I know what is is, but what does it mean? I keep hearing stuff about atheists and foxholes. English is not my first language and I never heard that expression. I don't think there is an equivalent in french, "la tanière du renard" doesn't ring any bell.
2007-04-13 07:24:51 · 14 answers · asked by Gui 4 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
The precise origin of the phrase "There are no atheists in foxholes", coined some time during World War II, is uncertain.
The statement is used to imply that atheists really do believe in a god deep down, and that in times of extreme stress or fear, that belief will surface, overwhelming the less substantial affectation of atheism.
Foxhole, in the military term, is a trench dig like a hole, and soldiers use it to take cover from artillery bombardment, or from enemy fire. So with relation to the above explanation, in that time of duress when you are under fire and you are wondering "WTF am i doing here" and "Pls let me live through this hell", the belief that God exists will surface, even to the non-believer, or in this case, the atheist.
2007-04-13 07:30:58 · answer #1 · answered by elijin77 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A foxhole is a trench that a soldier would dig and sit in for protection during a war. So, it's like saying, in the heat of battle when death could be only seconds away, there are no atheists.
That's what the phrase means. I don't agree with it, because even if it were true in every situation, (which I don't think it is) it still proves nothing. To say that when people face the terrors of death that they reflexively search for comfort in some divine parental figure means nothing beyond that when someone is frightened, he or she instinctively tends to behave in a certain way.
Logically speaking, this does not prove that the God they are turning to actually exists, just that they imagine he does and that he hears them. Did the Greeks, Romans, Celts and other pagans pray to their gods on the ancient battlefields, and does that mean that these gods also existed?
2007-04-13 14:27:28 · answer #2 · answered by Underground Man 6 · 4⤊ 0⤋
A foxhole is one of those holes that soldiers dig to hunker down in during a battle. Think WWII.
The expression means that everybody prays when confronted with death. Notice it still doesn't do anything to define the deity in question.
2007-04-13 14:29:57 · answer #3 · answered by KC 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A foxhole is what your drill instructor hopes you dig when you survive everything he did to you in Boot Camp in the military. By now - you are A Wiley Fox! Able to survive in an environment where people are trying to kill you! This hole that you dig, will make it more difficult to blow you up or shoot you! Unless of course somebody called it in right and it lands right on top of you! Do hope this helps!
2007-04-13 14:30:01 · answer #4 · answered by vanamont7 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The saying that their are no atheists in foxholes simply means that when they face their own death, then and only then will they be afraid that they were wrong and then it may be to late. At the time of their death...all their false pride disappears...and they will know that in this one thing... they are totally alone. It is then that they cry out for God's mercy.
2007-04-13 14:33:01 · answer #5 · answered by Poohcat1 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
A pit or trench dug during wartime for troops to seek cover in, while firing at the enemy.
The implication of the phrase is that people cease being Atheists when in mortal danger.
Which is of course ridiculous, because if it were true we could have just marched over to the Soviet Union and converted them all and won.
2007-04-13 14:27:33 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
In the context it started with today, atheists in foxholes.
A foxhole is a hole dug during wartime to allow a soldier to hide from enemy assault.
2007-04-13 14:28:52 · answer #7 · answered by awayforabit 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The idea is that when faced with death, such as being in a foxhole in war, an atheist will turn to God for help. They will believe in God when they face death.
2007-04-13 14:28:04 · answer #8 · answered by super Bobo 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Would you believe it just might be a hole that a fox crawls into to protect himself from the hounds. An atheist will do that so as not to be "hounded" and annoyed by the babbling of the Christians.
2007-04-13 14:35:27 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I consider Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity to be the biggest FOX`holes on earth. :)
(ahem)
That aside, the expression, "There are no atheists in foxholes", means that when pushed into an uncertain life and death situation, practically everyone finds themselves praying for mercy."
2007-04-13 14:27:41 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