Andy West, pictured on Good Morning Britain in January, has faced a backlash over his tweets
A former Big Brother contestant has sparked outrage today after urging people not to ‘send their prayers’ to Sri Lanka because of ‘unscrupulous Western Christian missionaries.’
Andy West, a journalist and presenter who appeared on the Channel Five reality series in 2016, has faced a backlash over his social media comments written in the wake of the terror attacks which claimed the lives of at least 320 people.
He wrote on Twitter last night: ‘There is no excuse for terror attacks against innocent people but as a journalist I saw Western Christian missionaries unscrupulpusly converting Buddhist orphans for food and shelter after the Asian tsunami. Don’t send your prayers.[sic]’
Some 40 people are now under arrest over the coordinated suicide bomb attacks – the worst atrocity since Sri Lanka’s civil war ended a decade ago.
The attacks were also the worst ever against the country’s small Christian minority, who make up just seven percent of the 21 million – largely Buddhist – population.
West, who came fifth in Big Brother 17, said last night, ‘prayers are not needed’ for the victims of the massacre and ‘are proven beyond doubt to have no effect.’
Andy West has faced a backlash over his controversial social media comments written in the wake of the terror attacks
Police and locals inspect the damage in Katuwapitiya St. Sebastian church in Negombo near Colombo, Sri Lanka
On Twitter, he wrote: ‘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.’
He added: ‘What might help, however, is ending the Western campaign to convert people of other religions in exchange for charity.
‘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?’
But he faced a backlash from social media users.
One wrote: ‘There’s no excuse for terror attacks against innocent people but…’ There’s no ‘but’ after that.’
Vajira Ranaviraja tweeted: ‘Andy, as a Sri Lankan Buddhist: Delete this and never even think to say anything this callous ever again.’
Another added: ‘If you had a shred of decency you would’ve stopped after your first six words. But you couldn’t. You had to take a dig at Christians. On an Easter that saw hundreds of them murdered.’
West replied: ‘When kids are shot in schools I oppose guns. When people are murdered for religion, we opposite religion…unless we’re brainwashed.
‘I’m pleased to have so many angry right wing American Christian zealots commenting here but the least they could do is gimme a follow and a retweet.’
West said last night, ‘prayers are not needed’ for the victims of the massacre and ‘are proven beyond doubt to have no effect’
Sri Lankan security personnel amid blast debris at St. Anthony’s Shrine following an explosion in the church
Stanley Johnson, Andy West and Dr Hilary Jones on Good Morning Britain in January
This CCTV footage reportedly shows the moment one of the suicide bombers walks into a church in Sri Lanka before detonating a device on Easter Sunday
West rose to fame as a BBC journalist in the 2016 series of Big Brother, alongside the likes of Marco Pierre White Jr and Laura Carter.
During his time on the show, his then-boyfriend Ed Hutton proposed to him in front of TV cameras as he came to visit him in the late Elstree studio.
But after leaving the show he discovered his husband-to-be had cheated on him numerous times during their three-year relationship.
He told MailOnline: ‘I have friends and family who are devoutly religious and, while I am personally opposed to all organised religions of all kinds, I respect people’s right to follow their own faith.
‘Since my tweets, I have been singled out for hateful, threatening and very un-Christian attacks by certain Christian groups and it has made me only the more certain that my criticism of the virulently prejudiced minority Christian right is justified.
‘It is a complete mischaracterisation of my tweets to suggest that I have any sympathy for terrorists or that I have any lack of compassion for those killed and maimed in this wave of atrocious bombings. Of course, I condemn all acts of terror by any group.
‘I offer my unconditional condolences to anyone suffering the loss of friends, family or colleagues in these attacks.’