I've heard it said that there are no Atheists in Foxholes but..?

Question

Why would an atheist be in a foxhole in the first place? I think it's a home for foxes or something, that's what it sounds like to me anyway. I think Atheists would be more comfortable in a house or apartment on a couch or a chair but a foxhole. I mean come on. It just doesn't make sense.

Maybe only christians go into foxholes but I can't think of a single good reason for doing this. Maybe it's a religious thing I just don't know about.

Maybe someone could explain the popularity of this saying to me?

Answer 1

As someone once said - The saying that there are no atheists in a foxhole is a very telling statement - about foxholes.

This atheist sure enough spent his fair share of time in them though.

Answer 2

It's just a saying, a figure of speech. Pay it no mind.

There are no atheists in Prison either, as every felon in the joint "gets religion" to help win his parole and once out of Prison, usually forgets it.

I am a hard-core INFIDEL and I served in both the Israeli and British Army, SAS, and served in combat and the close proximity to death still didn't make me want to grovel at the feet of Christ or kiss God's fat butt in hopes of Heaven.

Religion is buttkissing God for favours. That's all religion is.  There may be gods or God in actuality, but even then, there's no need or use for religious drivel which is a total con-game and fabrication of priests who created religion for purposes of acquiring power, influence, wealth and even sexual favours from women.

Did I pray to God to save me or my soul when seriously injured by a misguided bomb and bleeding to death [US Marines ---it was a joint mission--hauled my cute buns to safety]? NO, not even when facing the real risk of immediate death, I still didn't grovel before the Phantom Menace in the Sky.

I am like the pagan warriors, the Vikings, the Goths, the Vandals, the Huns. To me, all days are the same and every day a great day to die.  Yet, as Dame Fortune should have it, here I am pestering you guys.

Answer 3

You obviously don't understand evangelical Christianity...when we go into a trance to speak in tongues, often we disconnect with the external world...we don't know WHAT we're liable to do...it's not uncommon to find us in the woods, attempting to become ONE with the woodland critters that in our conscious lives we would be hoping to shoot (during hunting season of course)...in fact, many of the so called "hunting accidents" you read about are results of events such as this...once one actually climbs out of the foxhole, they are sometimes indistinquishable from an actual fox (only larger), and an over-enthusiastic hunter may get a round or two off before the error is corrected.

So obviously, there can be no "atheist" in a foxhole as the godless atheist cannot be afflicted by the the power of tongues - if they tried (in their oh so important "scientific way"), their head would explode.

I hope you understand our religion better now...

Answer 4

You have to have been there to understand fully.

Answer 5

A fox hole is a hole in the ground where soldiers go during artillary bombardments

When the shells and bullets  are flying around you  you find God

Funnily enough there are no Atheists in h**l either, by the time they get there they are believers

Answer 6

I don't find any volunteering or giving to charity either.

I used to do income tax preparation: most people don't give a plug nickle to their fellow man.

There was a 20/20 show on giving: in the areas low in religiosity there is next to no giving - kinda of like Sweden.

Best regards.

Answer 7

there are no atheists in foxholes because atheist have no reason to kill others in the name of an invisible sky monkey.

Answer 8

I've never been in a foxhole....but I've hunkered down in dozens of ditches in Nam as bullets flew by missing me by inches.  Sure I was scared.  But I was an atheist then and I'm one now.  

Answer 9

There are no atheists in foxholes because foxholes are defensive positions.

Answer 10

A fox hole is another name for a war trench/fortress on the battlefield.  Since everyone is so close to death they are all praying to God.

Answer 11

It is just christian jealousy.

The foxes won't let them into their dens, prolly can't stand the preaching, so they deny that they allow us in.

Answer 12

The statement, "There are no atheists in foxholes," is used to imply that many avowed atheists really do believe in God, and that in times of extreme stress or fear, such as when participating in warfare, the belief will surface, overwhelming the less substantial affectation of atheism.

Edit: I am an atheist and fear or no fear I'll remain an atheist.

