Sunday, March 01, 2009

Foxhole faith

There are no atheists in foxholes. So goes the old saying, and I do hesitate a bit to disagree with Ernie Pyle, but I must insist.

Of course there are atheists in foxholes. One at least, right? Possibly two? And anyway, just because someone yells Oh God while being shelled doesn't exactly make them religious. It makes them scared.

The thing I wonder is: if the person in the foxhole is, say, Chinese, does the putative atheist suddenly convert to Confucianism? To Buddhism? If a Bangladeshi does he become a Muslim?

Or does this whole "aw shit I'm gonna die, God help me" thing only operate for Christians? Or is it only the Christian God who proffers some hope of saving my sorry ass? All other gods let me buy the farm?

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