http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2004/02/07/state2118EST0136.DTL
An American Airlines pilot flying passengers from Los Angeles to New York asked Christians on board to identify themselves and then suggested that non-Christian passengers discuss the faith with them, the airline confirmed Saturday.
If he wanted to get fired or fined, couldn’t he just have asked?
That’s pretty disrespectful and obnoxious.
I’m pretty scared of flying, and I’m also pretty scared of hardcore religious people, so I would have taken that comment by the pilot and figured he was about to nosedive us into the nearest church steeple. If the plane hadn’t yet taken off, I guarantee I would have been out of there.
I like discussing faith, and if it’s mandated by the captain, I’d certainly not turn away from the nastier lines of reasoning. Way to decrease safety in the air.
I remember having a discussion during basic training in the Army in which we tried to figure out who would be the best person to have in a foxhole with you. My thought was that it would be an extreme athiest, someone who believed there was absolutely nothing after death so that he would do everything to keep himself (and therefore you) on this side of the veil.
Perhaps the same could be said of pilots? :lol:
Hmm, not sure I agree with that. I think you’d want someone who thought there was something beyond this life and was therefore more willing to sacrifice his life for yours – for example jumping on top of that grenade that just landed in your foxhole. Seriously I’m not sure I would want to be with anyone religious or atheist who was willing to do “everything to keep himself … on this side of the veil”. Since that “everything” might include sacrificing your life for his.
I suppose your theory might work better for pilots, as long as there isn’t a parachute on board that the pilot has access to.
If a grenade lands in your foxhole, you are supposed to kick it into the grenade sump (a small, deep hole) on your side, not jump on it-- if it doesn’t roll there on its own down the angled floor you dug that is.
So the real answer would be “anyone but a Wiccan”, because they would not want the deep mother earth to be harmed and would probably try and throw the grenade up into the air where it could explode relatively harmlessly.
They better fire this guy.
Hmmm. I guess I’ve been too heavily influenced by a book on Iwo Jima I read when I was a kid. I seem to recall there were at least 2-3 Marines who jumped on grenades to save their comrades and as a result received posthumous Medal of Honors.
What I really can’t stand about deeply religious people is their endless need to convince others to join their cults. If they would just stay out of other people’s business they wouldn’t be so annoying.
While I’m personally agnostic, I’d be lying if I claimed I’ve never met militant atheists who are every bit as evangelical as the average religious extremist.
… but then, there are people who are just as willing to try to convert you to their favorite band, sports team or movie.
Yeah, we had a militant athiest at the last magazine I worked at. She honestly had asked if there was a way to change the phrasing that we weren’t responsible for “acts of God” in the legal boilerplate text. I honestly don’t understand extremist defense of a non-viewpoint. :-)
As for this pilot, apparently he’d just returned from doing mission work in some very poor third-worldish region. Doesn’t excuse what he did, but might explain the state of mind he was in.
I started a new job last December and discovered half my new co-workers are fundamentalist Christians. Now, I’m a Christian myself, the non-church-going-but-still-believes type, but some of these people scare me. We got talking about the Iraq war last week and one of them starts expousing how we need to wipe the entire middle east out, man, woman, and child. He was flat-out serious.
I’ve actually got a mate that says the same thing - nothing to do with religion. He just doesn’t understand that it’s only SOME of them doing the terrorist thing. I think he beleives it to be the ‘easy’ way out.
Why thi spilot said what he did. I dunno - but either way it’s unprofessional and he should punished. I’m not saying fire him. Just let him know that religion should be kept to private times.
(you believe in god?
I beleebe
do you beleeb in gawd?
I beleebe in gawd.)
I went into the Navy when I was 17. I attended boot camp and an A class, and when I got back home on my first leave, the entire family had converted from Catholic to fundementalist Christians. Talk about you can never go home! There is nothing more annoying that newly converted fudementalists. Over the years we have both mellowed, but back then it was frightening.
Wow, the pilot was way off base. But can you imagine being asked to identify your faith in a situation like that these days? Outrageous.
I’m surprised the passengers didn’t mount a mass protest. I’d be worried that he’d be planning to take me on a trip to meet his God…
You’d think the other pilot would have been a bit concerned as well.
God was his copilot.
Oh, but the inclusion of a proselytizing element makes for a very successful meme :)
Well you say that but… I remember more than a few reasonable and not necessarily fundamentalist or even Christian people expressing support for that particular opinion after a sad day 29 months ago :?
Whoa, shit, so if I’m not all in your face about my beliefs, then I’m not deeply religious?
That’s right, I don’t give a damn what you believe AS LONG AS: you leave me out of your fairy tales! And I promise not to go around starting an Atheist Crusade either, hokay?