You completely miss the point.
It is the fact that it can happen, not the statistical chances of it not happening, that creates the fear.
You can get struck by lightning during a storm if you go outside, too. That was my entire point and it reduces this entire argument to nonsense. Of course it's about the relative chance of it actually happening. People subconsciously think that the chance of this happening to them is now bigger because of a recent event. It is, but not by much really.
Something bad could happen to you every single day. Why don't you live every single day in fear of other things happening to you? Because you know in the back of the mind that a) that's stupid and b) statistically speaking it's unlikely to happen to you.
You trust it to not happen because of the proactive measures to ensure the safety of a person. Just like every aspect of human society, which is to protect against death.
I 'trust' it not to happen because all the evidence in the world suggests it won't. That evidence being the overwhelming odds in favour of it not happening.
My point is death happens, and unless you have confronted that and dealt with the reality of human mortality, then these 'issues' which crop up every so often are going to cause fear - fear of death, mainly. People avoid dying because of its finality. These events highlight that and the fear caused isn't that the plane will fall out of the sky (which is statistically improbably but still possible); it is the fact that it can happen and the result of that which causes the fear / panic.
Of course these issues are going to cause fear in some people. I don't think I've ever argued against that. My entire point is that rationally there is no basis for this fear of a plane crashing, and that it is entirely a emotional and illogical reaction to events. If you're trying to argue that these events can bring about a fear of death then sure I don't disagree, but that's not what you seemed to be arguing originally, especially with the car analogy.
You call it superstitious mumbo jumbo, and I appreciate that is your view of life and death - you're pragmatic and dismissive of what death is. It happens, you move on.
I think there has been a pretty big misunderstanding here on both ends so apologies for that. I was calling being afraid of planes crashing because of recent events superstitious mumbo jumbo - not the fear of death itself. I respect that many people hold the fear of death and that events like this bring that fear up again. That fear is not the one I was arguing against.
I am pragmatic, yeah, but certainly not dismissive of what death is. Honestly I think I take it much, much more seriously than you ever possibly could given you believe in an afterlife. It is final in every sense of the word to me, if anything people who believe in an afterlife are the ones who need to give it a hell of a lot more thought.
But that simply highlights you're never thought about death and its occurrence. Spend a day thinking about death and its reality, and I am certain you would have a different outlook to it as a consequence.
Yeah I've never thought about death and occurrence. :crazy: I've spent a hell of a lot more time
seriously thinking about it, especially during the last five years or so of my life. Good god where do you come up with this stuff? What a bizarre, yet unsurprising in the least, assumption.
Edit: You can still read it if you wish but I've removed some of my comments about death because I seriously don't want to get into an argument about the reality and finality of death with a Christian because I think you're just completely and fundamentally wrong on this point and not even worth discussing it with, quite frankly.
