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seems to me the proselytizing from the back of a boat would have been the way to go here
He didn't know the language. He needed to live among them, so that he could first learn the language. No one knows their language, not even any Indian gov't officials who have been in charge of overseeing the island (to the limited extent that's even possible).
This island is like a zoo with human specimens or a Jurassic Park with people instead of dinosaurs. Forget about this poor missionary. Isn't keeping these people isolated almost like experimenting on them? Like keeping a culture of germs in a dark closet? How can we know womens' right are being protected? Doesn't the right to migrate extend to immigrants to their island?
Andaman & Nicobar Islands is a Union Territory with India. They are a group of around 300 islands with lot of indigeneous Ethnic groups plus settlers from mainland India. Some ethnic groups have maintained primitive status. Some have mixed up with mainland civilizations and done well. Some tribals (indigeneous ethnic group) people have gone to become Doctors, Engineers. Some have excelled in Sports such as Cycling including winning medals at world level meet.
17 year old Esow Alben won silver Medal recently at World Cycling meet.
He is ethnic Nicobarese.
But the place where that idiot went was island inhabited by Sentinilese which are protected under Law and it is forbidden for anyone to make contact with those people.
He was neither delusional, nor suicidal. Many missionaries have been killed trying to share their beliefs, Christian or otherwise. H[b]e put himself in this dangerous situation because he genuinely loved these people and wanted to see them saved. I mean, if you genuinely and truly believe in a horrible place called hell, and that people go there if they don't hear this truth, what kind of person are you if you *don't* attempt to tell them? As with most religious missionaries, he was not there to force a view, but sow the seeds of truth and let them make the decision. That is what they are called to do according to their Scriptures.
He knew exactly what he was doing. He wrote that if he were killed, that it wasn't the fault of the natives and people should not blame them. This was his fifth attempt to reach the people.
I think this story brings out a lot of anti-religious sentiments in a lot of people. That hatred runs deep, especially on the Internet. A man died, knowing full well that this would be the result, and did it anyway, because he loved his fellow man, regardless of race, religion or language barrier.
If the bolded was true, why would he go to the island after being told he could expose them to diseases? I find nothing noble or selfless about what he did. I read his writings and he appeared to be extremely arrogant. The people chased him away the 1st day, yet he still returned. It did not matter why he was there. It was illegal to go and they made it clear he was not wanted, so he should have respected that.
This whole idea that someone who has never heard of God or Jesus will go to hell upon death is old testament hogwash. It was written by overly zealous men in a different time and is the epitome of religious arrogance. Chau supposedly went to "save" these people from eternal damnation because of what men wrote 60,000 years into their tribal existance. On top of his arrogance he ignored the real risk of spreading a deadly infection to this tribe, something that nearly obliterated them in the past.
I honestly don't know how any reasonable person could excuse his actions.
As India was a part of British Empire, Andaman & Nicobar Islands were part of British India till 1947 when India became independent.
In the year 1857, there was a sepoy mutiny (First war of Independence) by Indians against British Rule. British Authorities were left with lot of Indian Prisoners as that revolution failed. British Authorities decided to use these islands (group of 300) as a penal colony as release of those prisoners in general populace would have been risky. They built massive prison (Cellular Jail). Many prisoners tried to escape but they were captured or eaten by various abroginal tribes (thats a myth). British people interected and photographed various tribes. Thier pics in media are as old as 1880s. They did not interfere with ethnic population. Sherlock Holmes story "The Sign of Four" deals with this backdrop including an ethnic tribesman from these islands in London. In the 1940s, Japanese captured these islands for few years as a part of world war 2. When they left, the ethnic people started using cycles left by Japanese soldiers with such fervour that they are winning world level medals. Cycling is a top sport in those islands. Indian Navy has a bse, Airport and a large Indian mainland population settlement is there.
Some tribes mixed with mainland settlers, went to school, college. Some didnt like Sentinilese and were left alone. There are special laws protecting their culture, habitat, no entry of any outsider.
Imagine being dumb enough to think that a basically isolated tribe that is known to be hostile and violent towards incoming outsiders 1. cares about your religion or 2. will be likely to let you in, sing kumbaya, and convert to your religion.
According to BBC reporting on 'tribal isolates' today’s so-called un-contacted people all have a history of contact, whether from past exploitation or simply seeing a plane flying overhead. So a knowledge and fear of outsiders is quite common.
And paraphrasing from the same article, the Sentinelese on North Sentinel island, who experts think is the most isolated tribe in the world, and whom little is known about their language, have had occasional brushes with other societies; members of their tribe have been kidnapped, helicopters sometimes fly over their island and they have killed fishermen who have ventured too close.
Now I believe a nation has a right to defend itself against intruders and have stated as much in many posts.
But a civilized society must exercise restraint and respond symmetrically, using the least force that will accomplish the task. Mass executions of unarmed folks, purposeful use of chemical weapons, etc. are clearly not acceptable.
I also believe that no one or group should be immune from acts of obvious homicide.
And uncivilized societies should and have been brought to justice.
It is my opinion that this act rises to that level of offense.
Clearly others do not agree.
Amen.
According to BBC reporting on 'tribal isolates' today’s so-called un-contacted people all have a history of contact, whether from past exploitation or simply seeing a plane flying overhead. So a knowledge and fear of outsiders is quite common.
And paraphrasing from the same article, the Sentinelese on North Sentinel island, who experts think is the most isolated tribe in the world, and whom little is known about their language, have had occasional brushes with other societies; members of their tribe have been kidnapped, helicopters sometimes fly over their island and they have killed fishermen who have ventured too close.
Now I believe a nation has a right to defend itself against intruders and have stated as much in many posts.
But a civilized society must exercise restraint and respond symmetrically, using the least force that will accomplish the task. Mass executions of unarmed folks, purposeful use of chemical weapons, etc. are clearly not acceptable.
I also believe that no one or group should be immune from acts of obvious homicide.
And uncivilized societies should and have been brought to justice.
It is my opinion that this act rises to that level of offense.
Clearly others do not agree.
Amen.
I think you'd have a point if members of this tribe were venturing out of their territory elsewhere into cities or other areas and committing what we would consider heinous acts. But this happened on their land, a protected area in India. The government protects these people and warns others to stay away. This guy didn't. Why should the Sentinelese be punished? Why should we force them to live by our standards on their own land, which is acknowledged seemingly as their sovereign area? We should all leave them alone as long as they aren't bothering anyone. They bother no one until someone bothers them first, which would be the sole fault of the person bothering them.
Just imagine a Hindu Priest from India walking towards a US Military Base in USA with holy religious books in his hands and trying to convert soldiers there. Military Bases are highly secured zones with strict no-entry for any unauthorized people. The Priest will be warned, possible arrest and will even be shot dead by the security personnel of that Base if he continue walking despite warnings. Will there be any arrest of soldiers? NO. They are doing their duty. US Police will arrest all the accomplices of that idiot priest as this has caused serious security breach incident.
Similar case here. Restricted no entry area means no entry. Indian Police has arrested all the accomplices of this idiot who entered North Sentinel Island.
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