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{{Short description|Claim that high-stress situations prompt everyone to believe in god}} |
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The statement "'''There are no atheists in foxholes'''" is an [[aphorism]] used to argue that in times of extreme stress or fear, such as during war, people will believe in, or hope for, a [[Deity|higher power]]. The logic of the argument is also used to argue for the opposite. |
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"'''There are no atheists in foxholes'''" is an [[aphorism]] used to suggest that times of extreme [[Psychological stress|stress]] or [[fear]] can prompt belief in a [[Deity|higher power]].<ref name=washpost-2007>{{cite news |title = No Atheists in Fox Holes |last = Reese |first = Thomas J. |author-link = Thomas J. Reese |url = http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/panelists/thomas_j_reese/2007/05/no_atheist_in_fox_holes.html |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090608151246/http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/panelists/thomas_j_reese/2007/05/no_atheist_in_fox_holes.html |url-status = dead |archive-date = June 8, 2009 |publisher = Washington Post Company |date = May 31, 2007 }}</ref> In the context of actual [[warfare]], such a sudden change in belief has been called a '''foxhole conversion'''. The logic of the argument is also used to argue for the opposite. |
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==Origin== |
==Origin== |
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The statement is an [[aphorism]] used to argue that people will believe in, or hope for, a [[Deity|higher power]] in times of fear or stress, such as during war ("in [[Defensive fighting position|foxholes]]").<ref name=washpost-2007>{{cite news |title = No Atheists in Fox Holes |last = Reese |first = Thomas J. |author-link = Thomas J. Reese |url = http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/panelists/thomas_j_reese/2007/05/no_atheist_in_fox_holes.html |publisher = Washington Post Company |date = May 31, 2007 }}</ref> The origin of the quotation is uncertain.<ref name=linglist>{{cite web |url=http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0609D&L=ads-l&P=15696 |title=Discussion on Linguist List |accessdate=27 June 2017 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080617035633/http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0609D&L=ads-l&P=15696 |archive-date=17 June 2008}}</ref> The U.S. military chaplain [[William Thomas Cummings]] may have said it in a field sermon during the [[Battle of Bataan]] in 1942,<ref>"I Saw the Fall of the Philippines", Carlos Peña Romulo</ref> though scholars have been unable to find a firsthand witness to the sermon.<ref>{{cite book |last=Crosby |first=Donald F. |title=''Battlefield Chaplains: Catholic Priests in World War II'' |year=1994}} Page 26</ref><ref>Page 2 of [[Fulton Sheen]]'s Wartime Prayerbook</ref> Other sources credit |
The statement is an [[aphorism]] used to argue that people will believe in, or hope for, a [[Deity|higher power]] in times of fear or stress, such as during war ("in [[Defensive fighting position|foxholes]]").<ref name=washpost-2007>{{cite news |title = No Atheists in Fox Holes |last = Reese |first = Thomas J. |author-link = Thomas J. Reese |url = http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/panelists/thomas_j_reese/2007/05/no_atheist_in_fox_holes.html |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090608151246/http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/panelists/thomas_j_reese/2007/05/no_atheist_in_fox_holes.html |url-status = dead |archive-date = June 8, 2009 |publisher = Washington Post Company |date = May 31, 2007 }}</ref> The origin of the quotation is uncertain.<ref name=linglist>{{cite web |url=http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0609D&L=ads-l&P=15696 |title=Discussion on Linguist List |accessdate=27 June 2017 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080617035633/http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0609D&L=ads-l&P=15696 |archive-date=17 June 2008}}</ref> The U.S. military chaplain [[William Thomas Cummings]] may have said it in a field sermon during the [[Battle of Bataan]] in 1942,<ref>"I Saw the Fall of the Philippines", Carlos Peña Romulo</ref> though scholars have been unable to find a firsthand witness to the sermon.