What Makes Us Better?

“Fifty years and no advancement? Fifty years and no effort at domestic prosperity? Fifty years and we are no better off. Do you expect us to embrace your Bible and church if it fails to make us any better off? Should not domestic prosperity follow spiritual advancement? We can see. We are not blind. We can hear. We are not deaf. What makes you think your religion is better?”

A Yuma Indian Chief in the United States said this. He was fifty-five years old when this article was written and he was in spectacular health. He was also very intelligent though “he would be judged as uneducated”. He was able to discuss foreign affairs, science, and literature easily. He also was watching his people suffer.

Jose was asked when he was coming to church, and he said (in perfect English), “I’ve decided to stay away all together. But the Nazarene Mission has my support. I believe in its programs and want to see it worked out. I believe the Bible. I do not question the claims of Christ. But the Indians have been made sick by the white man’s religion. It was brought to us fifty years ago. Half a century is test enough. It proves to be no better than out own religion of legends and traditions.”

The article briefly mentions the condition of Jose’s people. They were poor and immoral by Christian standards. But what they fail to mention is what Jose is so bluntly pointing out: white man came here and converted the Native Americans. When that happened fifty years prior, Jose was just a little boy. He grew up watching these people see Christianity leave them in the same condition they had been. Christianity is supposed to be the best religion in these missionary’s eyes, and yet they are doing nothing to improve living conditions or encourage the people to do anything other than attend church.

At the same time, the article says that because the Nazarene Mission in Arizona is the only denomination to attend to the needs of the people and even say they will help as much as possible, Jose had faith in the author. He very briefly stated that he and the people he led were looking to the author to put the plan into action.

"We can see. We are not blind. We can hear. We are not deaf. What makes you think your religion is better?”