Answer 13

Since you asked a question in a pompous, sarcastic tone revealing your total ignorance and intolerance of other's beliefs.A trait that some atheists complain about religious people. Not knowing that Atheists are just fundamentalists in another form. The intolerant atheist make their claim without any doubt that there is no God, a bold statement considering that God has been around since the ancients (and before all worlds.)  A claim that any Christian that has even half a brain couldn't be sure of all the time, doubt is part of the spiritual life. You also insult the atheists that fought in foxholes, that in desperation tried prayer, so you could yap on about beliefs and traditions you know nothing about.

Maybe when you are facing death of yourself or other family members or friends you will get it. But your mind is in it's own foxhole and you don't really want to know.

Answer 14

r u tryin to bust a funny

Answer 15

A foxhole is a military term.  I believe it comes from WWI, when people still engaged in trench warfare.  The saying stems from the fact that some people may be more inclined to believe in God in the face of imminently impending death.  However, fear of death is known to cause irrational thoughts, so it doesn't justify "death bed conversions," or mean that there is actually any god at all.

Answer 16

he might be in iraq............

when faced with death, ppl get frigtened..

Answer 17

First of all are you kidding?

A foxhole is a place of relative (very little) safety in a battlefield. Ever watch a war movie and guys are down in holes or trenches? That's a foxhole. A guy who might have never believed in God is under fire and he either starts praying because a guy next to him does and is not hit; or he just starts praying because he is scared. He might continue to believe because he is scared or go back to his old way of thinking after the battle or the war.

Sometimes, though it has the opposite effect. A guy who had a religious belief before a war can lose it because he saw his buddies killed in front of him, atrocities committed by his fellow soldiers or the other side, or just the general chaos.

But that is what "There are no atheists in foxholes" means.

Answer 18

It usually means that in life or death situations, such as war, people take Pascal's wager.  In any event, it has no bearing on whether or not it is real or relevant.

More like it is the fact that people who enter military service are religious, and see service as a part of their commitment to their nation and their deity.

Answer 19

For foxhole info: "A defensive fighting position (DFP) is one of several types of earthwork constructed in a military context. A DFP (known more commonly as a "foxhole" (U.S. Army slang), "fighting hole" (U.S. Marine Corps slang), a "slit trench" (British and Canadian military argot), a "fighting pit" (ANZAC forces terminology), [...]" (see source)

To say that there are no atheists who are in the Army and in a "foxhole" is absurd.

For an explanation of the phrase, see source 2

Answer 20

There was a solder in Iraq who was harassed because he was an Atheist. Look it up on CNN, it was a recent story.  

Answer 21

I must have missed the couch and chair offer, after being shot twice in Viet Nam and being a full blow-en fire breathing Atheist I would have to say it's more delusional thinking on the part of religious people. They are living in their own little dream world of made up ****. American Patriots come in all flavors.    Army 5th SF

Answer 22

During many wars soldiers dug "foxholes"  or trenches.  The saying is a reference to an observation that even some who claim no God will be found praying and hoping for one when they are literally under fire.

Answer 23

If religious people believe that people will find god in a foxhole or at the death bed, they should realize that there are more than one god in existence. In time of distress, people do not choose which is the right god. Given that short period to decide, h**l is welcoming all the blind souls.

Answer 24

it's popular as many christians think that atheists will convert if they are scared and in war

edit: diane l moth - many people experience danger without calling out to God, many people do not doubt that there isn't a God

this thread and the many others beforehand should show you this

Answer 25

They might not have been atheists when they jumped into the foxhole, but many became atheists after a few days in a foxhole. To find proof of God during a battle is rather unlikely. Quite the contrary. One finds him conspicuously absent.

Answer 26

Even as explained, it is of course, utter bovine excrement.  Numerous memoirs exist of thoroughly atheistic soldiers who both survived and did not survive such combat without calling on imaginary friends.

Answer 27

This sentence refers to foxholes in the military sense, i.e., some kind of trench or bomb shelter. It means that when people are under threat of immediate death (for example, when under bombardment in a war zone), they start to believe in God.