Pretty good discussion going on in here; it's nice seeing a discussion on religion without any personal attacks or anything of that sort. Anyways, on with the topic. I think that a lot of what is being said here leads to even bigger issues. For example, why are humans obligated to help others that are starving, sick, etc.? Seriously, if this life is all there is and beyond our lives there is an empty void, then we have no obligation to help others. We may say that helping others is the moral thing to do and that it s only fair that wealth be redistributed, but why? If we are nothing but animals who can talk and apparently reason, what is our yardstick for measuring these things? If we want to boil this down to a purely scientific level, we can say that humans are nothing more than a mass of carbon that moves and communicates. I think everyone in here will agree that such an assertion borders on cruelty. Therefore, there must be something more that drives us to want to help our fellow man. As Ivan Karamazov asserts in his debate with his brother Alyosha in The Brothers Karamazov without God anything is allowed (this is not a direct quote, but an underlying theme). This includes such things as leting people starve when things can be done, standing by and watching the cattle cars carry off your neighbors to Dachau, and rationalizing the use of gulags in communist countries around the world. Many people have said in here and other places (with good reason) that such and such should be done about his or that problem in the world. But why should they? If there is no objectivity in the world then they have no reason to follow what others believe.
About missionaries in Africa, I think that it is often out of simple ignorance about their work that assumptions are made about their work (I am not calling people ignorant, but saying that there is a lack of knowledge or information). I have met many missionaries and have found that they truly love the people they are among. They would rather live in simplicity in their village than live here in the United States because they love their work so much. They are not just walking the streets pounding their big black Bibles threatening hellfire and damnation. They do whatever they can to minister to the people whether it be in a physical or spiritual way. They do not sit and preach the wondrous ways of American life but adapt themselves to their mode of life. Also, it is now a wrong assumption that Africa is still mainly the home of native religions. The Africans themeselves are becoming missionaries to other parts of the continent because the continent is now statistically more Christian than Europe. There are many more Anglicans there than in England, and recent study has shown that the Western World will soon no longer be the traditional home of Christianity but Africa will be because of its rapid spead there (I think this is shown in the Christianity Today issue with Bono on the cover. Also check out a fairly recent Christian History issue with its focus on Christianity in Africa). Much of this is not due to Western "imperialists", but to the work of Africans. Much of the work Western missionaries do now is help African pastors gain administrative and organizational skills and open seminaries. Many African countries have a sizable Christian population such as Nigeria, Sudan, SOuth Africa, and Uganda. Their conversions do not come at the point of a gun and sometimes they convert even though they know that death or pain may result as often does in Sudan where the Muslim North is waging war against the Christian/animist South.