I lived 30 years in Belfast with daily bombings and shootings (committed by Christian - both Catholic and Protestant).
I have been within 30 meters of large bombs going off and I have been shot at once and was standing beside a friend as he was shot 3 times in the face and neck. These are only a few of many lifethreatening experiences that I dealt with on a daily basis. I guess these were my foxholes. Never once did I cry out for God. I acted instinctively. I had no opportunity to think about a God. My body took over - genetic impulses for survival drove a fight or flight system and that was all that happened.
So, is the old addage that there are no atheists in a foxhole simply wishful thinking on their part?
2007-12-11 03:09:13 · 11 answers · asked by penster_x 4 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
My grandfather was an atheist. He landed at Normandy on D-day ith the rest of his mates serving in the Royal Artillary. He told me that on d-day+2 his battery was shelled by some german 88mm guns. It was, he said the most terrifying experience of his life and that if he could have hid behind a blade of grass he would have done. I asked him how many prayers he said during the twenty inutes of shelling, his reply was "prayers, who do you pray to? and there was a god he would have stopped all this. There is no god" So I guess there as at least one atheist in a fox hole
2007-12-11 04:00:30 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
No. I have known several atheists who have "continue[d] to be an atheist when faced with the worst pain and hardships in life". Two of them, a United States Marine and a member of the Massachusetts National Guard, have literally been atheists in foxholes. Your claim that "all people seek God in one way or another" is also patently false. You're entitled to believe that, but it sounds ridiculous when applied to people who don't believe your god even exists. Why would we seek help from a being we know isn't real? That doesn't make any sense. I think this kind of thinking comes from the misconception, commonly held by Christians, that atheists really believe that the Christian god exists, but just deny it for personal reasons. This is, of course, also patently false.
2016-05-23 01:31:49 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Thank you for sharing your experience.
Yes, in some cases.
Know of a case where a non-profit minister complained about what he saw in the Vietnam War firsthand, that is, he learned that the saying there are no atheists in a foxhole is not entirely true.
The Vietnam War showed many cases where dying USA soldiers asked for a cigarette vs a minister for the last blessings/rites.
The minister was shocked that some soldiers would die without repenting/whatever.
So the saying is essentially a fib, perhaps designed to increase altar calls, repentances, and baptisms following non-profit religion lessons.
2007-12-11 03:26:42 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
i think this must have been a terrible time for you and i cant even begin to imagine what you experianced.. i am indeed athiest and thats due to being so ashamed of the excuses that are caused by these so called religious people no matter what religion people are if there is a god then their is only one god yet people who are suppose to believe in the 10 commandments one that springs to mind thou shalt not kill so why go killing people.. (the cahtolics and jews..the protestants and catholics.. the muslim extremists ect) just using religion as a pahetic excuse people in this world only do it for one thing and thats power!! we are all power mad!!
sorry t hear about your experiances x
2007-12-11 03:22:19 · answer #4 · answered by loopy_lisa_liverpool 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Dear bigot, and you prove you're a bigot by painting all Christians with the same brush:
It is NOT a "Christian saying"--it is not and has never been a doctrine of my Church. It is actually a cynical complaint about how so many people seem to suddenly get religion only when there there is a severe crisis.
2007-12-11 03:23:42 · answer #5 · answered by Hoosier Daddy 5 · 1⤊ 2⤋
Just because you didn't cry out for God does't mean He doesn't exist... Tho I imagine that the addage about foxholes isn't entirely accurate...
2007-12-11 03:19:55 · answer #6 · answered by Mark P 2 · 3⤊ 1⤋
A lot of old sayings and beliefs do not hold up under scrutiny.
2007-12-11 03:12:37 · answer #7 · answered by A.Mercer 7 · 4⤊ 0⤋
Are you asking if a cult based on fairy tales would make something like that up?
2007-12-11 03:15:12 · answer #8 · answered by ibushido 4 · 3⤊ 0⤋
yeah it is, they think they're right on everything.
2007-12-11 03:56:05 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Agreed,,,there is no God,,,
2007-12-11 03:14:20 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 2⤋