The Rittenhouse Review

A Philadelphia Journal of Politics, Finance, Ethics, and Culture


Monday, February 09, 2004  

“TIME AND PLACE”
Revival or Cross-country Flight?

Have you ever heard or used the phrase, “Time and place”? It’s shorthand for the common sense notion that some statements, acts, and behavior, while suitable in some settings, are not appropriate in others.

The most obvious recent example: The tête-à-teat between Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake at the Super Bowl.

A so-far less publicized example, reported late yesterday by the Associated Press (“American Airlines Pilot Plugs Christianity”):

American [Airlines] Flight 34 was headed from Los Angeles to New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport on Friday when the pilot asked Christians on board to raise their hands, [spokesman] Tim Wagner said.

The pilot, whose name was not released, told the airline that he then suggested the other passengers use the flight time to talk to the Christians about their faith, Wagner said. […]

The pilot also told passengers he would be available for discussion at the end of the flight. Wagner said the pilot had just returned to work from a weeklong mission trip to Costa Rica.

Oh, yeah, right. That’s what I want on a long flight: four hours of “faith sharing” with my “neighbor.” Did the pilot not realize all the doors are locked? And that with new security provisions, airline passengers lack ready access to even the most obscure instruments of suicide?

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