WHat does " There are no atheists in foxholes" mean?

[AprilRose]

Does it mean no one is an atheist when they are about to die?


Some of the people I've spoken to usually tell me there are no atheists in foxholes...
Why would a religious person tell me that there are no atheists in foxholes?
The saying makes no sense.

How do you respond to someone who thinks you have to believe in a god to be protected?

Why would someone want another person to believe in their god because of fear?

(I don't know where this post is supposed to be..please move it if its in the wrong place )

[joeactor]

Think about it this way:

If you (god forbid!) fell out of an airplane without a parachute, heading toward certain death, would you flap your arms?

Granted, we all know that flapping ones arms will probably do nothing, but what the heck... you're gonna die anyway.

Same idea.

When faced with life threatening danger, even the most rational of us may turn to the supernatural.
I'd even go so far as to say it's a natural response (in an "man as an animal" sense).

So, one step further.  Let's say you do ask god to spare you, and you survive.  In the rational light of day, does this urge go away?  If it happens often enough, will even a rational person start to believe?

Stress and circumstances can do some amazing things to us humans,
JoeActor

[Kylyssa]

It's because they believe that everyone actually thinks God is real and will call out to God if they are in a situation wherein they might die.  Some theists have no capacity to understand that atheists don't think God is real.  They don't understand that most atheists would no more call out to God to spare them than they would cry out for Santa Claus to rescue them.  In their heart of hearts those theists believe that everyone is born knowing God is real.

The funny thing is that most people, religious or not, seem to cry out for a loved one when they are dying or think they are dying, at least in my experience and from what I've heard.  Usually a spouse/partner or their mother.  My grandmother was a devout Catholic but when she became frightened when she knew she was dying, she called out for the love of her life, not Jesus.  My friend Elsie thought I was her husband and asked me to hold her.  My mom asked for my dad each and every time she came close to dying (and was aware of it).  When I stopped to assist a badly injured motorcyclist he called out for his mama (I told him I was her and held him - he survived and he calls me his white momma).  And when I was left for dead with a skull fracture and a punctured lung I apparently cried for mama and kept trying to ask for her.

So they are wrong.  We reach out for comfort from something our minds know is real, even if sometimes our mind is badly confused at that point.

It's insulting to every atheist veteran and every atheist soldier to say there are no atheists in foxholes.

[rlrose328]

It's actually quite logical.

People don't want to die.  If you're in a foxhole, you face death.  If you face death, the believer assumes you will call to God at this time of great stress, so they assume a nonbeliever will also call to God to save him.  Therefore, he can't be an atheist.

It's a way of saying that while we are not threatened with death, we can casually be atheists.  But if faced with death, we will automatically become believers.  So... it's a way of denegrating our nonbelief.

See... very logical... from a believer's standpoint.  Totally asinine from OUR stand point.     Heck, we have an actual foxhole atheist right here on our forums!

[Tanker]

The others have explained it well but I can tell you there most certainly are Atheists in fox holes.

[quizlixx]

I plan on being a foxhole atheist in about 4 years.

[SSY]

When viewed in a cynical way ( as I view all things pronounced from the mouths of the religious ), it is a tacit implication of the fact that their belief system is propagated through preying on, or creating, fear in vulnerable people.