MadMez

Xixax - I hope it all turns out well for you.

I've spent some uncomfortable times in foxholes, all of them as an athiest, and can think of a couple of instances when I thought discarding rationality might stop some mortar / bullet / stray from nailing me. Comes from being scared shitless.

Then again, I've seen the naked bottom of an Argentinian padre exposed to the drizzle after his corpse was blown out of his foxhole in the Falklands. No idea how he got like that, too many athiests in the trench?

I did share one with a genuine fundie in Cyprus who prayed his way through a sniping, which was a pain in the arse, but at least he used to stay sober on R $ R and make us all tea in the morning. Bless his heart.

So I suppose the statement may well be true, but I think it's the person that emerges from the trench, as you'll emerge from this trial, that counts - and not what you used as a mental crutch to get through it.

Subscribe to what ever you need, get through this, then discard it for the imposter it is afterwards.

The best of luck to you.

lpetrich

If worst comes to worst, you can invent some superstition independent of organized religion, like that if you die in the battlefield, you'll become a ghost and you'll get to haunt your killers.

Yangja Isuko

i vaguely remember a quote from some semi-famous historical army dude in response to a colonel claiming there are no atheists in foxholes:

"there's a colonel who'se never been to the front"

andy_d

The saying "There's no such thing as an atheist in a foxhole" is simply a typically dry piece of military humour. Similar to "Incoming fire has right of way"

It's not a statement of fact.

Hope your test results come back with the right result

clearscreen

I am sorry about your potentially bad news and I am not making light of it. I am not a hostile theist. However, you say you do not yet have the results of your tests and that you are optimistic. Therefore, you are not yet truly an atheist in a foxhole. Should you get bad results, which I hope you don't, then your statement will be valid. If the results are bad, I assume you will still have a positive attitude and try everything possible to recover. In other words, the end is not necessarily imminent. I think the foxhole expression refers to facing immediate death such as a soldier who thinks he may die at any second while under fire would face. Plus, it's only an expression, and most expressions have exceptions.

I wish you the best and if any part of this post seems offensive, it is not intentional.

MyrnaMinkoff

Xixax, I hope things work out for you.

I understand your position. I've been fortunate(??) enough to be in two life-death situations in my life. When I was 14 I worked as a secretary in my father's small law practice, and one of his crazy (literally crazy) clients came in with a sword and held me in a small room in the back of our office for 30 minutes before anyone could get me out. The sword was constantly against my throat when he wasn't making little slashes on my arms and legs.

After the police/my dad got him out I was emotionally exhausted, and my fundie stepmom said "well, thank GAWD you're okay." That was the first time I'd even thought about it....which was a little astonishing considering I'd been a little Baptist girl until I was 12. It just never entered my mind...I was thinking of ways to hurt him or distract him so I could make a break for the door.

So yeah...the next time I heard that "atheists in foxholes" expression I saw red. It's just insulting.

The other life-death experience involved an intruder with a gun...one week after I'd finally moved into my own apartment. They don't call me lucky for nothing.

disgracian

i once saw a brilliant picture that said:

"there are no athiests in foxholes...

..."they're too busy fighting!"

all the athiests are up shooting, throwing grenades, defending their positions while the christians cower at the bottom with their hands clasped in prayer.

insulting perhaps, but funny nonethless.

DrJim

Did all the survivors of Auswitz and the other camps come away from that hell with a refreshed faith in God's lovingkindness?

Xixax

No offense taken, although the point is. I think I was a bit shell shocked yesterday at the use of the "c" word when referring to my biopsy sample and the sound of worry in his voice.

After thinking it through last night, it would have to be a very recent development in my body, as my immune system is still kicking ( or at least I haven't been sick lately ) on all cylinders. I feel much better today, and will just wait and see what they say after taking another sample.

Thanks to everyone anyway, and my apologies for jumping the gun a bit.

Oresta

Xixax,
I, too, hope the best for you.

DrJim:
Did all the survivors of Auswitz and the other camps come away from that hell with a refreshed faith in God's lovingkindness?

No, according to Eliach's powerful memoir of the Holocaust. She claims there were survivors who decided no god could exist who would have allowed such horror to happen.*

*There Once Was a World, Yaffa Eliach; Little, Brown & Co., 1998. Sorry I can't locate the exact quote among some 700 pages.

Atheists in the "fox hole I have known:
My grandfather still had his wits about him at 94 when he was dying. Not once did he renounce his claim to be a Free Thinker. He even admonished his Mormon neighbor to not pray "now or after I'm gone."

I lost a dear friend some years ago. To the end she calmly accepted that there would be no afterlife.