Readers Respond: Have You Been an Atheist in a Foxhole or a Similarly Dangerous Situation?

Responses: 41

By Austin Cline, About.com Guide

During WW11 I was an aircraft carrier fighter pilot. I knew a peer that was having problems controlling the aircraft to accompolish the task at hand. His last two flight attemps resulted in crashes. After his last crash, he asked me to talk with him. During a long discussion, He related his fears and his doubts about his ability to accompolish the tasks that are required just to make routine takeoffs and landings. During this discussion I learned that he had slipped through the cracks and he was not qualified to do normal operations, much less meet an enemy flying a Japanese Zero. Uor discussion ended in a prayer where he asked God to guide his limbs so he could perform the tasks at hand. I was youg and inexperienced but I knew that when you are alone in that aircraft, that you and you alone had to complete the mission and be able to land aboard ship. On his next landing approach, he lost control and crashed in the sea, and never escaped. This pilot believed in his prayer.
—melbant

The concept of praying when you're in imminent danger seems odd to me even if you ARE a theist. For Christians, at least, it seems to be an effort to make up for anything bad you did while you weren't on the verge of (in your belief) going to an afterlife that is determined by how good of a person you are. It's about as faithful and reliable as confessions at gunpoint - God is threatening you with eternal torture, and so you say anything you think will make him happy. How is THAT a basis for morality?
—Guest Alteredstory

I am an Atheist. I am 67 years old. And I have many friends who deny God,A God or any God or Gods. Yet I have as well have several of my friends during Viet Nam have blurted out "OH GOD" We all learned of this from each other more then 20 years after the war. So to say that no Atheist has ever done this or has even made a slip...they are lying. Try and not to think about a banana!. The point is...it's in your head...even if you don't want to admit it.
—Guest Eric B

My personal struggles have been with illnesses and chemical dependency. The ineffectiveness of prayer and belief competed for my attention _far_ more effectively than the fantasy that they actually _did_ work. The Laward has fallen down and he can't get up!
—Guest LS

I was run over by a car when I was 18, I was still underneath when rescue ambulance showed up to help 5-10 minutes later. A lot of things went through my mind; I checked to see if I could move my toes, I wondered if the story would be on the news, I worried about how bad the injuries might be, but I never once even thought about praying. Never even occurred to me.
—Guest Karin Sokel

Inn the most difficult situations I find myself not thinking about god at all. In the most innocuous situations the religious (Catholic!) and supertstitious indoctrination of my childhood will rear up, like when seeing the number 666 in big letters or spilling salt on a table. It's like having a mental hiccough. Stand on your head and take a gulp of water and it goes away. You know it's something you didn't voluntarily start, but you can shut it down, dammit! But when the BIG stuff happens, your rational mind focusses on the truly rational, and god doesn't come into it.
—aerosol666

If there are no atheists in foxholes I propose that there are no theists viewing the aftermath of war. What person could believe in a god after viewing the horrific consequences of combat.
—Guest Dartanion

When I had my heart attack almost two years ago, I was thinking about my wife, and trying to live long enough to let her know about the life insurance policy I had. I did not think about god at all.
—Guest Aaron

I have been fortunate enough never to have been i combat but I have certainly been in danger many times. A case in point; I lived in China when a 7.8 earthquake struck. As cracks shot across the walls of my 9th floor apartment and I realized that the Chinese had not built to the earthquake standards we expect in the west. As everything around me flew by and my wife screamed in terror as I helped he towards the stairs. I struggled through our apartment trying to gather the things that would see us through days to come even though the quake was still at its height, it lasted 5 minutes. I thought about many things relating to survival and nothing about any deity. We were very lucky in that none in our family were seriously injured or killed, most weren’t so fortunate. The Chinese government claims that 100,000 were killed and 500,000 injured. I suspect that is a very conservative estimate.
—Borsia

With a worldview of naturalism I am probably a lifelong atheist. I don't think I have ever 'believed'. A couple of summers ago I contracted pneumonia and the first night in hospital had a heart attack. It didn't even come to mind at the time, but as I think back now I realize that while I was lying there recovering I never had the slightest thought of a deity, just what I had to do to survive, get better, and continue to live a healthy life.
—Guest Michael

Sure, I have had life-and-death medical tests and near fatal accidents. The comment about "no atheists in foxholes" is an expression of the insecurities of Christians. Most atheists I know are not afraid to die. They are happy about the life they have had, open to whatever may or may not lie beyond, and their behavior towards others was not motivated by a reward or fear of punishment, but instead came from the heart.
—Guest Mike

After I was shot, going after a downed Huey, my buddy Ed Rosa, dragged me to a hedge row for a little shelter. He asked me if I now belive in God. I said No! He laughed.
—Guest Laurence Lynn

Been an atheist my whole life (born right the first time). I am a combat pilot and have had MANY dangerous situations, and I can say without a doubt that being distracted by any theists thoughts would have got me killed. Instead I DID what I needed to DO. No useless prayers or silly childish superstitious rituals. Although, sadly the theists seem to be infecting the ranks of the military quite handily. When I got a new set of dogtags, the little airman making my tags nearly fainted when I said I was atheist. Guess she didn't expect it from a Field Grader?
—LarianLeQuella

Card carrying member of MAAF. I have been an atheist all my life, and I have been in combat. Theism is the last thought on my mind in life and death situations. I do what needs doing. If I had been weak willed and focused on the invisible skyfairy, I'd be dead. And this is coming from a "Zero" where I have often found that theism is the default position. I'd rather have the chaplain corps eliminated, and replaces with competent confidential mental health professionals.
—Guest Larian LeQuella

Austin Cline
Agnosticism / Atheism Guide