This kind of yellow-journalism is unfortunately very prevalent here in Brazil. I find it amazing that the author engages in classic post-modern thought (the tribal religions are just as valid as Christianity) and then accuses the missionary of being a "post-modern Messiah".

It is possible to buy into this guy's screed until you realize that what he is calling for is the wholesale relegation of an entire people group to the stone age--an age which he is presumably unwilling to be relegated himself.

Its always easy for the people with running water and flush toilets and electricity to praise the brave stone-age peoples and to protect their culture. But as one who knows that "tropical rain forest" also means "steaming equatorial jungle" living in that type of disease-infested place is what made people develop cities and civilizations to begin with.

It's only a jungle to you, to them it's home.

...and it will continue to be home for them as long as they are consigned to be living museum pieces by the anthropological community and FUNAI here in Brazil.

When given the option, they tribesmen almost always choose civilization. This messes with the current anthropological, pie-in-the-sky theory of the noble savage preferring his natural habitat, and so they react by removing the option.

Basically, it is the author and his colleagues saying to the tribesmen "We don't trust you to make your own choices, so we will make them for you. And we chose that you should live in the jungle, suffer an astronomical infant mortality rate, and do without any of the modern conveniences that we--the anthropologists--take for granted."

Here we pretty much forced the Aboriginals to integrate, a few have , the rest have almost been destroyed, the only happy ones are the ones that have gone back to tribal life.

So Christianity is superior? Based on what?

Of course as a Christian I believe that Christianity is superior. If I didn't, it wouldn't make much sense for me to call myself a Christian. I could use all my "remaining characters" and still not cover the reasons why. Let me just echo John Newton who summed it up nicely: "I know two things--I am a terrible sinner, and Christ is a wonderful Savior."

However, the subject at hand deals with more than just the superiority of Christianity. Inherent in the author's complaint is the concept that all cultures are equally valid. This is simply (and quite obviously) not true--as is demonstrated by the author's own choice to live in the modern age.

The idea that there even cultural "superiority" is absurd, to say the least.

Well, it's not like Christianity has done any thing in the past that was detrimental to the natives, more of the same must be OK. Right?

Yeah, right....

I've an idea! Let's all go back to our so called "Roots" and join the "Ape" man in his cave in the jungle!

Nicely coded racial language.