Which live should I save first?

  • Thread starter Thread starter davidsunrise
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
D

davidsunrise

Guest
Hypothetical situation:
I visit an islamic country in Africa for tourism purpose. I rent a helicopter there so I can see the wild animals safely from above. On that same day, I learn from the local news that the rebel forces are doing sweeping on some villages inhabited by certain tribe that they hate and try to eliminate all (genocide).

When my helicopter is passing by a village, I order the pilot to land on an open field nearby that village. I plan to notify the villagers there that the rebel forces may be on their way to their village and advise them to flee somewhere for safety.

But then, the unimaginable thing happens: suddenly a lot of people run to my chopper and ask for help with their evacuation. There are pagan babies, pagan kids, pagan elders, husbands, wives, and 5 nuns with their priest also coming to my chopper. The nuns and priest, looking terribly scared, explain that the rebel forces will not spare them after killing the villagers as it happened before.

I like to help but my chopper can take only a maximum of 6 people.
As a good catholic, which live should I choose to save first?
The 5 nuns and priest? The pagan babies? The pagan kids?
What is the right thing to do should I be presented with this kind of dilemmatic situation?
Please give me the reasons for your answer, if possible with some supporting references.
 
Unless you or the chopper crew just are another bunch of warlords you will not have a choice. Either the mob will decide to cooperate to save a few children or they will overwhelm the lifting ability of your bird as everyone grabs onto landing skids. The Priest and Nuns would probably be like the Captain who is the last off of his sinking ship.
 
The mob overpowers the helicopter, thereby causing to to crash, and all lives are lost, including yours…🤷
 
Well there are a number of possibilities.

The first that comes to mind is that, if I stay behind, one more person could be saved…

But there are other options and details not covered in the OP. The helicopter offers a great advantage in ways other than simply hauling people out.

Do you know where the rebels are?? Since you rented the helicopter to observe wildlife we can assume ground visibility is pretty good in the region (open savanna). Rebels making sweeps are likely to kick up dust and if they are pillaging, you may be able to spy their movements from the air and direct your villagers to move in a way that avoids the rebels.
We might also assume that the helicopter has a radio which, if you spy the rebels, might allow you to direct government forces towards them.

Sticking more closely to the OP’s scenario, I would suggest that the children be evacuated first then the mothers and then the men. Again - how much recon info you have can help in knowing just how far the villagers need to be taken in order to be safe. You may be able to make multiple trips.

The Priest and nuns should be taken out last…My reasoning here is this. The Priest and nuns are consecrated Christians who should already be prepared to “meet their maker”. Their martyrdom might even hold up the rebel troops and allow more of the villagers to escape. Plus their show of courage and acceptance of death for others would be a powerful conversion tool for the pagans.

Obviously in this kind of scenario there are a lot of possibilities.

Peace
James
 
Can we make this a gunship helicopeter?? That considerably widens our options!😃

No? Party pooper. Academically, take babies and small children and tell the adults to hoof it out of there FAST. But fallen human nature suggests that a riot will occur and the chopper will be destroyed.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top