It's (Not) A Miracle!

You know what was the best part of Captain Chesley Sullenberger's landing of the flight 1549 in the Hudson River? OK - right. Everyone survived. How about the second best part?

It was that neither Sully nor his wife nor co-pilot Jeffrey Skiles nor, as far as I know, any of the crew praised Jesus for rescuing them. Or Yahweh. Or Allah, for that matter. No, Sully has been a true professional: humble, forthright, dedicated to the passengers and crew for whom he was responsible. If he is a religious man, he has wisely kept it to himself. He did the job for which he had been trained - did it very well, without a doubt - as a human being committed to the task before him. Of course, he saved his own skin as well but that seems secondary. In every interview I've heard him give, he has been nothing but factual, discussing the conditions and his actions as purely natural phenomena (as opposed to super-natural intervention.) Although some of his questioners and, if I recall correctly even the co-pilot, mentioned "luck", Sully didn't even go that far.

So my least favorite interview question came from Katie Kouric, who asked whether he had prayed. And my favorite interview answer was Sully's to that question, which is that he had been pretty busy flying the plane. He didn't dismiss the question (he even said that perhaps someone in the back had done it for him) but he gave it no gravity whatsoever. Kudos, Captain. Kudos.

Meanwhile, in preparation for this post I Googled "Sullenberger Jesus Pray." There is a Yahoo Answers question on "The Miracle on The Hudson" with comments that mostly echo the sentiments here. But one comment stood out to me:

I believe it was a miracle like they are saying. Praise God!! And I believe anyone who was on that plane and they were not "saved"; they will seriously begin to think about eternal, spiritual things and salvation. I was actually wondering what an atheist would do in this situation. And for anyone not to see that this is a miracle... well I think they seriously have to be jaded.

What would an atheist do in this situation? Just ditch the plane into a city neighborhood because, what the hell, existence is meaningless without God anyway? Or maybe she meant an atheist passenger, which is an easier question to answer: He or she would have stayed in his or her seat and followed instructions, just like everyone else.

And anyway, how do we know whether Sully is an atheist or not? *Gasp!* For anyone not to see that a human being can be outstanding in his work and a selfless hero without the threat of hell or promise of a golden harp, well, I think they seriously have to be jaded.

If I am ever in such a situation, I will pray that the pilot is an atheist. Then I will be sure he is relying on his skill and knowledge and experience to do everything in his power to get that plane down safely. The last thing I want is for the pilot to have his head bowed, eyes closed and hands folded as he asks a mythical being to interrupt the laws of physics for the sake of what are doubtless a mixed collection of sinners and souls ready to go home to their heavenly father.

So thank God there has been no religious fervor over this extremely laudable and exceedingly human effort.

Oh, except for this one:

Passenger Jeff Kolodjay said he saw the engine blow up. “We thought we were going to circle around, but we didn’t have time,” he told the Newsday newspaper.He heard Sullenberger tell passengers to brace for impact and then said a Hail Mary.
[snip]
And most of all, we can assume from the above that Sullenberger is a true devotee of Virgin Mary, as he cried for her intercession in this toughest time of his life.
Come on friends, don’t be surprised at the intercession power
of our Holy Mother.

First of all, Sullenberger did not cry for anyone's intercession. Kolodjay said a "Hail Mary." Kolodjay's account was pretty clear, unlike this sloppy uncredited blog post. Secondly, crediting the captain and crew's competence and heroism to divine intervention does them a disservice and is, quite frankly, insulting. Insulting to Sully, his crew, his company, his employer. Insulting to every religion that doesn't consider Mary to be "Holy" and able to intercede in earthly tragedies. And insulting to Mary, who apparently would have let a planeload of (nominally) innocent people perish had someone not cried out a Hail to her.

So Hail Sully, and may other people in the public eye learn from his example.