Pilot in Hot Water for Allegedly Using Plane as Flying Pulpit

Talon News / GOP USA ^ | Feb. 10, 2004 | Jeremy Reynalds

[freeeee]

Nice post.

[conserv13]

I disagree with you there, my comment was actually a joke.

[Bella_Bru]

Well, they exist.

As long as I can leave if I so choose, I don't care who wants to talk about what publicly. If I have to sit there and listen to someone tell me I am crazy for not following their beliefs, then I am not going to be happy.

[whattajoke]

haha, well, if being judgemental is being christian...

I shouldnt have given you the impression that "bashing christians" is a pasttime of mine. It's not. "Bashing idiots" is, be they Liberals (plenty up here), cult members, script kiddies, Dallas Cowboy fans, or Christians.

Living one's life in fear of eternal hell-fire is not for me, thanks. If this makes you happy, then so be it... just don't become a pilot and corner me on your airplane. capiche.

(apologies to cowboys fans ; )

[jim35]

"...I just wish that the mission organizer would have sent the pilot to a qualified Christian brother who would have debriefed the pilot in a loving, Christian manner to get him ready for his pilot job..."

Maybe that would have been better for the pilot, who is obviously in trouble now. But at the risk of sounding obnoxious, would it have been better for his immortal soul? If that plane had indeed crashed, would he have been taken into the kingdom of Heaven? I think he would have. And I don't think he went overboard here, either. It was a simple enough few sentences, not a forced revival. Somehow, everyone survived his comments relatively unscathed, but now the whiners have come out in all their righteous indignation. It's becoming almost formulaic as a response. And God bless you for your Christian work. I wish I was such a good Christian, but unfortunately I remain a simple sinner who requires frequent repentence. But I'll be darned if I'm going to criticize someone who feels the spirit and wants to proclaim it!

[codyjacksmom]

What's your point? People can choose their own conversations. NO ONE FORCED THE PASSENGERS TO DISCUSS ANYTHING!

[SJackson]

A passenger on the flight was on one of the morning shows and said that the pilot did indeed tell the passengers that those who were not Christian were crazy. Further, when the passengers began asking the flight attendants what was going on, they evidently told the captain that the passengers were frightened........the pilot then got on the speaker and apologyzed to the flight attendants for not giving them a heads-up!...Sorry, the pilot was WAY out of line......Some of the passengers tried to call 911 from the plane.

You touch an important point, that there is a safety rather than religious concern in play here.

Presuming everyone has forgotten 9/11, it might be fair to say that the hijacking risk in this country was a free trip to Cuba. That's not a universal experience though.

A number of times a similar question, usually requesting identification of Americans and/or Jews but designed to segregate passengers, has been asked on airplanes and on occasion ships. It's generally asked after control of the particular means of transport has been achieved, and has frequently ended in death.

It sounds as though the nature of this incident was known rather quickly, but a pilot, presumably aware of the history of hijackings, should know better. A resonable person could have concluded something was wrong, in fact it sounds as though a number did. There could have been a bad ending here.

[atlaw]

"No other religion is restricted from the public forum the way Christianity is in our modern society."

Oh honestly. Do you need to be a victim so badly that you're willing to fabricate persecution from whole cloth?

[saquin]

Would you be all right with this if he was a Muslim pilot? Or a socialist asking everyone to talk about the joys of John Kerry?

You're trying to inject rationality and logic into a debate with our resident evangelists?

It's no use. It was tried on the previous 600 post thread. They are incapable of rationality on this topic. They hear the word "Christian" and believe any word or deed associated in any way with "Christianity" is good and righteous and unassailable. Don't waste your breath on them. They will never get it and if they did get it they would never admit it.

[codyjacksmom]

To bad your comment was a "joke". It was a good comment.

[fml]

Are you saying that you're not in polite company?

Loaded question lol.

The point being they were on an airline not a political news/activism site.

[jim35]

"...Oh honestly. Do you need to be a victim so badly that you're willing to fabricate persecution from whole cloth?..."

Yes, I need to be a victim so badly, that I have asked the ACLU to sue schools and courthouses for posting the 10 Commandments. My sick need is so thorough, that I have petitioned the government to ban the use of the words "Christmas" parade, or Christmas season, and to ban any mention of Christianity during commencment speeches. I'm pleading with our judges to stop the placement of Nativity scenes on public lawns, and to remove crosses from public land. I'm one sick puppy, man. Try paying attention some time to the current state of our freedom of religion. Ever hear of the 9th circuit court, and their prohibition on the pledge of allegiance? The examples are legion, and if you don't see them, it's because you don't want to.

[george wythe]

Somehow, everyone survived his comments relatively unscathed, but now the whiners have come out in all their righteous indignation.

I hope the pilot will be fired, but he will probably be reprimanded, since the airlines are sensitive to their customers' complaints.

The bigger issue here is that there is a way to share the Gospel without getting into these distractions. That's why St Paul was so effective spreading Christianity through out Europe and the Middle East. He was very good at avoiding unnecessary cultural gaffes, but he never kept his message hidden. He converted very religious Jews, highly educated Greeks and very wealthy Romans to Christianity.

Even the prison guards around him became Christians, because he knew how to cut through the cultural barriers and reach for the heart.

[george wythe]

I hope the pilot will be fired=I hope the pilot will NOT be fired

[jim35]

"...I hope the pilot will be fired,..."

You do? Don't you think that's a little harsh? You're a hard man, my FRiend. Have you thought about how hard that would be on him, not to mention his family? And for what? Bringing Christianity into discussion in public? And what makes you think St Paul never said exactly the same thing? Should he have been punished?

[jim35]

Oh, good. Me too. I was a little puzzled by that typo.

[blau993]

Just watch where you preach Jimbo. I don't have anything against Christians, and my religious beliefs are none of your business. My gripe is with obnoxious loudmouthed boors.

[EggsAckley]

No need to apologize. All the threads had very different titles, easy to overlook.

Besides, look at the fun we'd be missing had you not unleashed the fanatics on this thread.

LOL!!

[Born Conservative]

I don't count threads with different headlines yet with the same story as a "duplicate thread". It's nearly impossible to search EVERY story to ensure it wasn't posted under a different headline. Besides, by posting it again, it gives people who missed it the first time another chance to read and comment.

[prairiebreeze]

Besides, look at the fun we'd be missing

LOL! I'll say! Who knew? I figured it was an article of some passing interest, maybe get a few comments...

Doesn't change the fact that this pilot used some very poor judgement. And pilots using poor judgement....concerns me.

Prairie