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I don't think I've seen this discussed anywhere locally . . . <br><br>It occurs to me that not once have I heard the Jet Blue pilot who evidently suffered a psychotic break while flying a packed plane described as a "Christian pilot," even though we might infer such given that his rants touched on sin, the Bible, and Jesus Christ.<br><br>My point? Well, not surprisingly, it's not to head off any claims that losing one's mind on an airplane is a core, necessary practice of Christianity. But you knew that. So what is my point?<br><br>It's simple. If the pilot were Middle Eastern or Muslim, the headline and lead paragraph in the stories that follow would predictably followed the alarmist "Yemeni Pilot, Shouting of Allah, Disrupts Flight," or maybe "Experts Weigh In: Was Muslim Pilot A Terrorist?" And it would be an example of anti-Islamic prejudice for them to do so, unless and until any "Islamicist" link were ever found.<br><br>I've tried to fight the good fight, here and elsewhere, by speaking out against injustice, and I've tried to be consistent. To not call this one out, even in the negative -- i.e., the pilot wasn't, as far as I'm aware, ever described as a "Christian pilot" -- would be hypocritical, especially because I am a Christian. <br><br>Since much of our recent discussion here has centered on notions of privilege and power, I think it's important to make the point that in the U.S. media, my faith gives me, and presumably the pilot, a measure of privilege that protects us from the bigotry suffered by our Muslim friends and neighbors.<br><br><font style="" color="#8064a2"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3"><font style="" face="Verdana">Keely<br>www.keely-prevailingwinds.com<br></font></font></font> </div></body>
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