Christians, theists, believers... does this explanation help you to understand atheists any better?

Question

Imagine there are 20 people aboard a 757 jumbo jet. The only pilot has had a heart attack and lies unconscious. The plane will fly for awhile, but eventually it's going to crash unless someone can land it.

Amongst your group there is a fifteen year old kid. He says his father is a pilot, and he's been studying 757 jet manuals for years. All he's ever wanted to do was fly a jet plane. He promises everyone that he can land the plane safely. It's just a matter of pressing the correct buttons and following the landing procedure.

There is also a much older person who was a navigator in a B-17 in WW2. Even though he admits he's got no idea how to work the controls, he thinks his flight experience makes him less of a risk than the 15 year old kid.

2 people side with wisdom.
2 people side with knowledge.

The other 14 want to pray to god for the pilot to wake up, or to land the plane divinely.

See why religion frustrates us so much?

(please spare me the bad movie comparisons)

Answer 1

I wondered why the boy and the old man couldn't work together as a 757 surely has a co-pilot seat (I'm assuming the entire flight crew also dies, as a 757 has more than one person in the cockpit)

The old man could navigate while the kid handles the controls. When it comes time to land, the old man could handle communications (As I imagine he would "speak the same language as air traffic control) and him and the kid could figure out how to land the plane safely.

The four could help out in the cockpit depending on what needs to be done and/or give peanuts to the people praying in the back.

What does that make me?

What is interesting about the analogy is what happens when they land. Every person on the plane is satisfied with what they accomplished.

The old man will be proud of himself as he's still got a few tricks left in him.

The kid will be proud he kept up the courage to fly the plane even though his dad died, the kid is sure his dad would have been proud of him.

The four who voted probably also had their roles, besides they have their pockets full of peanuts.

The 14 who prayed will feel satisfied and assume God has answered their prayers and that God has saved them.

Answer 2

Do you have any evidence that religious people wouldn't just chose which one is better to pilot the plane and then pray for a good landing?

Answer 3

Your parable explains much of what you believe about Christians or any who believe in God, but it does nothing to substantiate your belief of the non-existence of God. you scoff at people for praying to God, yet you do not offer the better alternative in your eyes nor do you show any real insight on what or why atheists believe what they do. you engage in a pointless exercise Sir. I'm sorry but you make no sence whatsoever, None!All you are doing is trying to sound intelligent .But inteligent by what standard?

Answer 4

The other 14 want to pray to god for the pilot to wake up, or to land the plane divinely. Why can't the kid pray before trying to land the plane, or the old man pray for guidance before attempting it? Your box is too small, try peeking out a little.

Answer 5

Why not use both--why does it have to be one or the other--at the point where one does understand maybe the other could assist. Some people would be better off to pray. You could pray that these two men be led by God. You need all the help you can get--why deny Gods help?

Answer 6

I'm agnostic and it doesn't help me understand atheists any more.

It's a parable like any in the Bible. If you believe in atheism then it makes perfect sense. If you believe in theism then it may make some sense but probably not.

It's unlike Biblical parables because it leaves the reader to choose which they believe in. Frankly, you didn't mention if the 15 year old actually could fly, only that he believed he could. Manuals are quite a bit different from reality. He's you're Christ-figure in this.

The old guy who flew the B-17 may have more experience in flying but has already admitted he has no clue what he's doing. Seems like I might have a good a chance at flying the plane than he.

And praying? Pretty sure even the most devout of religious followers believe that God (whichever god they believe in and/or controls air travel) does realize that it might well be in his plan for them to die in the crash or to stop the crash on their own.

Personally, I'd put my hopes in the co-pilot. There's a reason why there are two people in the cockpit. If they both died AND no one could figure out the communications system I'd be trying my cell to contact, say, the airport to talk to someone who does know and can the teen and the veteran through it relying on both their knowledge to help them understand what the actually-trained people say.

And, just for the sheer fun of it:

You are religious. You, ostensibly, have studied religion and reject it. Your religion maintains that there is no god, higher power, afterlife, or whatever.

