Airline pilot wants to know your religion before taking off

[Musicat]

Talk about shattering your hopes of a relatively crash-free flight. From CNN:

A pilot asked passengers on an American Airlines flight to identify themselves as Christians, calling those who aren't "crazy," some of the passengers said Monday.

No passengers raised their hands, Austin said.

I guess not. They were too busy looking for the nearest emergency exit and calling their loved ones, Christians or not.

[gobear]

Praise Jesus for lifting up the Gospel! Them people ought to be plumb glad their pilot wasn't Raptured, so's they all would have a chance to git right with the Lord! The unsaved have no right not to hear the Word cause these here United States is a Christian country, so it stands to reason that Christians oughtta have more rights than anybody else. Anyhoo, I bet them hellbound sinners was right glad to have one of the Saints even sit near them, let alone talk to them about the blessed, blessed joys of self-denial and unceasing hymn-singing up yonder in Heaven. Lessen, of course, they was a Jew or an evolutionist or some such, cause ain't no helpin' some folks.

[Metacom]

Ya know, the pilot was a tasteless jackass, and doubtless his airline is gonna spank him for this.

But front-page coverage on cnn.com seems like overkill....

[Cheesesteak]

Originally Posted by Metacom

But front-page coverage on cnn.com seems like overkill....

Yeah, whatever happened to just quietly telling someone to not bother coming back to work?

[Casey1505]

PHP Code:

No passengers raised their hands, Austin said. 


Nobody believed he had a co-pilot?

[EddyTeddyFreddy]

From the CNN story:
In a statement, the airline said, "It falls along the lines of a personal level of sharing that may not be appropriate for one of our employees to do while on the job."

OUCH!

Dammit, doncha just hate it when your eyes roll so far they whack into the back of your skull?

[Revtim]

I wouldn't find it comforting to know that the pilot of a craft I'm in is probably looking forward to his/her afterlife. I want someone flying my plane who's *really* fearing death.

[Kalhoun]

Feh. See how far he'd have gotten if he was Muslim. They'd have carted him away.

[rsa]

Considering that many of the passengers were worried that the pilot might do something, I think that a pilot scaring his passengers is pretty big news.

Austin said passengers were shocked. Some reached for their mobile phones and others used the on-flight phones, she said.

"Just given the history of what's happened on planes in this country, anything can happen at this point, " Austin said. "So we weren't sure if something was going to happen at takeoff, if he was going to wait until JFK [John F. Kennedy Airport] to do something. But there was definitely implication there that we felt that something was going to happen."

Passengers complained to the flight attendants, who relayed their concerns to the cockpit, and then reassured them they had no nothing to worry about on the flight, Austin said.

The pilot apologized to the flight attendents for causing them trouble, but didn't apologize to the passengers.

[gluteus maximus]

From reading the CNN report, it seems the plane was already airborne when the pilot made his 'greeting', but if I'd been on that flight, I think I might have been slightly inclined to mutiny. I hope the airline does a bit more than 'spank' the jerk.

I'm glad CNN announced this. I won't be flying American 'Christian terrorist piloted' Airlines, you betcha!

It certainly seems this pilot should be prosecuted under the new anti-terrorism laws, doesn't it? I mean, he made ALL of the Christian passengers afraid enough to deny their religious beliefs, right?

No passengers raised their hands, Austin said.

And just a few weeks away from Good Friday (before the cock crows twice...)

OK, maybe the passengers were all Jews, Buddhists, atheists, Muslims, Scientologists...

[tdn]

How long before we start hearing protests in the papers and on the 'net complaining about AA's persecution of poor God-fearing pilots, and/or how atheism has taken over airlines that were founded on the bible?

How long until xian protesters start picketing AA?

How long until Bush agrees with them publicly?

My guesses are Wed the 11th at 9am EST, Sat the 14th at noon, and never, respectively.

[Metacom]

Originally Posted by tdn

How long before we start hearing protests in the papers and on the 'net complaining about AA's persecution of poor God-fearing pilots, and/or how atheism has taken over airlines that were founded on the bible?

How long until xian protesters start picketing AA?

How long until Bush agrees with them publicly?

My guesses are Wed the 11th at 9am EST, Sat the 14th at noon, and never, respectively.

My guess is never, never, and never (or at least not in any kind of significant numbers).

Fundamentalist evangelicals are scary for soooo many legitimate reasons that this seems like a silly thing to harp on....

