Christian Imperialism Conroy Krutz Summary

Conroy-Krutz’s Christian Imperialism scrutinizes the experiences of missionaries between 1812 and 1848. The author argues that these missionaries were Christian imperialism agents. By Christian imperialism, Conroy-Krutz implies the effort and vision to convert and civilize heathens around the world who worked in contest against all the other forms of American imperialism of the time (p.10). Further, Conroy- Krutz explains Christian imperialism to mean the understanding of international relations that proclaimed the duty of Christian nations, such as Britain and America to spread Anglo-American civilization and Protestantism and eventually suppress other indigenous religions using their commercial and colonial power. In the four decades of Christian imperialism, the missionaries assert the centrality of spreading the gospel while acting as imperialists since their activities would further the

political expansion of the United States. The evangelicals have an imperialistic mindset from their belief that their culture is more superior and thus hold the right to change foreign cultures to conform to the Anglo-American civilization model (p. 13)
Christian imperialism bears similarities to the British and American imperialism as the missionaries and the imperialism think highly of their respective countries.

There is a strong Anglo-American as well as global connection throughout these imperialisms. Further, just like the British imperialists, the Christian imperialism seeks governance protection from their respective countries to work within the territories such governments’ control (p.8). The Christian imperialism resembles the American imperialism as it fuels unequal power dynamics between proselytized heathens and proselytizing Americans (p.10).

Christian imperialism uses the hierarchy of heathenism to bring together ideas regarding religion, race, and culture with the world’s geopolitical realities as they sought to spread the gospel, which is reminiscent of the other forms of imperialism (p. 26). However, the Christian imperialism, unlike the British and American imperialism never sought to support commercial imperialism and was critical of the governments’ desire to gain commercially from the foreign

countries.
The missionaries take part in the mission movement to transform the world by spreading the gospel and civilizing the heathens. The missionaries claim that by transforming the heathen world into a state of society that is complete with settled agriculture and public education then civilization would have been realized. However, the Board shifts their theological understanding of their work’s definition as well as the relationship between civilization and Christian imperialism resulting from political encounters with missionaries.
The relationship between Christian imperialism and civilization emanates from the connection of the missionaries’ work and that of the governments. The missionaries also saw a real value for expanding Anglo-American influence and culture since such culture is deeply connected with the expression of true Christianity thereby connecting their work to that of imperialists. In Christian Imperialism, the evangelicals cannot disentangle the connection between Christianity and civilization and have to get involved in both. Additionally, the missionaries claim that for an individual to become Christian, they have to be civilized by displaying profound changes in their cultural behavior.
The rhetoric of civilization is tied to Conroy-Krutz’s hierarchy of heathenism as the evangelicals figure out how to carry out their duties. The missionaries have the goal to convert the entire world into Protestantism and thus need to select their priorities. Therefore, the missionaries use the current civilization of a place to focus on where to concentrate their resources since they believe that the more civilized the place is then the easier it is to convert the heathens. The hierarchy of heathenism is seen as the missionaries debate on where to work, whether in Africa, Asia, or North America, which seems to structure their thinking regarding the rest of the world as well as America’s place in it.