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How would you describe the complicated legacy of colonialism? Have you seen its effects on local cultures in your region or country?
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17 Replies
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The legacy of colonialism is complicated. It brought some good things, like new roads and schools, but it also caused a lot of problems. Colonial powers often took control of local cultures, disrupting traditions and creating inequalities.
In many places, you can still see these effects today. Local cultures may mix colonial languages and customs with their own but often have to fight to keep their traditions alive. In my area, I see how colonial history has shaped our culture and politics. People are now trying to balance modern life with their heritage, and there’s a lot of talk about fixing the problems caused by the past.
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Colonizers believed that the peoples who inhabited the area they were invading were inferior and that they and their ideas should rule over them, as if they were young immature children who needed directed and corrected. This way of thinking gave no value to the native people who already lived there, but sought to convert their belief and operating systems to be that of the colonizers. In America, there are essentially no native peoples where we live in Ohio. They have all been pushed west and seen as less valuable than the colonizers who were from Europe who inhabited our area. The religions of the colonizers is basically what has stayed and still exists in our area.
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Many colonized communities adapted the Protestant view of Christianity. In the beginning, it was the Catholic Church that started the growth of Christianity in the Netherlands and in North America. The way many people groups behaved was to follow their traditions up to a certain point and then branch off on their own. The imperial rule had its reaches in most of the world in the 18th and 19th centuries. No, not directly. I have seen the effects of how generations have carried their traditions of religion from their ancient ancestry up to their current time.
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Even though negative effects took place in the colonization of these countries, the point to be taken here is that God used these circumstances to spread the gospel and that is what is most important. We know from history that there’s always going to be evil to contend with no matter what the circumstances even in our modern society there’s people looking to gain from anything and everything.
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Where I live in Thailand was spared much of the direct influence of colonialism, but there were still positive and negative effects. However, very little of this was in respect to Christianity. Thailand’s king embraced science and modernization that were brought with colonialism, which positively affected health, agriculture, and the economy of Thailand. However, the need for tea and opium in the West caused nearly the entire region in the Golden Triangle to become dependent upon opium, both economically and chemically, devastating the people even until the past several decades. Fortunately, in the efforts to recover the area, many Hill Tribe villages are receiving help from Christian missionaries, and whole villages are coming to Christ as young converts are learning and sharing the gospel.