From: Jake Sapiens (every1hz@earthlink.net)
Date: Mon Feb 09 2004 - 12:57:21 MST
> [Original Message]
> From: Blunderov <squooker@mweb.co.za>
> To: <virus@lucifer.com>
> Date: 02/09/2004 3:03:39 AM
> Subject: RE: virus: terrorising air passengers..
>
> Mermaid
> Sent: 09 February 2004 09:51 AM
> <a
> href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2004/02/
> 07/state2118EST0136.DTL">Pilot suggested passengers discuss Christianity
> during LA-to-New York flight </a>
>
> 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.
>
> The pilot, whose identity was not released, had been making flight
> announcements before he asked that the Christians on board raise their
> hands, said American Airlines spokesman Tim Wagner.
>
> Wagner said the pilot told airline officials he then suggested the other
> passengers use the flight time to talk to the Christians about their
> faith.
>
> The pilot later told passengers he himself would be available at the end
> of the flight to talk about his first announcement.
>
> Wagner said the airline was investigating the incident.
>
> "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," he said.
>
> The pilot had just returned to work from a weeklong mission trip to
> Costa Rica, Wagner said.
>
>
> [Mermaid] And one wonders why air travel is so dangerous these days..
>
> [Blunderov]
>
> Truly fascinating! Does he have less of a right to speak his own mind
> freely if he is working for someone? Or is there always a sort of
> Faustian pact implicit in accepting employment?
>
> Without wishing to flog a rather weary horse, I cannot help but remember
> that Mussolini conceived of fascism as being strongly affiliated with
> big business. Is it possible that government can rely upon industry to
> undermine those rights of the citizenry that the government dare not
> molest?
>
> What if the pilot had made a political speech instead? If the airline
> had the power to forbid such a speech, would it not simultaneously have
> the power to insist that the pilot deliver a speech of the airlines own
> devising
> instead?
I think the real problem lies in the fact that in this case there is a
captive audience whose lives are literally in the hands of the pilot, who
takes crass advantage of this situation to spout his religious program on
them. If he were doing the same thing in the airport terminal instead of
on the plane, it would be a much simpler issue for passengers to ignore him
and issues of free speech would more understandably take precedence. I
think that someone grown up in entirely different culture and religion
would find this situation downright intimidating, where American
non-Christians (Atheists, Jews, etc.) might just chalk it up as yet another
asinine instance among many. If this pilot can't stop himself from this
behavior, I think he should lose his job.
-Jake
>
> I am beginning to suspect that we are in the grip of a terrible
> Frankenstein; since the end of the cold war it seems the only ideology
> left in the world is 'money'.
>
> Oh, and Islam.
>
> Best Regards
>
>
>
>
> ----
> This message was posted by Mermaid to the Virus 2004 board on Church of
> Virus BBS.
> <http://virus.lucifer.com/bbs/index.php?board=61;action=display;threadid
> =29913>
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--- Jake Sapiens
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