On the Need for Religious Education

Illustrating the need for greater religious education and awareness, an airplane made emergency landing when a Jewish teenager put on tefillin in order to say his prayers. When the crew asked him what he was doing, they apparently were dissatisfied with his explanation and ordered the New York to Louisville flight to land in Philadelphia so that they could investigate further. Sigh.

There is an element of truth in comedian Bengt Washburn's observation that "One person doing something weird -- he is just a nut. A group of people doing something weird -- well, that's just a church." (source) Something that is common in one religion and helps bring meaning to its adherents often seems strange to observers outside the faith. In some cases, it even can seem threatening. More religious education and awareness may not solve all of the world's problems, but it seems that at least in one case, it could have helped a plane reach its destination safely.