A Christian and a Muslim are drowning, who would you rescue?

[Flail]

If a Christian and a Muslim were drowning and you could rescue but one, which one would it be?

I would think that if you were a Christian, you would rescue the Muslim, since you would "know" that your fellow Christian had eternal life anyway.

I would think that if you were a Muslim, that you would rescue the Christian, since you would 'know' that the Muslim had eternal life anyway.

If you were not religious you would attempt to rescue them both and die.. but you would have your salvation in your selfless act of kindness and non-judgment.....


So why all the fighting over who will be anointed?

[Azerate218]

I wouldn't save either of them.

[Ms_Maryam]

How would I be able to tell which is which?

LOL!!!

I was thinking that EXACT same thing...

Ok, so the person would swim up to them, WHILE they are drowing, and ask "Hey! What's your religion?!?!?... Oh your Muslim?? Really??? Haha, BYE!"


But to answer the question... I would save who ever is the smallest. I'm pretty small myself.. so if it's a big person or something.... Yeah... I don't know about that.

[Ms_Maryam]

I would save the Christian. The muslim might try to suicide bomb me once I save him.

LOL!!!!!!!!!


I definately would after you said that!

Pshh.. You know I'd get my uncle Osama and the rest of the gang.
.
.
.
.
.
For those who didn't get the humor in that...it was supposed to be humorous

It was a joke.

Yeah, I know it was a joke..but it's quite old.

[JoeyKnothead]

This is a kinda mean question, as it implies one's life would be worth more than the other's. It is designed to spread division, and discord, and is yet one more reason to toss off religion.

The best way to phrase this question would be, "Two humans are drowning, which would you save?" It is then more correct, in that we should all treat one another as people, and not as religious divisions.

Some of the comments in this thread prove my point. While there is usually some truth in stereotypes, look what the discussion has fallen to. Sure, there are a lot of people who suicide themselves in the name of their religion. I would say though that there are far more who would hate in the name of theirs.

It's all well and good to make a joke, but when you have to then scroll down to find out it was indeed a joke, is it really a joke? Is it a joke when you have to have it explained to you?

When confronted with a genuine decision to save someone's life, would it care what that person believed, or that they are humans? Would anyone be so vain, so self centered, so self righteous they would stop to consider the religious beliefs of a fellow human being before acting to save them?

[Ayah5768]

I doubt that I would take much time to think about it. Based on what I know about what my mind does when it doesn't have much time to think I would save the child... assuming there is one. My instinct is to protect children even if they aren't my own, even at the expense of my own life. If there was no child, I'd go for whomever was closer.... I don't think I could in good conscious pass a drowning person.

I don't really understand what someone's religion has to do with whether that person should live or die.

[VicS]

Rephrasing the question to a logical, more concise analysis.

~ You're at point A. The Christian and the Muslim are at points B and C respectively.
~ Both are exactly 10m (assuming the distance) away from you.
~ The distance and angle to which all of you are distance/located from each other is like that of an equilateral triangle.
~ You are strangers to both of them, as they are to you. You've never met them, spoken or heard of them before. This is your first time encountering them.
~ Assuming both are the same human (like a clone), only difference is religion.

So if both are drowning, and you have 25 seconds (assuming the time), who would you save, if you could only have time to save one. (Also assuming that you are all deserted in the ocean from all forms of outside-help/assistance)

This situation could be related to how firemen/lifeguards/coastguards would have to make a decision in this kind of situation. Of course, during those kinds of situation, we never know the EXACT distance/time or whatever constants considered like in this one I just made up.

The first reaction in their minds is - save whoever you can save. But if it's a matter of gender and not religious beliefs, then it's usually always the female over the male. Or child over the adult.

So in a real-life situation, there is no thinking of who to save usually. It's a life, and life is precious itself. We don't mull over things like, "Oh, if I save him, will he thank me?" or "What will I get out of saving him?". Those thoughts we know, are outright selfish.

Though on the other hand, thoughts like, "What if I try to save him, I myself start to drown?" come into question, which is based on our ability to save the person. But still, I can safely say most of us will still TRY, even though we know we may be unable to be successful. Just like those in uniform. They just try, because they never really know the outcome, they just go in and Hope for the best.

And quite frankly, this question can never be answered. It can only be done. And as much as we may say we will do, or not do as we say it, the only time where we are really seen for our hearts is our actions.

My answer would be: Save whoever I decide to save at that point of time.

[Kuan]

Could I be the hero and save them both but die heroically in the process. Then afterwards they both view as a messenger sent from god and realize that they are both worshiping the same god and then henceforth stop all the violence and successfully cultivate world peace?

[cnorman18]

This was a dumb question when it was first asked five years ago, and it still is.

First -- how would you KNOW which was which?

Second -- if the answer matters to you, that says more about YOUR morality than the value of either religion.

Third -- I'm a Jew. I don't CARE, as long as SOMEBODY gets saved. Dithering about it isn't going to save anybody.

Phfft. Flip a coin, if you have time.

[99percentatheism]

If a Christian and a Muslim were drowning and you could rescue but one, which one would it be?

I would think that if you were a Christian, you would rescue the Muslim, since you would "know" that your fellow Christian had eternal life anyway.

I would think that if you were a Muslim, that you would rescue the Christian, since you would 'know' that the Muslim had eternal life anyway.

If you were not religious you would attempt to rescue them both and die.. but you would have your salvation in your selfless act of kindness and non-judgment.....


So why all the fighting over who will be anointed?

I'm a Christian. I would save the one that was closest.

Then again, if I was an atheist, I would save the one that looked to be higher up on the Darwinian scale of physical worthiness.

[PhilosoRaptor]

Then again, if I was an atheist, I would save the one that looked to be higher up on the Darwinian scale of physical worthiness.

You are aware that an atheist need not accept evolution, aren't you? Most do, but it is nowhere required in the by-laws or some such. Atheists can believe leprechauns created all life "as-is" 3 days ago if they want to, as long as a God or gods aren't involved.

I hope that you are also aware that acceptance of evolution =/= acceptance of social darwinism?

For that matter, attempting to artificially bias selection pressures against what you perceive as "weakness" a-la social darwinism is, scientifically speaking, poor strategy, since taking this idea to its logical conclusion will result in an increasingly genetically uniform population which will be more and more vulnerable to emerging diseases and recessive genetic defects, ultimately weakening us as a species. Not to mention the impossibility of just glancing at someone and determining their fitness. It is nowhere near as simple as just looking for the most muscular one without obvious deformities and saying "Yes! Clearly an evolutionary winner!" Selection pressures are much more intricate in our society.