[Starbury]

How long until we start making ridiculous predictions based on the actions of one airline pilot?

Oh. We already started doing that.

[rjung]

Originally Posted by Metacom

But front-page coverage on cnn.com seems like overkill....

Why? It's closer to front-page material than Janet Jackson's boobie incident was, and look at all the coverage that has gotten.

And I'm with tdn -- I wouldn't be surprised if I start getting chain-emails telling me that this incident is "another example of Christian persecution in the United States, oh woe is me."

[tdn]

Originally Posted by Metacom

My guess is never, never, and never (or at least not in any kind of significant numbers).

Depends on what you define as significant, but I'll stand by my bet. Time will tell.

[Merkwurdigliebe]

Well, I fly alot and I'll never fly AA if this guy doesn't get canned. If he would have said "if you aren't a Christian then please get off the plane," I would have left although I am a Christian. I don't know much about why these people believe these kinds of things and my relationship with Christianity is tenuous at best, but I believe that a lot of things Christ said were basically rules for living a happy life. One of those is basically to have empathy for every human being its what Jesus did and isn't that one of the points of being Christian? Acting like the way he did is fucked up and is in no way considerate of your fellow human being. All of these attempts by Christians to force ideology on others is total bullshit and is only fearmongering. If being a Christian is about fear and judging others then that's not what I want to be. Fuck him and his goddamn hypocritical ideology. If there's someone there he's trying to convert then he most likely did more harm than good. This kind of shit is really scary to me because its just as scary as islamic fundementalism except that it is tolerated.

Its just the same as these fuckers writing books about how in heaven you'll be a thinner prettier version of yourself in a paradise that is a mixture of Paris, New York, and Disneyland. These people are lunatics who have really gotten out of hand.

[gobear]

What you hellbound heathen don't understand is that this here is a Christian nation, so it just stands to reason that Christians got more rights than other folks. They ain't no such thing as freedom "from" religion, so if you all object to being preached at in a confined space, then you're persecuting Christians!

Why, I feel the Spirit descending upon me, Y%&&%^&&h nkawdshikol8yh543t44t4t5t^&%&%BhhJ^%&UnhyJ^YUYTJBgfrhh%^Y%^ybty^%yGHY%^ %^TY^^H^H^&^U^&J^y7j^&J^7j67j67j56ndl.p;oi0980; g35544565ybgbgehyt45r54y569679576*^*^Hgjgjgj^&&unmsdrcg8o()()()(RT cha cha cha!

[hajario]

What really scared the passengers was this:

The pilot asked passengers to look around at each other and use their 4 1/2-hour flight wisely or "just sit back and watch the movie,"

(from CNN).

The pilot was shockingly stupid to make that announcement. If I were on that flight I'd be furious.

Haj

[neofishboy]

Originally Posted by gobear

........ Y%&&%^&&h nkawdshikol8yh543t44t4t5t^&%&%BhhJ^%&UnhyJ^YUYTJBgfrhh%^Y%^ybty^%yGHY%^ %^TY^^H^H^&^U^&J^y7j^&J^7j67j67j56ndl.p;oi0980; g35544565ybgbgehyt45r54y569679576*^*^Hgjgjgj^&&unmsdrcg8o()()()(RT cha cha cha!.......

But why Dorset?

[blowero]

Originally Posted by rjung

And I'm with tdn -- I wouldn't be surprised if I start getting chain-emails telling me that this incident is "another example of Christian persecution in the United States, oh woe is me."

Wouldn't surprise me at all - I've seen much more ridiculous glurge than that making the rounds.

[FordPrefect]

Perhaps the pilot was just drunk.

[tdn]

Originally Posted by FordPrefect

Perhaps the pilot was just drunk.

Yeah.

One can only hope.

[Musicat]

I wouldn't have started this thread if I wasn't upset by the news article just like everyone else seems to be. But, in retrospect, after the initial shock, could there be another explanation for the pilot's action? "The pilot came on to greet everyone...and he said he'd recently been on a mission trip..." So he just returned from a "retreat" where he was all pumped up about JC or some other mythical character, his life had just changed for the better, he thinks, and he wanted to share it with everyone else. Maybe? Maybe his unwise choice of words spooked people when he only meant to be overly-brotherly?

Not that I condone it, just a thought...

[hajario]

Originally Posted by Musicat

Maybe his unwise choice of words spooked people when he only meant to be overly-brotherly?

