daveman
Diamond Member
I wrote it. Moron.False dichotomy -- unless atheists are withholding parachutes from believers.
December 10, 1999, a C-130 almost crashed in Kuwait.
I was on board.
After the plane struck the desert floor at Al Jaber, it regained the air. The loadmasters strung cargo straps from the front bulkhead of the cargo deck to the rear -- they were afraid the fuselage would come apart in flight. The impact, the tears in the airplane from the landing gear components punching up though into the cargo deck, the smell of hydraulic fluid, the sound of the wind coming through the holed fuselage, the sight of Airmen attending to the wounded -- all terrifying. We were packed in tight. Couldn't move. Couldn't do anything.
Couldn't do anything but pray.
For 45 minutes, while we flew over the Gulf dumping fuel, I prayed.
I prayed to God that He would take care of my girls -- my wife and my almost-4-year-old daughter -- and that if He had to take those of us on the Herc, that it would be quick and painless. I prayed that He would guide the aircrew to bring us safely to a halt back at Kuwait International. I prayed that those who had been injured at the point of impact would be okay, and that they weren't in any pain (I found out later that three Airmen had died. I spoke with a flight nurse and a chaplain later during counselling, and the nurse said that with the injuries of those killed, they would have never regained consciousness, and thus died in no pain. That was important to me).
God's given me peace over this accident. I haven't had any nightmares, no sleepless nights, no PTSD, nothing. I'm forever grateful for that, and that I had my faith to lean on during a terrifying time.
Perhaps, like many atheists, you simply don't understand the nature of faith. As for your claim: "But when it comes down to a matter of life and death, many religious folks will toss aside their beliefs and rely on reality" -- that simply doesn't hold up to reality.
Christians die for their faith every day.
The January 2011 issue of the International Bulletin of Missionary Research reported the number of Christian martyrs per year peaked at around 160,000 in the year 2000, but since the cessation of hostilities in the Sudan it had fallen to around 100,000 per year.
A second source cited by the Italian sociologist, The Price of Freedom Denied, published by sociologists Brian J. Grim and Roger Finke, estimated the number of Christian martyrs per year was higher, ranging from 130,000 and 160,000.
His estimate of 105,000 Christian martyrs in 2011, between 287 and 288 martyrs per day: twelve per hour, or one every five minutes, was a conservative estimate that could be adjusted up or down. At any rate, figures are horribly high. This is the situation I wanted to alert the audience to in Gödöllo, he said.
You may have no beliefs you're willing to die for. But don't project that onto everyone.
To whomever wrote the above description of the almost plane crash. Get a fuckin grip!!!!
In the military, you don't get to pick and choose who your aircrew is. Moron. And 86 passengers and no cargo will NOT overload a C-130. Moron.
THAT is all.
