Missionaries

Last night we read a reading about missionaries and how for different religions, missionaries' tactics were different. Then later in class we discussed the motive, method and difference for each of the different religions' missionaries. Even the basic motive for Christianity, Islam and Buddhism was to recruit and get people to convert to there religion. But the way each of these religions did this is what varied.
Christianity: The Christian missionaries truly thought that they were doing something good for the world and for the people they are having convert. They believed that if people were not Christian, then they would die and go to hell. So basically they were saying convert or die.
Islam: They pretty much used force to get people to convert to Islam. They wanted more followers to get stung and forcing people was the only way.
Buddhism: They just wanted everyone and everything to be peaceful and live in tandem with each other. They used peaceful, non-violent methods to teach people about Buddhism and try to get them to convert. They believed in diversity which is a more polytheistic notion and this helped to attract people to this religion.
Some of the main methods that all missionaries used were to go to different places, such as Africa and Asia to help spread the word about their religion. The government also sometimes played a role in getting people to convert. The government often times played such a large role in this process because they sometimes wanted people to convert to their religion because of political reasons and to gain political power.  Even though missionaries weren't all violent, they led the people that are trying to convert to think that their religion that they are promoting is the only religion that god will approve of. So basically to sum things up, all three of these religions used different tactics to gain followers and to get people to convert to their religion. Islam used a more violent and forceful way to get people to convert. Christianity wasn't always forceful but would threat the people they are trying to get to convert and use scare tactics. Buddhists were the most peaceful of all missionaries and they just wanted people to know about Buddhism so they could then convert if they so choose.