Spontoon Island
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Religious Missionaries
in the Spontoon Archipelago

#  Update 19 July 2004  #

The Missionary Position on Spontoon Island
(historical overview by K. Fletcher)

Missionary work has proven difficult in this area of the North Pacific islands. With the withdrawal of
British Colonial Administration and the following loss of political and military protection, any visiting
Christian and Islamic missionaries had to answer to the rough democratic theology of the local island
populations. In the greater Archipelago area, this means that there are more surving original native religions
(mostly from Polynesian and Coast Amerind theology),and more religious tolerance (in most cases).
A few isolated Missionary Christian (and other!) theocracies do control some islands.

In the Spontoon Island Atoll, the Althing was much more interested in collectively constructing
a religious framework from their own local materials than importing something pre-fabricated.
As a result, by 1900 Missions, Churches, Mosques, and Temples (with non-native clergy
and administration) were restricted to Casino Island. While Moon Island, Eastern Island, and
South Island were eventually allowed a limited Euro population, by agreement these islands have no
Euro-administered places of worship. This is because the general Spontoonie population associates
Euro churches with missionary activities, colonial politics and cultural subversion. This has been a
bitter pill for the foreign missions. By the 1930s, they are willing to work within these boundaries.

Euro evangelists seeking converts are restricted to their reservation on Casino Island.
Natives who wish to be proselytized may go there for the experience. Christian, Muslim, and
other small sized & native-clergied congregations of Spontoonies are part of the Spontoon Islands,
but seem to be happy to co-exist with the widely accepted, crafted mythology of Spontoon Custom.

Brother Mulcathy dispairs.... (mature image) (Dennis Clarke)

#  The Flying Bishop on holiday (Stu Shiffman)  #