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On Jun 10, 8:20 am, MJ <[email protected]> wrote: > WTF(wjd)?byMichael RobertsFedUpFlyers.org > Most readers, I hope, will recall theincident last month in Memphisin which > the crew of a commercial flight bound for Charlotte, N.C. refused to fly > until two passengers were removed from the aircraft. The passengers were > Muslim scholars attempting to travel to an Islamic conference focused this > year on the topic of Islamophobia and discrimination against Muslims in the > U.S. > Those are still pretty much the only hard facts that have been released to > the public as of this writing – plenty to incite the typical torrent of > speculation, commentary, blathering idiotic bigotry, hurt feelings, and late > night comedy routines. Yeah, it’s great fun, but let’s be honest and fair: so > far, unless we’re tangibly connected to the event in some official way, none > of us has enough information to draw upon in order to frame a meaningful > conclusion or comment on the situation. > It would be especially imprudent and unprofessional for me, as a pilot, to > indict the crew based on the data currently available. The media and other > rumor mills have reported that the flight pushed off the gate and then > returned because the crew was unwilling to continue with the two men on > board. That no sound justification has been publicly given for this does not > necessarily indicate that such justification does not exist. The pilots (or, > as the media usually call them, thepilot) would have been sealed up on the > flight deck in front of a locked, reinforced, terrorist-proof door when they > made the decision to return to the gate. Whatever prompted their decision > presumably happened in the cabin on the other side of that door as they were > taxiing out to the runway. Pilots must rely on the cabin crew to keep them > apprised of what’s going on back there and make the best decisions they can > based on that information. The public has been told nothing about any > communications along such lines. So, for now at least, we don’t know what we > don’t know. > It has also been reported that Delta agents spoke with the flight crew for > over half an hour when they returned to the gate and even apologized to the > two men when the pilots insisted upon ejecting them from the flight. On the > surface, this might cast an understandable cloud of doubt over the crew’s > actions. But I speak from personal experience and a solid familiarity with > the stories of numerous colleagues when I say – difficult as it may be to > fathom – that unsuspecting pilots are often met with considerable resistance > when they decide to remove a threatening or problematic passenger from their > plane. Many crews have made the mistake of contacting the airline and asking > for a gate agent or supervisor to handle a belligerent drunk, an unstable > lunatic threatening violence when asked to turn his phone off or buckle his > seat belt, or some other superstar who just has to ruin it for everybody. I > was shocked myself when I discovered that some airline support agents, > managers, etc. seem completely deaf to the sound of a pilot’s voice calling > for the removal of a threatening passenger or asking for police assistance, > etc. They’ll go back and talk with the individual in question themselves, > then return and say something like, "Okay, I got her to turn her phone off. > She says she hasn’t slept and she’s going to her father’s funeral and she’s > really upset but she’s sorry and it won’t happen again. Just don’t serve her > any more alcohol and I think she’ll be alright…" > Then we say, "Yeah but, um, she broke the flight attendant’s nose." > "I know, I know," they mutter, shuffling their feet a bit and trying to > muster a sympathetic expression. "But I don’t think we’ll be able to find you > another one in time to avoid a late departure." Then, to the bleeding victim, > they say, "Hold pressure right there, like this. Keep your head tilted back. > It doesn’t look that bad. You can hold up till you get to Guadalajara, right? > Put some ice on it at the hotel tonight – you’ll be fine…" > Okay, maybe I’m embellishing the casea little. The point is pilots can have a > hard time finding someone to take an unruly passenger off their hands. Very > few of us, I hope, will give in once the decision has been made, but it’s a > big deal to deny service to a paying customer and a big responsibility (and > potential liability) to those involved. Such cases are the exception and not > the rule, of course. Still, it happens a lot more than one would expect in a > terror-stricken, post-9/11 world. Besides, absent the ideal solution of a > legitimate, professional security division, this kind of situation is really > outside the airline’s scope of operational expertise. Fellow pilots, here’s > my advice if you need real help in the overly regulated and litigious chaos > of the system in which we work – forget the company and call the control > tower directly for law enforcement assistance. They’ll send the fuzz right > out without questioning your judgment or prerogative as Pilot-in-Command. > Remove the threat now. Sort out the details, ideological conundrums, and > conflicts of interest later. > So, not to belabor the point, the bottom line is there may be a lot more to > this story in Memphis than any of us has been told so far. Anyway, enough of > that – there’s something else I’d like to discuss.My Opinion(You didn’t > really think was going to keep it to myself, did you?) > Notwithstanding the facts, known and unknown, the word on the street is the > Captain – presumed by many accounts to be the angry conservative Christian > redneck type – booted the two men off the