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Recently news has got around of a sort of selfie (instagrammar I think) taking American Christian missionary who decided to go to the Andaman Islands and convert the Sentinelese to Christianity.

The same natives who likely have semi-hostile attitude towards foreigners which could be related to M.V. Portman's expedition (with the modern day results being them shooting at helicopters that try to watch them):

M.V. Portman's contact with them

As you can tell from that title, the Sentinelese welcomed the fella with iron tipped arrows (for those wondering why I said iron tipped arrows).

BBC's American 'killed in India by endangered Andamans tribe'

John Allen Chau: Body of man killed by tribe 'may never be recovered'

It does make me wonder if we will hear news of the natives of the Island in the future dying off from what will likely be whatever pathogens or that is on John's body that gets em sick. Another lesson that shows the differences between a actual competent, experienced and trained missionaries vs. the incompetent ones who do more damage through their stupidity (or naivety if you wish to be generous and polite).

The best outcome by his reckoning would still have put hundreds of Sentinelese at risk of lethal disease, so his actions were grossly irresponsible and unethical on top of being illegal.

Nonetheless, he didn't deserve to die. Condolences to his family.

Well the best you can say is that he wasn't trying to be malicious if the journal that his family got from the fishermen are anything to go by.

Article on some of his journal pieces

But seemingly good-intentions sometimes don't really cover for some rather poor choices. Especially since for a lot of people it comes off as suicidal delusional arrogance. I've restrained myself from being too harsh on him until I got to know more of who he was which made me reflect on my earlier word choices. His case is helped a bit by wanting no-one to hate and blame the Sentinelese if he didn't come back safe (although for some that makes it entirely worse since he knew the foolhardy risk but did it anyway).

It's too bad that no-one pulled him aside before the trip and told him that his plan was stupid and terrible on many levels for both him and the natives. That or left the Island after the shot from kid he encountered nearly killed him if it wasn't for his bible.

Although his death does highlight a lot of stuff from the uncontacted tribes, to tourism around them, and then the missionaries who end up being a huge danger to the natives since for some reason they keep forgetting diseases and herd immunity. That and hardcore Christians trying to make him look like martyr when for many others not so much and more like a relatively decent like fella if not a very foolish one. With the nastiest critics being Kiwifarms and /pol/ who'd colourfully call him effectively, "a exceptional autistic retard with delusions of grandeur who deserved it".

Just unfortunate that he wasn't wounded and survived instead, although he would've been in deep shit with the law and living with almost everyone mocking him for the rest of his life.

I do have sympathies for the family. Maybe not much for him since well, he didn't deserve to die but he certainly marched right into the lion's den despite everyone and the lion warning him which I can only shake my head as the ensuring carnage happens.

Well meybe it will force them to integrage into society so they can have acces to modern medicines,

Not gonna cheer for the guy's death but missionaries are bad in general and should probably just leave people who want to be left alone, alone.

This doesn't even sound real this sounds like a cutaway from Family Guy.

That's what I thought as well when first hearing about the story.

Sometimes fiction can't outmatch real-life in how weird and outlandish it can be at times.

While he may of had good intentions in wanting to spread the word of Jesus, he really should of heeded all the warnings there were about the tribe. Trying to contact a tribe that's essentially hostile to any and all outsiders is suicide and even if they were to accept him, their bodies aren't really built up to be immune to any diseases he's carrying.

Really though, if there are missionaries that should learn something, they should learn from this guy's death in terms of what happens if you try to contact a completely hostile tribe, especially when the law makes it illegal to contact them.

Sounds like it went as well as it could have.

It's awful but really looks like it went as well as it could have.