[Misc] North Sentinel Island & An American Idiot

[Frutos]

There's an island in the Indian Ocean called North Sentinel Island, which is home to one of the last groups of people on Earth who are untouched by the modern world.

Under Indian law it is forbidden to go anywhere near this island, and yet this American thought it would be a good idea to go and "introduce them to Jesus". It did not end well:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...-by-tribe-north-sentinel-island-declare-jesus

What possesses people to try such utterly stupid things, in the face of all logic and advice? I know that belief in evangelical Christianity is very strong in some parts of the US, but surely there is line where you'd think "you know what, this might not be so smart"?

 

[BNthree]

Good job they killed him as he could have easily killed them all with virus/germs/bacteria he inadvertently introduced to them.

 

[AmexRuislip]

Trust an American to do this.
If you'd asked what country this person came from, who defied the advice, most people would've guessed right.
It's just typical human curiosity, which obviously didn't end well!

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Unbelievably stupid. Even if you ignore the fact that they have always killed any intruders there have been tribes where 90% of the populace has died from what we would consider minor infections when 'introduced' to the outside world.

And now the Americans are bound to want to repatriate his body. It could end very badly.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

I suspect that "thinking" didn't play much of a part in this. Pig headed self belief might have though.

 

[wehatepalace]

I read this yesterday, what an absolute goon, not for getting killed by arrows and spears, but for going there in the first place !
Why can’t people understand and leave these tribes alone and stop trying to force our beliefs and modern life styles upon them.
I watched a program once and one of these tribes were all wearing football shirts and smoking due to western dogooders sticking their noses in !

 

[studio150]

An American abroad being an idiot how strange

 

[The Andy Naylor Fan Club]

There's an island in the Indian Ocean called North Sentinel Island, which is home to one of the last groups of people on Earth who are untouched by the modern world.

Under Indian law it is forbidden to go anywhere near this island, and yet this American thought it would be a good idea to go and "introduce them to Jesus". It did not end well:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...-by-tribe-north-sentinel-island-declare-jesus

What possesses people to try such utterly stupid things, in the face of all logic and advice? I know that belief in evangelical Christianity is very strong in some parts of the US, but surely there is line where you'd think "you know what, this might not be so smart"?

The irony being that they "introduced him to Jesus" sooner than he needed to be!

 

[Stat Brother]

Danny Baker loves to talk about North Sentinel Island.
If only the American listened to 5-Live, on a Saturday morning, instead of God.

Those of you wishing to get even more perplexed by this level of pig headed stupidity need to go back to listen to tonight's 5-Live Drive between 18:45 & 19:00.

I missed the very beginning but I assume it was one of mad-mans colleagues defending the decision to go because these people needed to be bought the word of God.

 

[Madafwo]

I'm surprised it took this long for there to be a thread on this. I've got strong views on the matter but I've tried about 5 different ways of writing them down and i can't find a way to put them across without sounding like a twunt.

He shouldn't have been there and I despise his reasons for being there. Can I use the same tactics for when the JWs come round next time?

 

[Stat Brother]

I'm surprised it took this long for there to be a thread on this. I've got strong views on the matter but I've tried about 5 different ways of writing them down and i can't find a way to put them across without sounding like a twunt.

He shouldn't have been there and I despise his reasons for being there. Can I use the same tactics for when the JWs come round next time?

Perhaps this might help:-

The bloke was a knob.

 

[The Optimist]

I find the statement from his family saying they forgive the tribe as weird. They don’t need forgiveness, they don’t live by modern laws, they presumably didn’t do anything wrong under their own moral code.

 

[Hugo Rune]

Nomination for a Darwin Award, surely?

 

[GT49er]

I missed the very beginning but I assume it was one of mad-mans colleagues defending the decision to go because these people needed to be bought the word of God.

It was! Another zealot

 

[Bozza]

Any volunteers to head over there with an iPad and bring Glenn Murray into their lives?

I think that's where the American chap went wrong.

 

[Gilliver's Travels]

Just checked the place on Google Maps. Useless. We can only imagine what happened to the Streetview driver.

 

[Chicken Run]

I read this yesterday, what an absolute goon, not for getting killed by arrows and spears, but for going there in the first place !
Why can’t people understand and leave these tribes alone and stop trying to force our beliefs and modern life styles upon them.
I watched a program once and one of these tribes were all wearing football shirts and smoking due to western dogooders sticking their noses in !

Bloody he’ll something similar must of happened to the North Stand Tribe....

 

[Shooting Star]

There's an island in the Indian Ocean called North Sentinel Island, which is home to one of the last groups of people on Earth who are untouched by the modern world.

Under Indian law it is forbidden to go anywhere near this island, and yet this American thought it would be a good idea to go and "introduce them to Jesus". It did not end well:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...-by-tribe-north-sentinel-island-declare-jesus

What possesses people to try such utterly stupid things, in the face of all logic and advice? I know that belief in evangelical Christianity is very strong in some parts of the US, but surely there is line where you'd think "you know what, this might not be so smart"?

Unfortunately, I'm not sure anyone who has replied to this thread has either read the article fully or has an understanding of the Christianity of the Bible.

a) Why is he an idiot? His diary entries clearly illustrate that he was 100% aware of the risks of going to the island. Have we called astronauts idiots because the risk of a rocket blowing up en route to space is fairly high? Neither Chau nor his family are blaming anyone. The family clearly hold no malice to the islanders, in keeping with their son's wishes, and are working to free those who helped his son reach the island.

b) The New Testament after Jesus' life is full of accounts of his followers enduring persecution for trying to tell people about Jesus' resurrection. Rather than being simply content to "not impose his views on anyone" and live a cushy western life, Chau actually had the conviction of his beliefs to risk his life to bring what he believes is eternal life to others. It was his life to risk and at least he died for a cause he believed was worthy, whether you agree with it or not. Many who laugh at Chau for being an idiot will be currently drinking, smoking or eating their way to an early grave despite every warning under the sun being given to them. History may have a very different view on who the "idiots" were.

 

[Tom Bombadil]

Dear God Botherer,

He is an idiot because he thought he knew better than everyone else and wanted to go and inflict his beliefs on people who have repeatedly made clear they do not want to be contacted. Being religious and having faith is not a problem. Believing that your truth is superior to everyone else's is.

 

[Worried Man Blues]

The more stupid you are the shorter your life expectancy