Nathan's Ignorance...or Brilliance?

One of our essential questions is "how should we live in our world?". Many people do not know the answer to this question, yet Nathan seemingly does. He knows what he has set out to do, which is to bring salvation to the Congolese in Kilnanga. Yet is that sort of self-righteousness appropriate? Many will say that he is being ignorance and insensitive to the history and culture of the villagers in Kilanga. But what if he's right? What if he is saving all these people from the fiery depths of Hell? It might be a stretch but you'll never truly know, right?

In Revelations, there is a scene where a man named Anatole comes bearing the message of the village leader, Tata Ndu. Basically, what it boils down to is that Ndu is grateful for the fact that Nathan's church is taking away the "outcasts" of the village, per se, but that Ndu is also worried that this church might be corrupting and angering the gods because of the fact that so many other villagers are going to church.

Nathan seems like he is going to explode.

To him, of course, these are false idols - pagan gods, in other words. They do not exist and are a part of evil because worshiping them is a travesty against God.

Fair enough, but then again...

In the same way that Nathan believes that our Lord is the only path for salvation, Tata Ndu believes that the path for success and happiness lies in placating the african gods which Nathan looks down upon in contempt.

Who is he (Nathan) to say that they are wrong?

Imagine if someone came to your house claiming to be a prophet, stating that only by worshipping a sacred unicorn will you be blessed in the afterlife.

You can't possibly say that you would be hooked, right (well, maybe you unicorn lovers out there...)?

This is basically why I think someone needs to slap Nathan across the face.

His intentions are decent. He wants to save these people. However, his reasoning is terrible. He hasn't the faintest idea of what these people might perceive his church to be. Also, in many cases, it seems like he's just doing it so he cant beam his way up to heaven.

It doesn't really matter whether he's right or wrong about salvation.

What matters is that he has an elitist attitude about it all.

PS.

Try not to think about my theory of religion too much ("what if ____ is right, and _____ is wrong?")

It's basically saying that at least some of us are going to some unpleasant place after death.

PPS. I don't agree with my theory of religion and the afterlife.