MAAF maintains a roster of Atheists in Foxholes, just in case there are any rumors that we don't exist. The next time you hear someone repeat that old myth, just send them here to see how atheists have served honorably in combat - always have, always will.
Every time I see that line "there are no atheists in foxholes" I want to climb on down into the internet and emerge, Samara style, from the offender's monitor and force them to write "There are indeed atheists in foxholes" 1,000 times. Get writing, Larry Gatlin of The Audacity of Logic!
It's said that there are no atheists in fox holes. I would add... or in a coal mine if you are there for 69 days.
Allow me to explain group dynamics to you, Larry (may I call you Larry? Oh, good.) If I were trapped in a mine, I would try to avoid any divisive discussion. It's not like there's anywhere to go to get away from arguments. If I could not avoid the topic of religion, I would be noncommittal. Again, you can't get away from these people. If things get ugly, and discussions of religion frequently do, there's nowhere to go. I certainly wouldn't point out that god trapped us in the mine in the first place.
Anyway, if pressed with evangelization, I would "accept Jesus Christ as my lord and savior". Quite frankly, trapped in a small place for that long, I'd agree to anything to avoid dissension. I'd agree my mother was a Martian and I'm the reincarnation of a small butterfly that lived for exactly one day in June of 1574. Who cares?
Anyway, I'm not sure what it proves that miners in Chile found a certain type of religion. It certainly doesn't speak to anything I would or would not do, or what any other person would or would not do. Chile is heavily Catholic, so in reality, one type of Christian became another type of Christian.
Yippee.
If you recall, Gawd was evidently the 34th miner, so I doubt any of the others would have blamed Him right to His face for getting them stuck down there. As you point out, that would have made for a very uncomfortable stay.
ReplyDeleteAren't there foxholes in the Far East? Pretty much every Buddhist-, Taoist-, Shintoist- body over there is an atheist.
ReplyDeleteYou could reply that atheists are too smart to join the military in the first place.
ReplyDelete"You could reply that atheists are too smart to join the military in the first place."
ReplyDeleteYou could, but even without questioning the framing of that statement, you'd be wrong.
And, actually, even a brief review of, say, the poetry that came out of the world wars tends to indicate that foxholes actively produce atheists.
It would indeed be wrong since plenty of atheists actually have joined the military. I never would though because I feel no allegiance to the country I live in.
ReplyDelete