General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: You Can't Get Conservative White Women To Change Their Minds [View all]TwistOneUp
(1,020 posts)Fwiw, I believe that the "missionary" was a dupe to promote the church's cause. Fishermen told the kid that they would kill him, which is why the kid wrote and said, "Oh god, I don't want to die". So he knew there was danger. The church should have banned him from going. You can easily argue that the church benefitted from the kids death insofar as they Now Know that missionaries going there will be killed, and that this was the church's modus operandi - the kid was a "canary", and the island the "coal mine".
So, is there any doubt that there was a profound lack of fear? The kid wanted to go. Faith - and/or the church - replaced reason, the kid's fear was downplayed, and thus he lost his life when reason could have saved him.
This is what happens when you replace common sense with belief. Sometimes you don't pay a price, and other times you do. People with common sense, e.g. the church, would have benefitted had the kid survived - just ask the Native Hawaiians "who benefitted?" when missionaries "introduced" their island chain to the christian god. Some people, notably Mahu (native hawaiian 'third gender' people), were killed, tortured, and abused.
Perhaps the Native People on the island wanted to avoid all that? Just an idea.