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British TV star, journalist sparks fury after he criticizes ‘unscrupulous’ Christians in wake of Sri Lanka terror attacks: ‘Don’t send your prayers’
Photo by Tharaka Basnayaka/NurPhoto via Getty Images

British TV star, journalist sparks fury after he criticizes ‘unscrupulous’ Christians in wake of Sri Lanka terror attacks: ‘Don’t send your prayers’

Hard to wrap your head around

A former BBC journalist and contestant in the United Kingdom's "Big Brother" is under fire after saying that people shouldn't be sending their prayers in the wake of the Sri Lanka terror attacks.

More than 300 people were killed in the church and hotel bombings that rocked the area on Easter Sunday, and more than 500 people were injured.

On Tuesday, ISIS took credit for the bombings. At least 40 people were arrested in connection with the attacks following the Sunday massacre.

You can read more about the attacks here.

So what's this 'Big Brother' person saying?

2016 "Big Brother" contestant and former BBC journalist Andy West tweeted about the Easter attacks.

In a Sunday tweet, West wrote, "There is no excuse for terror attacks against innocent people but as a journalist I saw Western Christian missionaries unscrupulpusly [sic] converting Buddhist orphans for food and shelter after the Asian tsunami. Don't send your prayers."

He later added, "Most — though not all — of those 'good Christian soldiers' thought they were doing God's good work. Perhaps we should forgive people their delusions but trying to press one religion onto another by brainwashing desperate children is a Western tradition that only leads to misery."

His initial tweet was not received well, with just 1,000 "likes," but more than 7,000 comments. A vast majority of the comments from other social media users broadly condemned West's remarks.

Facing criticism from social media peers, West later doubled down on his remarks and offered an explanation as to why he stood by them.

He wrote, "So prayers aren't needed. In fact prayers are proven beyond doubt to have no effect. What might help, however, is ending the Western campaign to convert people of other religions in exchange for charity."

He also went on to point out the actions of what he called "Christian cult leaders" in Sri Lanka.

"I witnessed young Buddhist children who'd watched their parents drown in the tsunami being asked: 'Are you hungry? Do you have somewhere safe to sleep? Will you love Jesus Christ?' Now you tell me that I, as a journalist, should be blind to Christian cult leaders in Sri Lanka?" he wrote.

(H/T: The Sun)

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