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Sentinelese Tribe Kills Foolhardy Christian Missionary

I reckon the guy would have been better off taking a run at it, and starting off with the fishermen he sailed with. I may have got this wrong, but a quick google of the religious beliefs of the Andamans and Nicobars suggests that there's a strong likelihood that the guys he hired to take him to the island were not Christian. This aside from the incontrovertible fact that he was - very relatively speaking - bang smack in the middle of over a billion other non-Christians.

Do you think he was just chasing the kudos of converting the unusual?

Pride - it's a sin you know.
 
The nearby jawaras also date back rather far.
 
Had only scanned the headlines till now, did not realise this chap was a missionary.

Fuckwit.
 
Spookdaddy said:
I reckon the guy would have been better off taking a run at it, and starting off with the fishermen he sailed with. I may have got this wrong, but a quick google of the religious beliefs of the Andamans and Nicobars suggests that there's a strong likelihood that the guys he hired to take him to the island were not Christian. This aside from the incontrovertible fact that he was - very relatively speaking - bang smack in the middle of over a billion other non-Christians.

Do you think he was just chasing the kudos of converting the unusual?

Pride - it's a sin you know.
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The man trying to convert lions was far more ambitious, I would go several steps better and convert amoebas. I
 
It can be done from afar with harpoons.
 
Spookdaddy said:
Do you think he was just chasing the kudos of converting the unusual?
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I looked at his Twitter account, and his overall vibe was 'adventurer': I didn't see much christian posting, but a lot about chasing unusual experiences.
 
Reading through the thread I can't help but feel just a little bit sad (or maybe more than a little bit) - yes we're all (me included) making light of how stupid he was to keep going back (or even to be going there in the first place) but lets not forget that he was a real person, with real family and friends who will be devastated that he isn't coming back and no matter how stupid his actions, that doesn't mean he deserved to die (and especially not in such a horrible way).

Sorry to sound like a threadkiller; not my intention. Just sometimes - it's easy to judge from afar, you know?

I really have no idea where this has all come from, maybe I'm just feeling sensitive today, I don't know. But once it had occurred to me I couldn't not post it.


:group:
 
Schrodinger's Zebra said:
Reading through the thread I can't help but feel just a little bit sad (or maybe more than a little bit) - yes we're all (me included) making light of how stupid he was to keep going back (or even to be going there in the first place) but lets not forget that he was a real person, with real family and friends who will be devastated that he isn't coming back and no matter how stupid his actions, that doesn't mean he deserved to die (and especially not in such a horrible way).

Sorry to sound like a threadkiller; not my intention. Just sometimes - it's easy to judge from afar, you know?

I really have no idea where this has all come from, maybe I'm just feeling sensitive today, I don't know. But once it had occurred to me I couldn't not post it.


:group:
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You're absolutely right Zebs.
Of course his death is a tragedy and I'm sure his intentions were entirely good towards this sociopathic tribe.
But, after being warned of the dangers several times and still persevering in his last adventure, I can understand why he's being lumped in with the 'Darwin awards ' here.
 
Schrodinger's Zebra said:
So... let me get this straight. He went there on the 15th and got peppered with arrows, then on the 16th they broke his canoe, yet he still went back on the 17th? Call me a wuss but I think the 15th would have been my one-and-only visit and I'd be thanking my lucky stars I'd got out alive.





Depends how big the arrow is, to be fair. :)
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This big, perhaps?


From the 1958 film, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad. Go too the end if you are in a hurry.
 
INT21 said:
..To the Sentinelese the killing may have been an acceptable act according to their laws. ..

Doesn't the US have something similar. You push me, I can shoot you'.

INT21
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No; there is no US law saying this.
 
He had perhaps the best of intentions, but zero common-sense. Like others here have said, he could have brought diseases to them for which they had no immunity. Example: measles was a very mild condition to most Europeans, but it killed large numbers of American Indians in the 17th and 18th centuries.
 
From the link posted by Gerhard1 above.

The group 'International Christian Concern' say:

We here at International Christian Concern are extremely concerned by the reports of an American missionary being murdered in India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands. A full investigation must be launched into this murder and those responsible must be brought to justice… India must take steps to counter the growing wave of intolerance and violence.”
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Ffs. Words fail me.

To quote the late Bill Hicks: "We've lost a moron - I just felt the world get lighter"!
 
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Also, to Gerhard1, there is the so-called "Stand your Ground Law". Which, to quote from the posted link:

"establishes a right by which a person may defend one's self or others (right of self-defense) against threats or perceived threats, even to the point of applying lethal force, regardless of whether safely retreating from the situation might have been possible. Such a law typically states that an individual has no duty to retreat from any place where they have a lawful right to be[1] (though this varies from state to state) and that they may use any level of force if they reasonably believe the threat rises to the level of being an imminent and immediate threat of serious bodily harm and/or death. "
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Of course while legal in America, I'm sure that International Christian Concern would be sure to insist that it doesn't allow foreigners to kill God-bothering American citizens who are going about their God-given business of threatening the safety and security of said foreigners.:(
 
Sorry Yithian, my apologies.

Please delete my last post if you feel it appropriate to do so.
 
The world is not a playground for dilettantes from more affluent nations - particularly dogmatic ones seeking to spread their beliefs and / or score personal points by flouting local law.
 
From above:

We here at International Christian Concern are extremely concerned by the reports of an American missionary being murdered in India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands. A full investigation must be launched into this murder and those responsible must be brought to justice… India must take steps to counter the growing wave of intolerance and violence.”
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It's worth pointing out that although the man may have died for reasons brought about by his Christian missionary zeal, there's actually no indication that he was killed because he was either specifically a Christian, or a missionary.
 
Add me to the apology list.

Post #47 makes my point.

Enough said.

That guy certainly puts Jehovah's Witnesses to shame when it comes to persistence.

Sorry Zebra, but he had it coming.

INT21.
 
Yithian said:
Absolutely no discussion of U.S. firearms law here, please!
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Just as a correction, no discussion, it's not a US law. This type of law originates on the state level and I believe this one is specific to Florida. Other states have similar or absolutely no such laws.
 
The missionary was exceptionally foolhardy. However nobody (regardless of their degree of intellect or common sense) deserves to be brutally killed with primitive arrows. Overall an unfortunate situation that could have been avoided.
 
Jim said:
The missionary was exceptionally foolhardy. However nobody (regardless of their degree of intellect or common sense) deserves to be brutally killed with primitive arrows. Overall an unfortunate situation that could have been avoided.
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That is a valid view, but it might be well to keep in mind that we are dealing with what is essentially an unknown culture. Their mores concerning what justifies killing would seem to be somewhat different from what you or I see as right.

Please note that I am not saying that you are wrong; just pointing out the cultural context.
 
Jim said:
The missionary was exceptionally foolhardy. However nobody (regardless of their degree of intellect or common sense) deserves to be brutally killed with primitive arrows. Overall an unfortunate situation that could have been avoided.
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The islanders deserved to die a lot less.

The guy put the lives of an entire - albeit tiny - population at risk. He exploited local people to the extent that they left themselves liable to arrest, prosecution and loss of livelihood (whether he died or not). He did all of this against very clear advice, local knowledge and local legislation.

At the risk of sounding hard-hearted - I have no sympathy whatsoever. If he truly wanted to be the good Christian he could be feeding starving kids in the Yemen, manning a shelter for abused women in Tijuana, or fighting HIV in central Africa - you know, actually doing something rather than shouting about his beliefs at a bunch of strangers. But, nah - he wanted to play rock-star missionary. No tears from me, I'm afraid.
 
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