do you believe that? everytime i get into a religious discussion with my father that's what he says to justify things. doesn't really hold water with me though. granted he's retired military, he was never in a foxhole, and he's religious anyway. i don't necessarily believe that point of view though.
2006-10-20 01:23:04 · 23 answers · asked by Kismet 7 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
hey vlad try not to insult my father. but it's ok i reported you.
2006-10-20 01:29:57 · update #1
My father fought through six years of WWII and his father fought in the trenches of WWI. Neither of them were remotely religious. It seems to me that witnessing horror and carnage would make one question the existence of a God rather than make one believe.
2006-10-20 01:24:45 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 8⤊ 2⤋
I've always heard that too,who knows maybe to some extent it's true. Maybe in light of potential impending doom some people do,if only for a moment,bring themselves to a belief in God or at least a prayer or two. Although as the soldier looks around at all the carnage I don't know how you could turn to the God who created this world. And I have talked to soldiers who have had their faith forever diminished or destroyed by what they saw in war. So it can go either way,but in the moment I wouldn't be surprised.
2006-10-20 01:31:49 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Culturaly we grow up using certain explatives liKe: "JESUS that was close" or "GODDAMN you stop shooting at me" this doesn't mean that the person using these words is a followed of Jesus or the they think God will actually damn the person shooting at them. When I was in the was, there were a number of chaplains who passed through my A.O. and I would usually be the one talking with them, even though I am a devout agnostic :) we would debate the possibility of a just caring god allowing all of the carnage we witnessed. I like to think I got a few of them to question their faith and it's application as well.
2006-10-20 08:34:11 · answer #3 · answered by medic 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
My friend who's a Vietnam veteran was just the opposite. He believed in god until he and his small army patrol were ambushed by guerrilla warfare. He was literally in a foxhole with all but one patrolman shot dead when he stopped believing in god. "No god would put me in that situation," he always says.
Which goes to show, "For every reaction there is an equal and opposite reaction."
2006-10-20 01:33:10 · answer #4 · answered by CittyKat 2 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Foxholes?
I've crawled headfirst into a fox's den before... Probably wasn't a good idea, as the foxes didn't take too kindly to my intrusion...
I'm certainly not in there now though... since... well... I didn't fancy staying underground in a tight space for too long.
And besides, I'm more antitheist than athiest... and technically speaking the best term to describe me would be "Nihilist" ...
Though to get more around to the point... what has whether athiests are in foxholes or not got to do with anything... ever?
2006-10-20 01:28:14 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 3⤋
I've been in a firefight or two...very nasty stuff and scared for my life. I was an atheist before, I was an athiest as it was happening, and I've been an atheist since. Don't believe it. It's a myth theists use to try to convince themselves that atheists "secretly believe". I came out just as convinced in God's non-existence as when I went in.
2006-10-20 01:33:42 · answer #6 · answered by Scott M 7 · 4⤊ 0⤋
Well there is some validity in what your father says. In time of trouble and crisis anyone will naturally look to a higher power than our own. If we say there is no God then we deceive ourselves. Everything in this world denotes there is a God; for who made the mountains stand, and who made the ocean shores; and who made you and I? I'll testify to you that it's all for a reason, and I believe in God.
2006-10-20 09:52:22 · answer #7 · answered by swomedicineman 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
No it is not true. People die the same way they live. Believers turn to their God, atheists turn to whatever coping mechanism they have developed when faced with a stressful situation. It is a trite platitude to use this saying as a justification for anything.
I have seen many people die so I know this from experience.
2006-10-20 02:13:39 · answer #8 · answered by a_delphic_oracle 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
HELLO SWEETHEART........I have been in foxholes, in Viet-Nam, I've never heard that before.......looking back......you're old pop might have a point. I'm not an atheists, I never met one in the Nam, the only other explanation is that they could be liars, say they weren't.....until they got their butts out of that hole. I would hope the good Lord had something special planed for them...........wouldn't you? I've always heard......never debate politics or religion........I guess you can see why...........LATER
2006-10-20 01:38:45 · answer #9 · answered by veteranpainter 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I can believe that speaking from his experience. However, in this day and age people do not have the same religious upbringing as before so they would have nothing to turn to if they hadn't been exposed to it.
2006-10-20 01:26:14 · answer #10 · answered by Gone fishin' 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