6a. Religion as Tool of Imperialist Conquest, cont�d
Missionaries were the �advanced guard� of the imperialists, �softening up� the population by confusing and dividing them so that they were easier, and therefore cheaper, to conquer.
Therefore, nothing is more �political� than religion. This takes some getting used to, because most of us in the West are trained to think of religion as a �personal� matter, rather than, as it is, highly political.