Posted on May 13, 2019
(Monday that follows the second Sunday in May)
The spread of a particular religion can look to outsiders like the spread of anything else: the spread of a particular clothing style, the spread of a particular music style, the spread of popular culture, even the spread of an idea like "people should have the power to choose their leaders."
In every case, the thing being spread can "mutate" or change as it spreads - sometimes adopting local customs and holidays, sometimes adapting to local conditions.
Also, in every case, the new thing being spread can replace older religions or styles or ideas - and that can be something that people get concerned about! They ask, "What about our old ways?" They might even look at the spread of a religion, fashion, or idea as a kind of infection from outsiders!
In Tuvalu, the old ways were Polynesian beliefs: the worship of ancestors, multiple gods, and stories of the creation of their islands and the founding ancestors of each island. Because these stories involve te Pusi, the Eel, the people of Tuvalu do not eat Moray eels.
However, now Tuvaluans are almost entirely members of the Congregational Christian Church of Tuvalu. (And when I say "almost entirely," I mean about 97%.) Most of the remaining 3% are Christian of other kinds, although there are tiny percentages that are Baha'i and Muslim. I do not know if anyone in Tuvalu now regrets the abandonment of the old religions - but I'm pretty sure that some people back in the late 1800s, when Christian missionaries first arrived on Tuvalu, did get upset at the change.
Gospel Day is about the day in 1861 that the "Christian Gospel" arrived. The deacon of a Congregational Church in Cook Islands was caught in a storm and drifted, lost, for eight weeks before washing ashore one of the islands of Tuvalu.
He must have liked what he saw:
Tuvalu is made up of three reef islands and six atolls (ring-shaped coral reefs that had grown around islands that eroded away or subsided below the surface of the water, so that the islands no longer exist other than the coral-based rings!).
Tuvalu is located about halfway between Australia and Hawaii.
The spread of a particular religion can look to outsiders like the spread of anything else: the spread of a particular clothing style, the spread of a particular music style, the spread of popular culture, even the spread of an idea like "people should have the power to choose their leaders."  |
| The spread of popular culture includes things like fast food. I can imagine that some people in the world see that kind of spread as almost a kind of contagious disease! |
Also, in every case, the new thing being spread can replace older religions or styles or ideas - and that can be something that people get concerned about! They ask, "What about our old ways?" They might even look at the spread of a religion, fashion, or idea as a kind of infection from outsiders!
In Tuvalu, the old ways were Polynesian beliefs: the worship of ancestors, multiple gods, and stories of the creation of their islands and the founding ancestors of each island. Because these stories involve te Pusi, the Eel, the people of Tuvalu do not eat Moray eels. 
However, now Tuvaluans are almost entirely members of the Congregational Christian Church of Tuvalu. (And when I say "almost entirely," I mean about 97%.) Most of the remaining 3% are Christian of other kinds, although there are tiny percentages that are Baha'i and Muslim. I do not know if anyone in Tuvalu now regrets the abandonment of the old religions - but I'm pretty sure that some people back in the late 1800s, when Christian missionaries first arrived on Tuvalu, did get upset at the change.Gospel Day is about the day in 1861 that the "Christian Gospel" arrived. The deacon of a Congregational Church in Cook Islands was caught in a storm and drifted, lost, for eight weeks before washing ashore one of the islands of Tuvalu.
He must have liked what he saw:
Tuvalu is made up of three reef islands and six atolls (ring-shaped coral reefs that had grown around islands that eroded away or subsided below the surface of the water, so that the islands no longer exist other than the coral-based rings!).
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| The Hawaiian islands are not labeled but are near the top right corner, above the words "North Pacific Ocean." You can see that there are many different island nations in the Pacific Ocean! |
Tuvalu is located about halfway between Australia and Hawaii.
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