I'm certain that that's exactly what happened. It wouldn't have pissed me off any less though.

Haj

[tdn]

Originally Posted by hajario

I'm certain that that's exactly what happened.

I was going to say that too. But his "make good use of your time" comment came off as really snarky, at least in print. And the reactions of passengers may give us some indication of his tone of voice.

Nonetheless, giving him the absolute benefit of the doubt, it still showed extremely poor judgement. And as I expect pilots to show good judgement, I would be a little nervous flying with the guy.

[NutWrench]

Maybe the pilot was trying to fly to Heaven and he needed some help.

[blowero]

I agree with haj. It sounded to me like it was a misunderstanding; I don't think the pilot had any nefarious purpose in mind. The problem was that what he said was so wildly inappropriate. You can avoid misunderstandings like that by not saying inappropriate things in the first place.

[Revtim]

How ironic it would it be if AA fired him and he had to go work for Hooters Air....

[El Gui]

"'If you are not [a christian], you're crazy.' "

That's rather hard to misunderstand, no?

And it's not very "brotherly", either.

[Merkwurdigliebe]

nah, I call bullshit.

He said, "If you are a Christian, Raise your hand"

and then he said that if you weren't then you were crazy and you needed to speak with one. For all the passengers knew he was about to crash the plane into the ground. You should never have to do that kind of shit anywhere outside of a church, never in public anywhere, much less on a plane where your life could be in the hands of a couple of nuts.

[Really Not All That Bright]

Originally Posted by Kalhoun

Feh. See how far he'd have gotten if he was Muslim. They'd have carted him away.

No, they'd have shot the plane down.

[Edlyn]

Originally Posted by Musicat

I wouldn't have started this thread if I wasn't upset by the news article just like everyone else seems to be. But, in retrospect, after the initial shock, could there be another explanation for the pilot's action? "The pilot came on to greet everyone...and he said he'd recently been on a mission trip..." So he just returned from a "retreat" where he was all pumped up about JC or some other mythical character, his life had just changed for the better, he thinks, and he wanted to share it with everyone else. Maybe? Maybe his unwise choice of words spooked people when he only meant to be overly-brotherly?

Not that I condone it, just a thought...

I was really surprised to hear of the pilot's action, but if I had been on the plane I would have assumed that was the case. As for the rest of the report, I'd like to hear his comments before making a judgement just based on a few freaked out passengers. After all, some people do freak out just at the mention of someone being a christian.

Am glad I read this thread though! Now that I know which airline most of you won't fly again, I know which one I will.

[Cervaise]

Originally Posted by gobear

Why, I feel the Spirit descending upon me, Y%&&%^&&h nkawdshikol8yh543t44t4t5t^&%&%BhhJ^%&UnhyJ^YUYTJBgfrhh%^Y%^ybty^%yGHY%^ %^TY^^H^H^&^U^&J^y7j^&J^7j67j67j56ndl.p;oi0980; g35544565ybgbgehyt45r54y569679576*^*^Hgjgjgj^&&unmsdrcg8o()()()(RT cha cha cha!

Hey, look, gobear's speaking in thumbs!

[Doomtrain]

I find it funny that in a supposedly "Christian nation" like this, an expression of faith is met by everyone reaching for their phones and getting nervous.

[Really Not All That Bright]

Who says it's a Christian nation?

[iampunha]

Originally Posted by Edlyn

Am glad I read this thread though! Now that I know which airline most of you won't fly again, I know which one I will.

You'll get your choice of aisle or window, that's for sure

[EddyTeddyFreddy]

Originally Posted by GMRyujin

I find it funny that in a supposedly "Christian nation" like this, an expression of faith is met by everyone reaching for their phones and getting nervous.

Perhaps the passengers remembered the 1999 crash of EgyptAir Flight 990. I know that's one of the first things that popped into my mind when I read the linked story here.

[Revtim]

Originally Posted by dutchboy208

Who says it's a Christian nation?

A lot of Christians do. My Mom's family for example.

[Typo Negative]

Originally Posted by Kalhoun

Feh. See how far he'd have gotten if he was Muslim. They'd have carted him away.

Oh, they are gonna cart this guy away. Just delayed and quiet.



But to me, this smacks of someone trying to get fired or get a disability benefit or a lawsuit, some sort of scam.


Yep, there's a scam in here somewhere. I can feel it....

