The Preaching Pilot

I read about this story yesterday and I was sure it was a mistake. But no. An American Airlines pilot supposedly asked passengers who were Christians to identify themselves to the rest of the plane so that non-Christians could talk with them about their faith.

Pardon me if I say that I think especially since 9-11, people have felt as if they have leave to interject their "faith" wherever they happen to be. I attended a highly secular government meeting a few years ago and was surprised when the moderator asked everyone to join hands in praying to the Lord.

When I was in the hospital, I saw ministers and chaplains almost as often as I saw my doctor (my housemate had said Religion None, the clerk transcribed this into "Religion Unknown" on the hospital emergency admission form, and as a result, I got everyone from the rabbi to the priest on down the line). Funny, but in ICU with tubes attached to me and the inability to shower normally for three weeks, I just didn't feel in the mood to chat with strangers anymore than necessary.

An editor recently, in feeling me out about a writing project, asked me what religion I was. When I hesitated in answering, because it had zero to do with anything we'd discussed, she said, "I always think it's so important to know information like one's religious affiliation because it helps you understand the person better." Really? The project was medical reporting. Was I going to know my stuff better if I was a Jew or a Methodist, than if I was a Catholic or a Muslim or a Pentecostalist?

Even before 9-11, I was flying on a no-name airline that offered service to a rather remote location I needed to visit, and I was on a tiny plane with just 7 other passengers and a single (one) pilot. Bad weather kept us circling the airport for almost two hours, lightning nice and bright in the windows, and we were so close to the pilot, we heard him say that we were running out of fuel. Then, suddenly, he turns around in his seat and announces that he wants everyone to join hands and pray to God for our safe landing. When a woman behind me balked, he yelled at her to do it. Strangely enough, I never wanted to fly that airline again, which is good since it was shutdown for safety violations soon thereafter.

Maybe it's my odd upbringing (raised a Catholic as well as a high Anglican while one parent was a real fundamentalist at heart) or the fact that I separated my faith out from formal religious practice fairly early on, but I've never felt it was my place - particularly in a professional or official situation - to bring God up in the workplace. Oh, to me, God is very much present because in my faith, his energy and possibility are there with us all the time.

Faith is a very private, personal thing. It shouldn't be intruded upon and no one should feel it his or her mission to proselytize others. And those who don't believe - or don't believe in the same notions of God - should not be placed in the unfortunate situation of feeling dragged into something for which they did not ask entry.

Last I knew, when we fly, we pay for safe transit from one destination to another. We don't need a sermon and we don't need a great time. We just want to get from Point A to Point B.