One man's delusion is another's deliverance. Some may snicker of Darwin Awards and all that, but this man died in a misguided and naive attempt to do good, not to exploit or harm anyone.
I'm sure his family and friends feel terribly bad about this tragedy.
Isolated tribes often do not have the same built up immunities to common diseases. It may not have been intentional, but he could very well have killed them all, regardless of his motives.
I don't think he deserved to die. He sounds like he was a decent and loving person, and I'm sure he will be missed; I do not celebrate his death. But when you do the equivalent of sticking your hand in a box marked "DANGER LETHAL VOLTAGE", I do think you bear some culpability for your own death.
Practically the only thing we know about the Sentinelese is that they kill anyone who comes near them, no exceptions. He tried to make friends with them because he believed God told him to. Either his god is a giggling psychopath or he was delusional. I don't see a middle ground in this particular case.
Without sparking a typical science vs. religion debate, the point is that quite likely in his eyes he was trying to perform an act of charity, not of malice.
Yes this isn’t a science versus religion debate. The issue is the definition of charity, which means different things to the giver and the receiver.
I argue here that the giver was acting in self interest unable to see another perspective. I’ve been on the end of that class of charity before many times and ultimately it was about changing mindset and empowerment of the charity giver rather than helping the receiver. Whether or not this was conciously done I have yet to establish.
By any moral standard, perhaps we should let people know we’re there if we are needed and the help should be on the receiver’s terms. We’d all get along a lot better then.
> attempt to do good, not to exploit or harm anyone
Well, he wanted to instill in them a belief system based upon irrational faith. One could argue that attempting to change the contents of their minds/belief systems for no good reason is "harm", and especially so when the new belief system is so flawed.
I'm sure his family and friends feel terribly bad about this tragedy.