[Doomtrain]

Originally Posted by dutchboy208

Who says it's a Christian nation?

I did a Google search on "United States is a Christian Nation". You're welcome to peruse the links here.

From this page, I found the interesting quote...

"The poll found that 45 percent of Americans hold the view that the United States is a secular nation in which religious belief, or lack of it, is not a defining characteristic. Twenty-nine percent believe the United States is a Christian nation, and another 16 percent believe the United States is a Biblical nation, defined by the Judeo-Christian tradition."

Evidently SOMEONE does, thus the snarky tone of my post.

[lel]

Originally Posted by GMRyujin

I find it funny that in a supposedly "Christian nation" like this, an expression of faith is met by everyone reaching for their phones and getting nervous.

Hey, I've read Left Behind and a number of the sequels. I'd be getting pretty concerned myself.

[blowero]

Originally Posted by El Gui

"'If you are not [a christian], you're crazy.' "

That's rather hard to misunderstand, no?

And it's not very "brotherly", either.

Were you responding to me? Because I was saying that what was "misunderstood" was whether the pilot intended to do something crazy like crashing the plane, not whether he was being an asshole. I'm sure I was clear about that. Some of the passengers were afraid he might do something crazy. But don't you think that if the guy intended to crash the plane, he would have done so?

[kaylasdad99]

Originally Posted by blowero

Were you responding to me? Because I was saying that what was "misunderstood" was whether the pilot intended to do something crazy like crashing the plane, not whether he was being an asshole. I'm sure I was clear about that. Some of the passengers were afraid he might do something crazy. But don't you think that if the guy intended to crash the plane, he would have done so?

Well it's very easy to conclude that now, after the plane is safely on the ground.

Very poor judgement on the pilot's part. Maybe he was, as has been suggested just "high on Jesus" following a deeply spiritual experience. But I think the preference these days is for airline pilots to not be high on anything at all.

[blowero]

Originally Posted by kaylasdad99

Well it's very easy to conclude that now, after the plane is safely on the ground.

What does that mean? Are you of the opinion that the pilot intended to crash the plane? I'm just not seeing it. I'm as much against what he said as the next guy, but that's no reason to make wild assumptions. I'd need a little more evidence before I accuse someone of attempted murder.

[Gala Matrix Fire]

I wonder what the pilot thought when nobody raised a hand.

[TeaElle]

The notoriously sensationalistic "news" on IMDb.com is reporting that one of the passengers on the flight was actor Jason Biggs, of the [i]American Pie[i] flicks. I wish he'd have had the forethought to raise his hand and say "I may not be a Christian, but I love pie. Who else loves pie?"

Oh, and on behalf of sane Christians nationwide, I apologize for the dimwitted pilot. We aren't all like that, folks. Really.

[hajario]

Originally Posted by blowero

What does that mean? Are you of the opinion that the pilot intended to crash the plane? I'm just not seeing it. I'm as much against what he said as the next guy, but that's no reason to make wild assumptions. I'd need a little more evidence before I accuse someone of attempted murder.

With 20/20 hindsight, it's pretty clear that he had no intention to crash the plane. To those on the plane immediately after the announcement was made, it wasn't all that clear. Some of those passengers may well have been terrified.

Haj

[ElvisL1ves]

If I'd been on board, my thoughts would have immediately turned to Egyptair 990 and pilot Gamel el-Batouti repeatedly chanting "I rely on God" as he dove it into the ocean. Christian religious fanatics can be just as deadly as any other kind.

[Otto]

The pilot did an brief interview with, of all places, The Advocate. The editor happened to be on the flight.

He ... explain[ed] that he felt God wanted him to witness to the passengers on his first flight upon returning to work for American Airlines after his mission [in Costa Rica]. Despite this feeling, he said, he had decided not to say anything--but then he got another sign from God.

A minor problem with the plane's braking system had developed during final checks before takeoff, he said, a problem that might have grounded the aircraft, on which every seat was taken, in part because another American flight from Los Angeles to New York had been canceled that morning. But after a simple maneuver involving a power source, the braking problem inexplicably "disappeared," Findiesen said, and the plane was cleared for departure, and that's when he knew he had to use the P.A. system to talk about his Christian faith.

[vibrotronica]

Well, that does it for me. He was getting signs from God. He's not just an over-enthusiastic evangelical proselytizer; he's crazy. I don't want to fly with him. He should be fired.