[Steve_Seattle]

Brian Palmer is an ape. He hasn’t a tenth of the humanity or compassion of those he dares criticize.

[doc1019]

If he were not a Christian Medical Missionary there would not be a problem.

[2banana]

Socialist can understand Jesus and those that follow him...

[Prospero]

It's long past time for self-proclaimed "secularists" to have their totally bogus fantasy of being free of religion just blasted away. A religion of no-religion is still a religion, and it needs to be recognized as reality statutorily.

If you choose not to decide you still have made a choice, and "religion," insofar as the U.S. Constitution is concerned, is nothing more or less than a worldview, a belief system.

As things stand today, in America, this nonsensical belief system has become an established religion, to the exclusion of all others, and that means a complete illusion of "neutrality" in our institutions is unconstitutional.

It's also a belly laugh.

[VanDeKoik]

Be whatever you want over there.

Just don’t contact Ebola and then bring it back to the U.S..

[left that other site]

How come we never read about Hindu Medical Missionaries, or Buddhist Medical Missionaries, or Muslim Medical Missionaries?

Do they exist?

Or are Medical Missionaries sort of a Christian thing?

[Chewbarkah]

There is nothing wrong with altruists serving as medical missionaries or whatever, as their private choice. The problem is the tendency for their private choices to become huge public costs and risks of importing the epidemic, or becoming hostages, once things go wrong. Whether it’s Ebola, being kidnapped by Muslims, or bumbling into Iran and North Korea, should people enter war zones and disease hotspots, then expect a “secular” bailout?

[vbmoneyspender]

Why doesn’t Kent Brantly found the Church of Atheism, become an atheist missionary and travel to Africa to help the unfortunate - all the while preaching to Africans that there is no God and life is meaningless.

[Smokin' Joe]

Ping…

A link to this thread has been posted on the Ebola Surveillance Thread

[null and void]

The game of Ebola Roulette continues...

*click* spin *click* spin *click* spin…BANG!

Eeeee-bolllll-aaaaaa ping!

Bring Out Your Dead

We’re gonna need

a bigger cart!

Post to me or FReep mail to be on/off the Bring Out Your Dead ping list.

The purpose of the “Bring Out Your Dead” ping list (formerly the “Ebola” ping list) is very early warning of emerging pandemics, as such it has a high false positive rate.

So far the false positive rate is 100%.

At some point we may well have a high mortality pandemic, and likely as not the “Bring Out Your Dead” threads will miss the beginning entirely.

*sigh* Such is life, and death...

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

So, given this background, I reacted with perhaps special revulsion upon reading this piece from Slate’s Brian Palmer, where an atheist asks, “Should we worry that so many of the doctors treating Ebola in Africa are missionaries?”

Those BASTARDS! How dare they do good work in the name of Jesus?

[Jemian]

I suggest we stand aside and let God do His work.

He writes with the arrogance of a human thinking his puny objection could thwart the plan of The Almighty.

As I have experienced, either it is a missionary doing the best he can under impossible conditions with very little support and equipment, or no medical care at all. This shrimp of a liberal has the audacity to complain about someone else's compassion and sacrifice. I hope he can sleep at night.

Full disclosure, I work in Indonesia alongside many Bible translators, jungle pilots, church planters, and, yes, three ex-pat doctors.

[JimSEA]

How anyone can criticize these Christan missionaries is totally beyond me. They would rather have millions die rather than be exposed to Christian morality? It’s beyond my understanding.

[metmom]

There are serious questions about the quality of care provided by religious organizations in Africa.

Which is far better than the no care they'd receive if medical missionaries weren't there.

Then the people would restort to witch doctors.

Is that REALLY what he would prefer?

Or just that they probably die from their undiagnosed conditions?

[Elsie]

Wait, There's a Problem with Christian Medical Missionaries?

Weight, It's a Problem with a vast number of Christians!

[redleghunter]

Excellent piece. Thanks for posting.