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Flight 777: A Parable - Religion - Nairaland

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Flight 777: A Parable by jayriginal: 9:39pm On Aug 24, 2012
by Matt Hollinger

A jet liner flew through the sky one morning, as they often do.

In the cockpit, as there usually is, sat a pilot and his copilot. This pilot was one of the best in the business, and everyone knew him as a benevolent man. Suddenly, a warning light blinked on. The pilots looked at it for a moment before springing into action. Switches were pulled. Buttons were pressed. Power was rerouted. Flaps were adjusted.

Still the light stayed on.

More switches and more buttons were pressed.

Still the light stayed on.

Cursing broke out from the flight crew. Panels were kicked.

Still the light stayed on.

The controls were frozen. The plane was no longer under the pilot's control. Worse, a mountain loomed in the far distance. If something was not done, the plane would surely crash. There was a veritable frenzy of buttons and switches, but nothing worked.

The plane would crash.

The pilot knew this, and he knew that everyone must be evacuated before it happened. A parachute jump had to be made. He sent his copilot out to the cabin to break the news.

It was in the telling that something singular happened. When the copilot tried to speak, he found that he could only speak to the passengers in the front row. Thinking quickly, he gave his message of life and told them to pass it back to everyone, clear to the back of the plane.

This the first row did. They donned their parachutes and told the people behind them. These people put on their parachutes and told the people behind them. Those people put on their parachutes and told the people behind them.

That was where the problem arose. The people in this row had not seen the copilot come out. There was no reason to put on their parachutes for what may or may not be true, said they.

Luckily, one person in that row believed them. He passed it back to the row behind. The message did make it to the back of the airplane, but only a few people believed it. When the pilot turned on the security camera, he saw a sad sight. Only a few people had put on their parachutes.

"It's a shame," said he, "that they do not accept my message of life. This course of action will bring them death."

"Sir," said the copilot, "it is only because they do not believe mere hearsay. If you were to turn on the intercom to tell them, or go out yourself, everyone would believe you."

The pilot sadly shook his head. "If they do not believe those who are with them, they will not believe even if I tell them over the intercom."

The copilot nodded reluctantly. After all, the captain must know best. Suddenly he noticed something on the security camera.

"Look!" he said, trembling. "It's that famous terrorist we saw on the news the other night! And he's dressed as a flight attendant!"

The captain scowled darkly and turned on the camera's sound.

"... to worry about," said the terrorist. "It was a false alarm, and we should be arriving at our destination in about an hour."

Many of those wearing parachutes took them off.

"Captain!" shouted the co-pilot. "We have to do something! I can go back there and stop him."

But the captain only shook his head. "One day I will destroy that terrorist, but we must let him keep his free will for a time."

"Free will?" asked the copilot. "That's the most totally evil person on this plane, and maybe in the whole world! Surely we can sacrifice his free will to save all those people's lives!"

"No," said the captain sadly. "There will come a time, very soon, in which everyone will know the truth. They will have to jump. And those who did not believe my message will know that they were wrong, and they will perish."

"I know those things!" shouted the copilot frantically. "We must alert everyone to the danger, not just the faithful!"

"But we have," said the captain. The copilot was about to argue, but then decided to trust the benevolent captain to be right.

The moment of truth came. The captain finally burst out of the cabin.

"Everyone who has on a parachute must now jump!" Pandemonium struck the plane. The faithful sang songs of joy as they leapt to safety. Those who hadn't believed the captain scrambled to put them on, but there wasn't time. Just as the last of the parachutists jumped, the plane hit the mountain, and everyone still aboard was killed.

The pilot received a medal for his bravery, but only from the passengers themselves.



http://www.ebonmusings.org/atheism/flight777.html

2 Likes

Re: Flight 777: A Parable by ayobase(m): 10:26pm On Aug 24, 2012
and the cast are .....
-God as Pilot.
-Jesus as Co-pilot.
-Passengers as people across the globe.
-Terrorist- Satan.
-Those with parachutes- the believers.
-Those without- the unblievers.
Re: Flight 777: A Parable by jayriginal: 10:30pm On Aug 24, 2012
ayobase: and the cast are .....
-God as Pilot.
-Jesus as Co-pilot.
-Passengers as people across the globe.
-Terrorist- Satan.
-Those with parachutes- the believers.
-Those without- the unblievers.