Your's relies on as much faith in the absence of God as any religion that claims to know a god.

Neither of you have any actual proof for or against. Whatever evidence you or they may or may not have is circumstantial, at the very best.

I'm not religious. I don't pretend to know that which is beyond my capability to know, no matter how much I think it makes sense. Without dying I can't know what comes after death. Even near-death experiences are only near. It could well be completely different in actual death.

I prefer the philosophy of agnosticism. It's a philosophy. It's what I think based on what I experience. I don't attach any concept of fact or truth to it. Those are relative.

Religions, even atheism, serve people to give them comfort in themselves and in things they can't control. True or false there is nothing bad in that.

People corrupt religions by trying to force them on others or gain, personally, from them.

You're atheist. You don't believe in a God. That's fine and good. You have your reasons and they help you through your life. That's as it should be. Other people are Catholic, or Islamic, or whatever. They believe what they believe for, actually, the same reasons you do. It just makes sense to them.

Stop trying to force each other to understand. You can't. You have faith in something that can't be shown to those who don't want to see. You only alienate each other.

What I believe is important is that some of us do believe that God, or some after-life/higher-power, exists, some of us believe that there is none, and some of us do stand in that much-insulted middle ground and refuse have faith in that which we can't know. We all serve a purpose to simply keep each other thinking. We can challenge each other but we can still respect each other.

People of faith, theist or atheist, cannot understand, not truly, how or why the opposition believes what they do. No allegories, biblical or otherwise, are going to make it more clear.

We all, however, have a desire to learn and understand not only what exists beyond that which we can sense, physically, here and now, and not only whether or not there is anything. We also all have a desire to communicate, to hear and be heard. We all want to learn. We can only do that when we stop trying to make the opposition try to think like we do and try, instead, to actually listen to what they say.

Don't argue. Don't prove your point. It can't be proven. Listen. Ask questions to help you understand them. Answer their questions when they try to understand you.

I, actually, believe it's all exactly right so long as the philosophy is to be good to both oneself and others. I've not found a religion that suggests otherwise. People who twist their religions, yes, but any actual religion, no. The true intent of religion, including atheism, does seem quite good to me.

Oh, and, just to antagonise. I suppose I'd really be hoping Harrison Ford was on board. He'd know exactly what to do. Well, so, I suppose, would Steven Segal but Harrison Ford would be more convincing.

Answer 7

You liken believers to people who are painfully unaware of the world around them...that we are somehow...stupid??? If I am getting this wrong, I am sorry, but let me continue.

I know that atheists don't understand why it is that we believe. I honestly believe that atheists really think that we are deluded. They think that there is no proof of God, so therefore God must not exist.

But we do see God at work in this world. We see Him in the eyes of a new-born child. We see Him in the beauty of His creation. We see Him in our daily lives as He comforts us from the pains of the accusations that others make against us. I believe in God, and I consider myself to be blessed with intelligence. I have weighed thoroughly all the evidence that I can find, and I have chosen to believe in God.

I hope that this has helped you to understand how Christians feel.

And, one more thing. The thing that frustrates us the most are the others who believe that there was never a pilot in the first place.

Answer 8

It's a matter of what you chose to believe in. I just know how I feel and how I believe. I believe there is a God who had a son named Jesus that died on the cross for my sins and I love Him and thank Him daily. And I believe that if I were in that situation, the Lord would give someone the wisdom and knowledge to get that thing to the ground safely. Otherwise it would just be my time to go home.

Answer 9

You don't want a bad movie comparison after that rendition that would make a worse movie?

I won't say, 'hypocrite!' lol

Your story shows that you do not understand the wisdom that God brings. Neither do you understand by what you have shown here, what the word 'faith' really is. You have no idea that the most necessary definition makes it a verb. I hope you know what 'verb' means.

Answer 10

The Good Lord put 2 people on the plane that had some knowledge of how to fly it.