Will proselytizing in Iraq offer comfort and hope to a nation that is 97 percent Muslim?

Or will it reinforce the growing perception of Muslims worldwide that the war, no matter what President Bush says, is against Islam, not Saddam Hussein?

The largest American Protestant denomination, the Southern Baptist Convention, recently announced plans to send relief workers into Iraq to address both physical and spiritual needs. Samaritan's Purse, a relief organization headed by the Rev. Franklin Graham, has similar plans, as do other evangelical relief organizations.

Criticism was both swift and harsh.

Other faith-based relief groups said that proselytizing would tarnish their own humanitarian efforts in Muslim countries.

Several critics said that private relief groups are considered extensions of their governments in the Islamic world. Consequently, said Dan O'Neil, co-founder of Mercy Corps, based in Portland, Ore., "we have to pay the price of groups that don't play by the generally accepted rules of humanitarian engagement."

Some relief groups make proselytizing a firing offense.

"We try to open our hearts to others and see the full dimension of God in their experience," said Tom Getman, the Geneva-based director of humanitarian affairs and international relations for World Vision, a Christian group. "So we have a firm policy that we must never use a gift to persuade people to believe as we believe."

At its root, the proselytism issue is over religious values and interpretation of biblical passages.

Evangelicals believe they have a duty to share the "good news" of the gospel. They cite Jesus' last words to his followers urging them to go forth and "make disciples of all nations."

"The Great Commission is as natural a part of faithfulness ...