Many are familiar with the story of Aron Ralston who had to amputate his own arm when trapped under a boulder and far from help. Less familiar is the story of Joe Simpson who, while climbing in the Peruvian Andes, severely broke his leg and ankle at 20,000 feet. Eventually he had to pull himself much of the way out - an excrutiatingly painful experience. But did he ever pray to God for help or solace?
Not according to this interview:
At 16, I asked all these monks some serious questions and they didn't come up with the answers, and I just decided I didn't believe in God. And I always thought, you know, if everything hit the fan, then I might turn around and say, you know, a couple of Hail Marys, "Can you get me out of here?" And in all those days, I never did once, not even in the crevasse. I never thought of some God or some omniscient being that'd lean down and give me help, and I feel, actually, if I had believed that, I just would've stopped and waited for it, and I would've died. And so in a way, that's why that loneliness, I think, came in. I was 25, I was fit, strong, ambitious. I wanted to climb the world and I was dying. There was no afterlife, there's no paradise, there's no heaven. It's just dead. And I really didn't want to lose that. I've got immense respect for other people's religions, be it Christian or Buddhist, Hindu or Muslim. I just…I don't happen to have a belief, and I've tested that atheism, so, um, I respect my own lack of belief now. Before, I was never quite sure.
Simpson's experiences were incredible - not many people could have managed to live through them. He is, however, another example of how a person can be an atheist even when facing death. Yes, there are atheists in foxholes.
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Why do you need proof of other people not praying in a difficult situation to help you believe. I don’t know, maybe I’m weird, but this just seems like a ridiculous little article.
Who said I did.
Given how often Christians insist that atheists will always pray when faced with difficult situations, it’s worthwhile to point out when this doesn’t happen.
I’ve just listened to an interview with Aron on Irish national Radio and he talked about some of the events as they fortuitously panned out as being ‘by the grace of God’. On further investigation it seems that he is, at least now, far from being an atheist…
In an interview with Patricia Sheridan on
Monday, September 24, 2007 in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette the following interaction took place:-
( for full interview and context see http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07267/820007-129.)
Q: In your book you say that you didn’t pray right away and when you did, you prayed to the devil as well as God. Who do you think answered that prayer?
A: In the way I view God, I think it was God that answered that prayer. It’s sort of a loaded word. I asked for deliverance from that canyon, and I had to abide the time that I did there in order to have the experiences that I did and to have the miracle of the rescue operation unfold the way it did. It was God that spoke to me and gave me the opportunity, and I took the action to be able to get myself out of there. So it was the combined forces of faith and free will.
Brendan: I don’t think that Austin was claiming that Aron is an atheist. He was just comparing two people who endured excruciating pain, and was saying that one is much more well-known than the other.
Do you think you have to pray for God to help in all situations? How do you know God doesn’t have a future plan for this man that hasn’t been revealed? Perhaps someday his heart will change – perhaps not. Articles about what people don’t believe are as empty as ones about what thoughts people don’t have.
And how do you know that God has a plan, or that there is a God to begin with? Religious people constantly use desperate appeals to God along with a fortunate result as proof of a God’s existence. Disregarding the many events where the worst happens despite these appeals. All this writer is doing is pointing out that there’s people out there that deal with similar circumstances without such appeal.
“how do you know that God has a plan, or that there is a God to begin with?”
Nick, no scientist or anyone on earth has fathomed all the mysteries of the universe. Whenever they solve a mystery, another mystery comes in. And even if they think they do, their knowledge is only limited. As the Scriptures say, “He traps the wise in the snare of their own cleverness.”
Because we read the Bible, we know that God loves everyone. God calls on everyone to come to Him. When some people are faced with troubles, God is calling them to come to Him. Free Will is part of being human and if they choose not to come to Him, then it’s their choice. If they were saved by that circumstance, good for them so they will have a chance. But being saved on this world is nothing compared to being saved after life. If you don’t believe in after life, you don’t believe in the soul. That makes one a robot or simply a progressive amoeba. What if you find out that God truly exists. How dare people like us challenge and question Him. We are just amoebas.