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The language is not mutually intelligible with any other local island languages, including the Jarawa or Onge people who did not recognize any of their language when they went there last century.
The isolation means their language has evolved and would not be able to be discerned by anyone else, including discerning Christians.
The news articles make it clear he didn't speak their language.
In my post #247 I give a detailed breakdown of what he was suffering from given what I have read in his diaries, his family background and the new articles based on my background in psychology. But basically he was suffering from extreme Christian indoctrination, a severe inferiority complex because he was short and likely couldn't get a girlfriend (because everything I've read didn't mention a significant other in his life), an obsession to make himself a hero in the news media that would have gotten him fame, fortune and thus a good Christian girlfriend.
But in trying to accomplish this he did everything azz-backward and this resulted in stupid actions leading to him being killed. Basically he developed a suicide wish at the end because he could have turned back after his first hostile encounter with the natives but he chose to go back knowing he'd likely be killed. In other words, he chose to die.
In my post #247 I give a detailed breakdown of what he was suffering from given what I have read in his diaries, his family background and the new articles based on my background in psychology. But basically he was suffering from extreme Christian indoctrination, a severe inferiority complex because he was short and likely couldn't get a girlfriend (because everything I've read didn't mention a significant other in his life), an obsession to make himself a hero in the news media that would have gotten him fame, fortune and thus a good Christian girlfriend.
But in trying to accomplish this he did everything azz-backward and this resulted in stupid actions leading to him being killed. Basically he developed a suicide wish at the end because he could have turned back after his first hostile encounter with the natives but he chose to go back knowing he'd likely be killed. In other words, he chose to die.
I'm not sure why you are so obsessed with the "short" thing, I don't think that is a factor.
Not being able to get a gf is something different, as often Christian groups stick within their own kind, which limits their social options.
He was obviously very focused on his mission too, and had been planning it since he was 18!
In a way though the suicide pact assertion is interesting, it certainly would be sheer folly and a form of accidental suicide at the very least - knowing the history of previous contacts with these natives.
I'm not sure why you are so obsessed with the "short" thing, I don't think that is a factor.
Not being able to get a gf is something different, as often Christian groups stick within their own kind, which limits their social options.
He was obviously very focused on his mission too, and had been planning it since he was 18!
In a way though the suicide pact assertion is interesting, it certainly would be sheer folly and a form of accidental suicide at the very least - knowing the history of previous contacts with these natives.
Of course being short is a factor. In John Chau's case it could have been a tremendous factor in the steps leading up to his disastrous decision to go to a place he clearly knew was dangerous but which he was obsessed with converting.
Derek, you sound like a guy. Ask yourself, "Would I rather be 6'2" or 5'2"?" If you're honest I think you'll choose the former. Then read this:
Quote:
...most women feel that short men aren't relationship material...short men believe that women see them as less than or deficient...
Without belaboring this just please believe me when I say men as short as John Chau do grow up with an inferiority complex. Most compensate by getting into a prestigious position like doctor or lawyer and it's the money and position in society that compensates them for being short.
In Chau's case he was so propagandized by his parents to love Jesus that all he thought about growing up being was a missionary for Jesus. That was his first mistake.
His second mistake was not getting a profession he could fall back on in case the missionary thing didn't work out. By the age of 27 he was over the hill--too old to get into a good university and too indoctrinated to get his mind wrapped around the idea that happiness in this world doesn't come from dying for Jesus, it comes from having a wife, kids, a position in his church as deacon or something and having a good profession that he can support his family on.
Lacking all that, it became a do-or-die situation for him--convert these inconvertable natives to Jesus or die in the process thereby gaining posthumous status as a martyr for Jesus.
Converting them wasn't possible as he found out the first few times he ventured to the islands but by now he was so obsessed with accomplishing something he couldn't allow himself to think of doing anything else with his life.
Bear in mind if he really wanted to be a true missionary he could have chosen to to go a thousand different places in the world.
Why didn't he?
This obsession with the converting the Sentinelese people shows just how unbalanced his mind had become.
Dead missionary John Chau did more to advance the "Jesus is Imaginary" cause than he will ever realize. His zeal for Jesus took him to a remote island in the Indian Ocean. His first words there were "I love you and Jesus loves you!" and
THUNK!
An arrow hits him and he dies.
So much for Jesus' promise to missionaries:
I guess Jesus forgot to cover things like arrows through the heart.
John, if you can hear me you should have thought of that before going to the island. Your own stupidity and blind faith in an imaginary Bible character killed you, not the arrows.
Dead missionary John Chau did more to advance the "Jesus is Imaginary" cause than he will ever realize. His zeal for Jesus took him to a remote island in the Indian Ocean. His first words there were "I love you and Jesus loves you!" and
THUNK!
An arrow hits him and he dies.
So much for Jesus' promise to missionaries:
I guess Jesus forgot to cover things like arrows through the heart.
John, if you can hear me you should have thought of that before going to the island. Your own stupidity and blind faith in an imaginary Bible character killed you, not the arrows.
You are mistaken. Jesus made that promise to his apostles and the gift was shared with others in the early years of Christianity along with the apostles. It was limited in scope and time to strengthen the fledging congregations. Even Paul wrote that the gift of supernatural powers to men would be done away with after.
You are mistaken. Jesus made that promise to his apostles and the gift was shared with others in the early years of Christianity along with the apostles. It was limited in scope and time to strengthen the fledging congregations. Even Paul wrote that the gift of supernatural powers to men would be done away with after.
Yes, it's very convenient for the church when the Holy Spirit withdraws all supernatural intervention right after Jesus ascends. That way they don't have to try to pull an Elijah stunt and call down fire from heaven and expect the piles of sticks to catch fire to prove to the pagans Jesus is real. All they have to do is initiate a "Without faith it is impossible to please God" policy.
Gets the Christian cheerleaders off the hook, don't you think?
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What on earth was he thinking?
