Missionaries Trying to Convert Other Cultures Should Be a Thing of the Past

In last night's "edition" of my  "daily reads" for this blog, I linked to a Daily Mail article about a foolish 27-year-old American man who thought he could barge in on a protected island in the Indian Ocean which is forbidden by Indian law to be contacted in any way by outsiders.  He considered himself a missionary who arrogantly thought he could convert a tribe dating back tens of thousands of years and had no use for modern life and bring them to Christ.  Never mind the danger he posed to this tribe, called Sentinelese, who live in North Sentinel Island, by carrying all kinds of viruses and shit that could wipe out the entire population.  He just figured he could pay off some fishermen to visit the island and be some kind of hero.

The "hero" wound up being a "zero" when he was stabbed to death with arrows and dragged along the shore.  His body has not been recovered.  It is clear you shouldn't even think of pissing this tribe off.

You'd think by now people would get the hint that many, many people in the world are perfectly happy with their religious beliefs or no beliefs, and they do NOT want to be converted in any way.  In this case, it was worse because Chau KNEW he was not supposed to be near that island, but he decided to do it anyway.  Not just once, but he stupidly went there again, when he died.

Now Indian officials say it could be difficult to retrieve the body.  I would say it is likely impossible.  He is probably buried or dumped in the ocean.

Some people in comments like the Mail and other places compare this fool with the equally foolish missionaries who went to Ecuador in 1956, and the people there were not happy either, and they killed the men.  Unfortunately, this didn't stop arrogant missionaries from continuing to go to the area, and many of the people wound converted to Christianity, including one of the men believed responsible for two of the deaths.  It was known as Operation Auca.