And heathens and lost souls.
... the determination of which is based on differences in beliefs and practices.
Missionaries are not sinister or evil in intent.
I didn't say evil; I said disrespectful. And it most certainly is.
The evangelist's attitude of "without even knowing what you believe or why, your beliefs are wrong wherever they disagree with mine, and you need to throw away your beliefs and adopt mine instead" is inherently disrepectful to the evangelizee.
Even an ethical salesperson tries to meet his customer's actual needs and create mutual benefit. The evangelist's approach is more like that of a shady used car salesman's: no matter what your needs, he's going to tell you that they're met
perfectly by the one car on his lot that he just happens to need to move.
There was a time when colonialism was co-mingled with religion to some degree, but those days are hundreds of years in the past.
Not true at all, actually. There are plenty of proselytizers still trying to continue colonial attitudes in former colonies.
There is nothing wrong with evangelism or missionary work.
That varies greatly. Some evangelism gets packaged with actual charity, some is relatively benign in its own right, and some is downright harmful.
If you live in a country where freedom to practice a religion is a protected right, then great. If you want to live in a country where religious expression is outlawed, then I shall pray for you.
If that ever happens, I'd prefer you did something that would have a real impact instead.
I love all my fellow God-fearing Christians, Mormons included.
Even those that practice Satanism subscribe to an ethos. Are we truly so close-minded that we are unable to listen to a myriad of opinion?
Apparently not in the world you're asking for, where only positive opinions of missionaries are allowed.