Muslim Sihk Jew All of them look different, but not being familiar Sihks it'd be pretty easy to mistake it for a Muslim. There are over 5 million Jews in the US, and 200,000 Sikhs. Given that there are 25 times more of one than the other it's likely the populace is going to be more familiar with one than the other and therefore less likely to confuse it with another group.
Do I have to erect a massive flashing neon sign saying "IT WAS A FIGURE OF SPEECH" on the moon for you to understand or are you just going to keep up the irrelevant nitpicking anyway?
Was a pretty shitty figure of speech. I mean I understood what you were getting at, but applied in a real world setting there's a thought process behind it. Quit gettin' mad.
Sihks and Muslims wrap their turban's differently and I can easily differ using those examples. Your Jewish example has a broken link.
Here's what my post originally said and what I've edited it to say (ie removing the last part), so as to help other people avoid the physical discomfort of having to talk out of their asses.
Regardless, I find it very hard to believe someone would confuse this: (Yes that is Natalie Portman on the left) with this: The Hasid above sports clothing far more Western than anything worn by the Muslim men below. He also looks generally more European, as most Jews (Sephardim notwithstanding) would, ironically.
you guys need to relax. we have no idea what they were wearing on the flight, so all this picture comparing is ridiculous. they should have let someone know that they had to pray. the entire problem here is miscommunication.
I'm sure they tried to explain to the flight crew that they were just praying, but the flight crew didn't believe them. Here's my problem with this. If they really were going to hijack the plane, would they do anything to draw attention to themselves like that? Of course not. They're going to sit in their seat quietly, reading a book and listening to an iPod like every other passenger on the plane to blend in until it's time for them to do what they're going to do.
I meant explain before. Like letting someone know, hey, this is very important to our faith, so please don't be alarmed by what is about to happen. I think if they had done that, there wouldn't have been an issue. Plus if you read about what the prayer was, it clearly isn't something the average person in Mexico or LA has ever seen before. you can't blame them for being ignorant to it.
I don't think that would've helped at all. People still would freak out. And I don't believe for a minute that there wasn't one other Jew, or someone who knows a Jew and is familiar with those rituals, on that plane who couldn't vouch for them. LA has a pretty sizable Jewish population. Either the other people on that plane didn't stand up for them, or the crew didn't believe them. I've had the most exposure to Judaism (and reform Jews don't have weird prayer rituals) but am currently an Atheist who despises all things religion, and I can recognize the prayer rituals of all of the major religions. I just can't believe there wasn't one person smart enough on the plane to figure that out.
I know plenty o' Jews from LA, many of whom are Orthodox (probably not as religious as the ones on this plane, but pretty up there). Todd's right on that count and several others.
It even passed customs and the security at the departing airport the items that were considered 'dangerous'. Why would you freak out over something that has passed security checks given how strict the US Air Travel system is nowadays?
I happen to *be* a crew member (a captain, in fact) on commercial flights daily (in Canada, mind you, but you get my point)... Honestly, I don't care what you do back there, as long as: - it doesn't disrupt what I'm doing up front - it doesn't disrupt my airplane - it's not something blatantly illegal (like drinking homebrew...I've seen that once or twice) - you don't come up front and ask some stupid, asinine question while I'm trying to not smash the beast onto the runway with enough force to register on the Richter scale (no guarantees on this one, and if I do, I'll blame it on the wind) Live and let live. People are **far** too paranoid these days. If there's a problem that needs to be dealt with, then for the love of (insert deity here), bring it to my attention, and I'll probably deal with it. Enough of the 21st century paranoia that's gripped the world these days. My two cents.