You're right. I'm not sure though that the co-pilot is Jesus.

1 Like

Re: Flight 777: A Parable by thehomer: 9:36am On Aug 26, 2012
A neat analogy.

3 Likes

Re: Flight 777: A Parable by Avicenna: 9:49am On Aug 26, 2012
thehomer: A neat analogy.

Very. All the evil, the stupidity, the illogicalities, are well presented.

Pilot that can't talk over the intercom Because they will not listen to the people they met an hour ago?
What sort of pilot is that?

Medal ko, trash ni.

1 Like

Re: Flight 777: A Parable by Purist(m): 1:08pm On Aug 27, 2012
I'm curious to read Mr_Anony's views on this exceedingly apt parable.

1 Like

Re: Flight 777: A Parable by wiegraf: 2:14pm On Aug 27, 2012
I actually lol'd. Someone ought to flog the pilot. He sounds like of one of those religious nuts that has people drinking kool aid on those remote farms/communities.

The pilot was also presido/father/owner of their lives, though he never actually bothered to prove this, or even tell any of them himself. Legally, since he owned them he could do whatever he wanted with their lives. Or some similar excuse.

Wait for it...
Re: Flight 777: A Parable by Areaboy2(m): 3:07pm On Aug 27, 2012
thehomer: A neat analogy.

you're joking right?



the analogy is not consistent with the real world.


First of all, there is an override button that cancels all electronic input to the aircraft and gives the pilot manual control. This is true for almost all Boeing. Airbus on the other hand deal with fly-by-wire and may be a diff story. Even they too have automated override from their control centre on ground.

Secondly, what happened to the PA system? He could have easily announced on the PA so everyone will believe immediately rather than creating doubts. He is the pilot afterall and the overall commander of the aircraft and the lives of everyone on-board is his responsibility/priority. Telling passengers to tell other passengers seems an evil way to do things and even unprofessional/poorly trained

Thirdly where are the Air-hostess(that terrorist disguise is just laughable) The can easily transmit this information row by row if the PA system is damaged or absent (the pilot must have known the problem is electrical if his PA dies). Again Manual override?? undecided. The passenger has the right to doubt the story if the aircraft feels ok to him and he has heard nothing from the pilot. They aren't responsible for their lives in that situation, the veteran pilot is

Fourthly No one can actually Jump out of the plane and be safe cos it is an illusion to make them die happier. Here's the problem: cabins are compressed to a couple of bars above outside pressure (since pressure is lower at altitude) so we can be comfortable. Thus the doors are "locked" into place with this pressure and will not open no matter how hard you try. Two options exist for the pilot: 1) quick decompression of the cabin which will pop out oxygen masks (This alone will make the unbelievers believe and dawn their parachutes) to allow the doors open . 2) gradual decompression by reducing altitude so passengers can breathe normally (problem is the plane is out of control and will not descend or ascend) without the masks and manage to open the door too

Fifth(ly) lol.. *After laughing at myself for actually saying "fifthly"* You cant simply dawn a parachute and jump off. Quick training on how to use it and when to use it is important. So all those thinking they are simply safe with their parachute are actually deluded lol



After writing this up, I realise the analogy is actually correct grin lol. You see why unbelievers cant believe? Again is it my fault that the all knowing pilot chooses to use shady doubtful ways to relate a message rather than going on a straight clear path?

3 Likes

Re: Flight 777: A Parable by Image123(m): 1:18am On Aug 28, 2012
followship
Re: Flight 777: A Parable by IamPhantom(f): 6:53pm On Sep 04, 2012
jayriginal:

You're right. I'm not sure though that the co-pilot is Jesus.

Jesus? Nah. τ̣̣ђё co-pilot has got to be an atheist screaming give em proof. It'll cost U̶̲̥̅̊ nothing to give 'em proof U̶̲̥̅̊ fuckhead.....errrr,god.
Re: Flight 777: A Parable by PAGAN9JA(m): 6:57pm On Sep 04, 2012
this write up proves that you can never trust fanatic xtians or muslims as pilots or in the army.
Re: Flight 777: A Parable by Nobody: 6:52am On Feb 28, 2013
bump... great analogy...

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