plane for no better reason than his > personal contempt of the peculiar way they were dressed, which clearly > identified them as Muslims and hence a de facto terrorist threat. Other > versions indicate that it was not the Captain, but some of the passengers who > were uncomfortable flying with the two men on board. The Captain supposedly > felt that the mass consternation resulting from the clerics’ disruptive > presence constituted a legitimate breach of safety sufficient to have them > removed to calm the turbulent atmosphere in the cabin. > I say without hesitation thatifsuch rumors prove true, it would indeed be a > classic example of your standard, garden variety ignorant discrimination.Ifit > is as it appears in the public eye, the Captain at the very least exhibited a > foolish, costly, and hurtful lapse of judgment. He stands a good chance of > losing his job, but the pilots union will get it back for him after some > rehabilitative sensitivity training. Everyone else at the airline will also > be subjected to this reeducation. The company will settle with the two men > out of court under undisclosed terms and the public will never know exactly > what happened. By then few will remember or care that much about the story > anyway. Life goes on. > Again, though, who knows what really happened? > If we turn our attention to the public chatter surrounding the event, > however, many things are laid bare in stark detail – not about the thing with > the two Muslims in Memphis, but about people in general. It’s a grim and > painful picture, and all too predictable and commonplace. This is the real > story in my opinion and few, if any, are giving it the attention it warrants. > I refer to the perspectives revealed in comments like the following, drawn > mostly from across the Internet and conversations in airports, hotel lounges, > and radio talk shows:Good for the pilot! It is about time… > Good for him. One more event showing that we have had enough. That pilot has > every right to fear for his ship and the people on the flight when ragheads > are on board… > I hope more will follow his example. The more we can do to let these savages > know they are not welcome the better… > If it walks like a duck, talks like a duck…it's a terrorist… > Maybe (the pilot) just realized he is the Infidel they want to kill…. > Great! This should be standard procedure at every airline... > Do you think they cavity searched the 80 year old lady in front of them in > line and groped the 4 year old girl behind them while telling Ali Baba to > have a nice flight ?… > Every single religion should be destroyed. The question is just the order in > which that happens… > Eventually we will have to ban Islam from free societies, but until then, > enjoy watching innocent people being blown to smithereens… > Awesome! All it takes is one brave pilot to say ‘NOPE’ not with you guys on > board for more pilots to follow in his footsteps… I will walk off the next > flight I take if there are overt Muslims on it… Guess it comes down to using > common sense and protecting yourself, like the Founding Fathers had in mind… > If you can’t smoke on flights anymore because it endangers other passengers, > then it only makes sense that Muslims shouldn’t be allowed on flights for the > same reason… > I think that removing a Muslim is ALWAYS with reason....they are MUSLIM!... > What an unmitigated statement of ignorance, bigotry and hate. And I'll bet > you're a professing "Christian" aren't you?What a mess. What a heartbreaking, > shameful spectacle! And what hypocrisy! I, too, am constantly encountering > people who congratulate me along similar lines for refusing to be scanned or > frisked, then rattle on about how the politicians and bureaucrats are, "Just > too chickenshit and politically correct to pull all the Muslims and Arabs out > of line." > Folks, it’s not about political correctness – a chickenshit doctrine, to be > sure. It’s about the ambitious assault of state power against the freedom and > essential dignity of every human being who sets foot in an airport terminal. > And it’s already spilling out of the airports into the streets, by the way. > What’s worse, while many of these same blowhards deride and call for the > utter humiliation and violation of the bearded Imam’s basic rights, they > willingly present their own bodies, their wives, and their children like > chattel to the degrading perversions of an abusive government. (Yes, > willingly – grumbling about it doesn’t make their actions any less > voluntary). So then, we have evolved into a culture that will happily trample > the natural rights and liberty of others while simultaneously abdicating our > own without the slightest hint of honorable resistance. > Of course, I can’t speak for the crew of the flight in Memphis. But I, for > one, am ashamed to be praised in this way by the adherents of such despicable > principles. Where a tenable threat exists, our highest priority is always to > protect our passengers (and ourselves). But liberty and justice for all > hardly constitutes a credible danger to anyone except the tyrants who would > lord it over the rest of us and who are themselves the greatest legitimate > threat. And, if it isn’t clear, I’m not talking about radical Islamic > fundamentalists. We’ve got our own domestic breed of despotism springing up > right here at home. Our tyrant may be a clean-shaven white man in a western > suit, or a mulatto, or a woman (I’m not naming any names, but her initials > are Janet Napolitano). > At any rate, whoever the real terrorists are, they seem to be winning. It’s > evident that fear has become the dominant trait, baked into our national > character, manifest in our xenophobic bigotry as well as our