV/AIDS), especially for us in sub-Saharan Africa, there is the need for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dramani-mahama/to-be-able-to-achieve-the-laudable-goals-of-preventing-and-treating/) [John Dramani Mahama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dramani-mahama/) ## More by Sam Harris > [“Moderates in every faith are obliged to loosely interpret (or simply ignore) much of their canons in the interests of living in the modern…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/moderates-in-every-faith-are-obliged-to-loosely-interpret-or-simply/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [There is no question but that nominally religious scientists like Francis Collins and Kenneth R. Miller are doing lasting harm to our discourse by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/there-is-no-question-but-that-nominally-religious-scientists-like/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [We have Christians against Muslims against Jews, and no matter how liberal your theology, merely identifying yourself as a Christian or a Jew lends…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/we-have-christians-against-muslims-against-jews-and-no-matter-how/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [“Your principal concern appears to be that the Creator of the universe will take offense at something people do while naked. This prudery of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/your-principal-concern-appears-to-be-that-the-creator-of-the-universe/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [“As manuals for contemplative understanding, the Bible and the Koran are worse than useless. Whatever wisdom can be found in their pages is never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/as-manuals-for-contemplative-understanding-the-bible-and-the-koran/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [About 120 million of us place the big bang 2,500 years after the Babylonians and Sumerians learned to brew beer. If our polls are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/about-120-million-of-us-place-the-big-bang-2-500-years-after-the/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [“If your golf instructor were to insist that you shave your head, sleep no more than four hours each night, renounce sex, and subsist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/if-your-golf-instructor-were-to-insist-that-you-shave-your-head-sleep/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [The fact that one can lose one's sense of self in an ocean of tranquility does not mean that one's consciousness is immaterial or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/the-fact-that-one-can-lose-one-s-sense-of-self-in-an-ocean-of/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [The second commandment is "Thou shall not construct any graven images." Is this really the pinnacle of what we can achieve morally? The second…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/the-second-commandment-is-thou-shall-not-construct-any-graven-images/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [“But the reality of consciousness appears irreducible. Only consciousness can know itself—and directly, through first-person experience.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/but-the-reality-of-consciousness-appears-irreducible-only/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [“Whether or not one likes Huntington's formulation, one thing is clear: the evil that has finally reached our shores is not merely the evil…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/whether-or-not-one-likes-huntington-s-formulation-one-thing-is-clear/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [The problem is that religion tends to give people bad reasons to be good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/the-problem-is-that-religion-tends-to-give-people-bad-reasons-to-be/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [Muslim moderates, wherever they are, must be given every tool necessary to win a war of ideas with their co-religionists. Otherwise, we will have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/muslim-moderates-wherever-they-are-must-be-given-every-tool-necessary/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [The idea that any one of our religions represents the infallible word of the One True God requires an encyclopedic ignorance of history, mythology,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/the-idea-that-any-one-of-our-religions-represents-the-infallible-word/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [“What could possibly cause billions of human beings to reconsider their religious beliefs? And yet, it is obvious that an utter revolution in our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/what-could-possibly-cause-billions-of-human-beings-to-reconsider/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) [Explore all 543 Sam Harris quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) ## More Aids quotes > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. Accordingly...they became abominably wicked, and they were justly exterminated by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/before-noah-men-having-only-water-to-drink-could-not-find-the-truth/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [Freedom in every sense but primarily political sense, a rise in repression that stems from a repression of sexuality. It's AIDS, it's herpes, it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-nicholson/freedom-in-every-sense-but-primarily-political-sense-a-rise-in/) [Jack Nicholson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-nicholson/) > [I'm part of a team that raises millions of dollars and raises awareness of HIV and AIDS all over the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-evangelista/i-m-part-of-a-team-that-raises-millions-of-dollars-and-raises/) [Linda Evangelista](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-evangelista/) > [If you take all the food aid, America is by far the most generous country. If you take the direct aid, we're very generous.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/if-you-take-all-the-food-aid-america-is-by-far-the-most-generous/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [My God, whose son, as on this night, took on Him the form of man, and for man vouchsafed to suffer and bleed, controls…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/my-god-whose-son-as-on-this-night-took-on-him-the-form-of-man-and-for/) [Charlotte Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [I donated blood today. That's what I call getting an AIDS test.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-schumer/i-donated-blood-today-that-s-what-i-call-getting-an-aids-test/) [Amy Schumer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-schumer/) > [Slavery, if it can be legalized at all, can be legalized only by positive legislation. Natural law gives it no aid. Custom imparts to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lysander-spooner/slavery-if-it-can-be-legalized-at-all-can-be-legalized-only-by/) [Lysander Spooner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lysander-spooner/) > [Since I came to the White House, I got two hearing aids, a colon operation, skin cancer, a prostate operation, and I was shot.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/since-i-came-to-the-white-house-i-got-two-hearing-aids-a-colon/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [The European talks of progress because by the aid of a few scientific discoveries he has established a society which has mistaken comfort for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-disraeli/the-european-talks-of-progress-because-by-the-aid-of-a-few-scientific/) [Benjamin Disraeli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-disraeli/) > [Women's Aid is a fantastic charity which has my full support. I am proud to call myself a Real Man, a man who will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-fox/women-s-aid-is-a-fantastic-charity-which-has-my-full-support-i-am/) [Neil Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-fox/) > [It has been hard to muster the resources to support fledgling democracies and to intervene on behalf of the most desperate. The AIDS orphans…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/condoleezza-rice/it-has-been-hard-to-muster-the-resources-to-support-fledgling/) [Condoleezza Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/condoleezza-rice/) > [At the time when this famous historical battle was fought in Kosovo, the people were looking at the stars, expecting aid from them. 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There is the fascination of watching a figment of the imagination emerge through the aid of science to a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-hoover/it-is-a-great-profession-there-is-the-fascination-of-watching-a/) [Herbert Hoover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-hoover/) [Browse all 1,983 Aids quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aids/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Missionaries in the developing world waste a lot of time and money (not to mention the goodwill of non-Christians) proselytizing to the needy. . . . While missionaries do many noble things at great risk to themselves, their dogmatism still spreads ignorance and death. By contrast, volunteers for secular organizations . . . do not waste . . . time telling people about the virgin birth of Jesus. 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