I was on a flight from Caracas, Venezuela to Barcelona, Venezuela. It was a “dark and stormy night,” as they say, so we were bouncing around with lightning flashes punctuating the cabin with white flashes. We hit something, maybe a wind shear, or something like it. The plane plummeted sharply. We lost cabin pressure and the oxygen masks came down.
Wherever the cabin pressure leak was, it was allowing the outside moisture to enter the cabin. It filled the cabin with fog, though it looked like smoke. So it looked like our cabin was full of smoke, where you couldn’t see but a few seats in front of you and then all you could see was white haze.
I was sitting next to a missionary. I had just got done telling him that I’m an atheist and shortly thereafter was when the incident occurred. Maybe he thought God was after me! And, no, I didn’t go asking for God to save me. Contrary to popular opinion, atheists do not suddenly find religion when they feel threatened.
What I did do was look to the flight attendant. There was one close enough to me to see through the fog, and he didn’t seem panicked, so I put on my mask and hoped for the best. We landed without further incident.
{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
So, basically, this wasn;'t about the flight, but more about what a great atheist you are, since you didn't "find" God, during a potential disaster?
Whenever I tell someone my story, they always ask if I prayed to God.
Oh, and, just curious, if I was a Christian, and said something like "I guess God was looking out for me today", would you have responded, "so, this isn't about your flight, but about an opportunity to evangelize". Is that what you would have said?
Theists don't realize the vast amounts of covert evangelism we have to put up with. I understand that the theists aren't consciously aware of it. They don't realize they are doing it. But they are. And they get a free pass. Its okay for a theist to frame their experiences in the context of their religion. But, if an atheist frames their experience in terms of their non-belief, they get hit for it.
So, next time you see someone say, "this was God work", if you don't criticize them, then you have no business criticizing me saying it is NOT God's work.
Actually, had you posted the same story and but added that you were a devout religious person and you prayed, I would have said the same thing. I have no problem with your beliefs, or lack thereof, but how that post belonged to "Flights from Hell" is beyond me. So, if I hear someone next to me saying it's God's work, I can be free NOT to criticize and it has no impact on my ability to criticize you. Believe or don't believe, that;s up to you, but you used this forum to proselytize your atheism…I'll call foul when and if I see it.
If that is a true statement, then fine, you are entitled to your opinion, and are consistent. I'll be looking for your comments in any future flight from hell story that the person closes the story with "God saved me!"
But, ultimately, I think your complaint is invalid in both cases. As much as I might tire of "God saved me stories", and oft wish they would go away, its still a fact that theists will interpret their experiences in terms of their theism. And so are going to express their stories in such terms.
And, to me, that I'm not a theist was integral to my story. I didn't go into the banter at the luggage pickup, but, the fact I had moments before the incident told the missionary I was an atheist was part of the conversation and somebody said the missionary must have blamed me for it. So, my non theism was to me part of my story.
Don't like it? Read another story.
I heartily disagree with you. I have no problems with you being an atheist, or even mentioning it in a story…however, that seeme to be the ONLY point to your story. If someone posted a story and casually mentioned theism or atheism, no big deal, but THE WHOLE POINT TO YOUR POST is your atheism…to the extent that you somehow read the mind of the missionary next to you maybe thought God was after you. Sounds like you have a rleigious ax to grind and chose this (inappropriate) forum to do so. Don't like my comment? Read another one.
I think Paul was an alter boy earlier in life….
Oh for crying out loud. It was a joke about the missionary blaming me! Somebody else actually originally made the joke, at the luggage pickup.
And, no, its not the entire point of the story. Being on a plane that lost cabin pressure and fill with fog is not an everyday occurrence.
Jeez man!
Sorry, I thought this was entitled "Hog fills plane" about another fat slob taking up all the room this time.
How is this a flight from hell? Moisture fills the air… other than the bit about being an atheist is that all there is to this??
Hitting a windshear, or something like it, and loosing cabin pressure was kinda a flight from hell to me.
The OP said that the fog was a result of cabin depressurization which is a very serious matter.
Hugh, enjoy your stale beer and veneral diseases hookers!
If you have a disagreement with my post, please, by all means make your argument. I have no issue with the OP, just don't feel this is the proper forum for it. Reducing yourself to childish name calling says much more about you than it does about me…grow up. Please troll elsewhere.
May you be touched by his noodly appendage.
RAmen!
"Theist"?? I didn't know that word existed 🙂
Are you a native speaker of English?
"Atheist" means someone who is "not theist," just as "apathetic" means "without feeling/opinion (pathos)" or "asexual" means "not sexual."
Rofl at all the butthurt from christians in the comments…