The Missionaries

I walked to the Confluence Museum this morning to check out a temporary exhibit I hadn't seen yet.  From the Eyes of the Missionaries is the title of the exhibit. Come to find out, the French missionaries were great at wandering the world, converting people to Catholicism, and then shipping many of their artifacts back to France so everyone here could enjoy them. When I say ALL OVER THE WORLD, that's exactly what I mean --- Africa, New Zealand, North and South America, China, Vietnam, North Pole --- if there were non-Christians hanging around, these guys and gals tracked them down. 

I was disappointed with the exhibit.  I learned about a slew of missionaries --- where they traveled, what they collected --- but nothing about the people they "converted."  I wish they had added a few plaques or interviews with people who could give us info about how these missionaries impacted their communities.  

Poorly done, Musee de Confluence. I admit to having a strong bias against colonization, but I'm sorry, I give you a 1 on the Fist of 5.