truckling > predilection to bow the knee rather than incur the cost and discomfort of > resisting the blatantly delusive designs of the police state. A quiet kind of > terror rips through the hearts and minds of Americans, snatching away virtue, > compassion, integrity, faith, and love. It isn’t just about Muslims on > airliners; it’s the buzz on the street, the force that drives us on through > daily life and enslaves us – rather, compels us to dutifully enslave > ourselves to every false shepherd – to the unjust magistrate, the employer, > the charlatan preacher on television, the lender, all promising to deliver us > from evil and give us our daily bread. > This tyranny of fear produces in us – indeed, in the soul of entire nations > and generations – the vilest forms of bitterness and contempt, the darkest > extremes of human nature: cruelty, hatred, and violence. This is the path > along which all the horrors of history were brought to pass. It’s the path > we’re on right now, yet knowing this is not enough to turn us aside. We march > on. We curse and condemn. And, in the manner with which we judge one another, > so are we being judged. > This is hardly some imaginative new sociological theory I just made up. > Neither is what I describe a uniquely American phenomenon. It’s just people > doing what people do and have always done. Human beings have been maligning > one another, kicking each other off trains, planes, and automobiles, > enslaving, slaughtering, and setting each other on fire for as long as anyone > can remember. It’s wicked and it sucks and it never stops. Despite the > irrefutable testimony of recorded history reflecting our ugliness and all it > teaches us about ourselves and our kind, we still haven’t managed to rise > above our consummate state of depravity – not even a little bit. Nor can we > since, to the degree that we’ve advanced in understanding, technology, and > global unification, so we have advanced the instruments of our humiliation > and totalitarian oppression. On the other hand, we’ll find no lasting relief > in avoiding understanding, shunning technology, or in the narrowness of > nationalist exceptionalism. We can’t just turn around and work our way back > to paradise. We’ve been fruitful and multiplied. We’ve filled the earth and > subdued it. Now here we all are spinning around on this rock – far more > together than separate when viewed from above. And the truth we would do well > to face is that man is not basically good. No, in a nutshell, man is > basically screwed. > That’s why our self-righteous efforts to overcome our own savage condition > will never succeed. How can we protect ourselves from ourselves by degrading > and abusing ourselves? But isn’t this how we function when we violate the > basic dignity of others and, on that account, ourselves by imposing our > answers to the problem of evil in the world on each other by force? Whether > it’s at the hands of Islamic fundamentalists, the Department of Homeland > Security, an airline pilot, or SEAL Team Six, the use of violence or threats > of violence and other coercive means to arbitrarily control the affairs and > prerogatives of others can do nothing to restrain our common affliction. On > the contrary, our affliction is never more conspicuous than when we cower > under or aspire to rule over one other. Man is unfit to rule himself, much > less his fellow man. Neither is the greater part of humankind intrinsically > worthy to rule over the lesser part. True liberty isn’t the result of good > government conquering evil by force. Freedom is not a grant of the state and > to treat it as such by subjugating ourselves to the state is a logical > absurdity. Indeed, a free society first requires a free people to build, > sustain, and defend it against the state’s inherent lust for power. > Then what is true freedom, and where does it come from? Whatever is the > answer, finding it would not entitle us to foist it on each other by > compulsion or intimidation (civilized people sometimes call this legislation > or regulation). To do so would belie the authenticity of our wisdom and add > another exhibit to the body of evidence against us. Sadly, no party is more > guilty in this regard than the Christian church. Following the publicity > surrounding this story, I feel obliged to respond in some way to the > unfortunate sentiments expressed by numerous Christians and reprove my fellow > disciples for the heinous part many have played in the broader scene of > anti-Islamic persecution and statist idolatry in this age of terror. For me, > the discussion can move no further forward without fully acknowledging this > painful truth.My BurdenAs a student and ardent worshipper of Christ, I’m > persuaded that he alone is the great liberator of humankind held captive > under the universal tyranny of death. Many Christians, however, seem to have > forgotten that our freedom is not bought with the worthless blood of our > enemies, but that of the sinless Master himself, who loved his enemies (all > of us) until it killed him. He has released us from bondage at the auction > block ofhuman capital, delivering us from the rule of fear – fear of death, > loss, punishment, suffering and oppression in all its endless forms. This > rule is most perfectly realized in the state, which derives its power from > the legitimized use of deadly force to apply human solutions to human > problems. In this we see that the state is fundamentally opposed to the way > of Christ as the ultimate hope for true freedom and peace on earth. His is > the way of absolute dependence upon God, apart from any rule of law enforced > by human strength exerted in violence.Because its existence depends upon (and > receives) the