Religion in the sky

Something truly bizarre showed up in the news last week. An American Airlines pilot wanted to know which passengers were Christians on his Los Angeles to New York flight last Friday. So, he did what any amateur social researcher would do. He asked them to raise their hands.\nTo add to the oddity of the situation, Rodger Findiesen, the pilot in question, queried over the public address system so he couldn't even see the results of his impromptu survey. According to one passenger quoted in Tuesday's Vancouver Sun, he then suggested all of those with their hands in their laps should have a chat with their Christian neighbors to find out what it is all about.\n"(Findiesen said) you can use your time wisely on this flight or you can sit back and watch the movies."\nHe then stopped talking and decided to fly the plane, much to the relief of the many who were upset by this outburst of airborne evangelism.\nOn the face of the situation, Findiesen's question was relatively innocuous, albeit a tad oddball. American Airlines spokesman Tim Wagner said Findiesen wasn't trying to cause a disturbance in any way. So he did not get on the P.A. and grimly order all Christians to the front of the plane. He didn't say, "I'm going to blindfold myself and trust in Jesus for this landing."\nOn the contrary, he was in a rather jolly mood. He recently returned from a week chock-full of Christian fishing in Costa Rica and wanted to share the love, Wagner said in Tuesday's New York Times.\nSo why did people get upset by Jesus' happy fisherman? According to the US Statistical Abstract, 87.2 percent of the world's population was religious in 1998. So most people have a faith, most are proud of their faith and I imagine most would gladly attest to their beliefs if prompted. So what is the problem with asking?\nLet's try a little experiment. Given the following situation, deduce the outcome.\n"Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We're on runway four heading east to Des Moines. While you're waiting, would all Muslims please raise their hands?"\nThat would certainly create a bigger row. I envision extremely uneasy passengers, loud protests and costly lawsuits for American Airlines, Findiesen and his mother for bearing such a terrible tot. \nHowever, since Findiesen asked about Christians, none of this happened. He was grounded for a few days, but other than that he emerged unscathed.\nThis doesn't make any sense. Logically speaking, the two questions are fundamentally the same. It is only our inane connotations that make them different. And that's just wrong.\n Unfortunately, the first thought that would spring into many of the passengers' minds in my example would be, "Oh hell, what am I going to do now?"\n I hope most people got off the bandwagon of 'Muslim equals terrorist' some time ago, but it would be interesting to see how many still feel uneasy sitting next to a person that "looks Muslim."\n Worldwide, more than one billion people would raise their hand to my question. Out of that one billion, a handful might pose a threat to American lives. No one should fear an innocent person because of his or her faith, and no one should need to hide their faith out of fear.\nWe need to ask ourselves: "Why do we care what religion to which somebody belongs?" If you know the answer, please raise your hand.