affirmation of popular consent, the state is the principal > agent of human rebellion against the Creator. People have a congenital > inclination to contrive and manufacture something they can set in motion to > look after their every need and desire. The problem with these lifeless > artifacts is they must be maintained. They are completely incapable of > sustaining their own existence and can’tfunction without the constant care > and feeding of their creators. The state is the epitome of such idolatry. > Those who depend on it are in truth depending upon their own feeble strength, > offered up and wasted in sacrificial toil and futility. When Christians > engage under the auspices of the state to resist evil by force, they deny the > higher power of God’s love by which our Lord endured all hostility to > establish an eternal kingdom that is not of this world. > Did the pilots in Memphis throw the clerics off their plane in Jesus’s name? > I don’t know. But droves of self-identified Christians have come out in > support of the decision on the basis of the same limited information that has > provoked so much outrage on the other side. The not-so-subtle implication is > that Muslims are the embodiment of evil on earth and must therefore be > suppressed by all means without regard for their civil rights, let alone the > teaching and example of Christ himself. > To everyone outside the faith, let me say plainly that Jesus commands us only > to love and pursue peace with you. He gives us no license and certainly no > mandate to deny your innate dignity, to harass, or deprive you of the basic > rights and freedom conferred personally by God to all mankind. It’s not for > us to inhibit the freedom of movement or other means by which others engage > in their daily business. Nor is it our place to control access to the > marketplace and starve dissenters into submission. Rather, if our enemy is > hungry we’re told to feed him and, if he’s thirsty, give him something to > drink. If we are robbed, it’s our privilege to freely give even more – just > as the Creator gives good things to ungrateful and evil people like us. The > yoke he places on us is easy, and the load we bear is light. Our God has not > saddled us with the hopeless mission of driving evil off the face of the > earth by violence and cruelty against unbelievers. > But, someone will say, Islam is different and not properly understood. Muslim > fundamentalists want to convert, enslave, or destroy us all! If this is true, > and if we choose none of the above, the question is not whether we ought to > resist, but what sort of resistance will truly deliver us and not simply feed > our addiction to terror and strife. Christ teaches us to overcome evil with > good, to love our enemies. This is not to say that we kowtow in passive > obedience in the face of tyranny and injustice. Rather, we resist in the same > love with which we have been irresistibly loved; we drive out fear and are > not ruled by it. If our enemy slaps us with his left hand, we stand fast and > offer him the opportunity to wield the right one also against our peaceable > friendship and so bear witness to his own guilt and shame before God and > everyone. By this he is ultimately and utterly defeated, condemned by any > reasonable standard of justice and altogether disqualified to bear the crown > of victory and authority. > That we do these things imperfectly – or not at all – and so often engage in > the same kinds of coercive devices described above in bending the will of > others to suit our world view reveals a couple of important points. First, if > our escape from the untamed barrens of hatred, fear, destruction, and the > judgment of God himself depends on our ability or even our willingness to > behave well, then Christians are as basically screwed as everyone else. > Second, a lot of people calling themselves Christian simply don’t get that > and are still trying to be good which, they believe, entails forcing everyone > else to be good too. Jesus didn’t truck much with people like that in his > day, to say the least. > The love of Christ isn’t a soft, squishy, amorphous ointment of politically > correct weakness that makes us grovel in the face of intimidation. Neither is > it a heartless crusade against the heathen doers of iniquity, idol > worshippers, homosexuals, Democrats, or swarthy airline passengers wearing > funny man-dresses. And please understand that I’m not trying here to > proselytize or even persuade anyone of the truth of Scripture or the > supremacy of Christ (but feel free to contact me if you want to have that > discussion). My goal has been to correct the distortion of the biblical Jesus > in the words and actions of many who claim to follow him and bring to light > what is true about thecontentof the Bible and Christ’s teaching so everyone > will be better able to judge whether any of it is true at all. > Finally, to those who genuinely love and follow Christ, if the words of our > Teacher aren’t clear enough, let’s abide by his example in rejecting all > aspiration and allegiance to the violent powers of the earth. We must refuse > to prop up the lifeless idols that bind the soul in darkness and affirm that > he alone is worthy to rule over us as we gladly submit to his perfect law of > fearless love.A final note: Now that I've broken the seal, it seems like as > good a time as any to move forward with something I’ve been mulling over for > a while (years, in fact). If you’ve read all the way through to this point, > you may be also interested in checking it out > atChristianAnarchist.org.http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig11/roberts-m4.1.1.html -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more.