<ref>{{cite book |last=Crosby |first=Donald F. |title=''Battlefield Chaplains: Catholic Priests in World War II'' |year=1994}} Page 26</ref><ref>Page 2 of [[Fulton Sheen]]'s Wartime Prayerbook</ref> Other sources credit Lieutenant Colonel [[Warren J. Clear]] (or the anonymous sergeant he spoke with there), who was also at Bataan and published the usage in 1942;<ref>"The Heroic Defense of the Philippines", reprinted in Reader's Digest, July 1942</ref> or Lieutenant Colonel [[William Casey]]. The phrase is often attributed to war correspondent [[Ernie Pyle]];<ref>{{cite news |title=Oops! He Did It Again! Brokaw Repeats Canard, "There Are No Atheists In Foxholes" During NBC Evening News |date=2003-03-12 |publisher=[[American Atheists]] |url =http://www.atheists.org/flash.line/atheist9.htm |work =Flashline |accessdate = 2008-11-27}}</ref><ref>Johnson, Chip. [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/03/06/BAGFOHIUKD1.DTL sfgate.com]; "GI turns to Islam to find God." San Francisco Chronicle. Monday, March 6, 2006. Accessed Nov-22-2009.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.christianitytoday.com/books/features/weblog/031117.html|title=Faith, Hope, and Charity in North Carolina |accessdate=27 June 2017}}</ref><ref>''[https://books.google.com/books?id=kg4xAQAAIAAJ Down in the drink: true stories of the Goldfish Club]'', Ralph Barker 1955</ref> however, no such source published prior to Pyle's death is known. It was also quoted by President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] in remarks broadcast from the White House as part of a February 7, 1954, American Legion Program. With slightly different wording, the statement appears much earlier in press reports dating from the end of the [[World War I|First World War]], while a similar concept has been sought in [[Plato]]'s ''[[Laws (dialogue)|Laws]]'', and in [[Karl Marx]]'s often-misrepresented{{refn|[[Opium of the people|Karl Marx's quote]] is only quoted in part as the interpretation of the metaphor in its context has received much less attention.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=McKinnon|first1=Andrew M.|year=2005|title=Reading 'Opium of the People': Expression, Protest and the Dialectics of Religion|journal=Critical Sociology|volume=31|issue=1–2|pages=15–38|doi=10.1163/1569163053084360|hdl=2164/3074|s2cid=143119316|hdl-access=free}}</ref>|group=note}} partial quote that "Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the [[opium of the people]]".<ref name=linglist /> |
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==Usage== |
==Usage== |
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While primarily used to comment on the experiences of combat soldiers, the [[aphorism]] has been adapted to other perilous situations, as in "There are no atheists in [[ |
While primarily used to comment on the experiences of combat soldiers, the [[aphorism]] has been adapted to other perilous situations, as in "There are no [[atheists]] in [[probate court]]".{{cn|date=February 2022}} Although the adage occasionally means that all soldiers in combat are "converted" under fire, it is most often used to express the belief of the speaker that all people seek a divine power when they are facing an extreme threat.<ref name=washpost-2007 /><ref>[http://www.maaf.info/rptchap.html "Report on Chaplains."] Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers. Accessed Nov-22-2009.</ref> The quote is also referenced when discussing the opposite effect — that warfare causes some soldiers to question their existing belief in [[God]] due to the [[death]] and [[violence]] around them.<ref name="csmonitor.com">{{cite web |first=Arnold E. |last=Resnicoff |title=On becoming our own worst enemy |publisher=[[The Christian Science Monitor]] |url=http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0628/p09s02-coop.html |date=June 28, 2004 |accessdate=2009-11-14}}</ref><ref>Allen, Joshua. [http://www.rimonthly.com/Rhode-Island-Monthly/April-2007/There-Are-No-Atheists-in-Foxholes/ There Are No Atheists in Foxholes]. Rhode Island Monthly. April 2007 issue.</ref><ref>{{cite news |title = Religion: Atheists & Foxholes |date = June 18, 1945 |periodical = Time Magazine |url = http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,775935,00.html|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100919222024/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,775935,00.html|url-status = dead|archive-date = September 19, 2010}}</ref> |
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| ⚫ | The quote has also been used in non-military contexts. In September 2008, in the depths of the [[financial crisis |
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==Notable counterexamples== |
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During the news coverage of his death and subsequent [[cryonic suspension]], Hall of Fame baseball player and fighter pilot [[Ted Williams]] was said to be an atheist, by his former teammate [[Johnny Pesky]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/baseball/news/2002/07/08/williams_cryonics/ |title=Sports Illustrated: Williams' body moved to cryonic warehouse in Arizona |accessdate=27 June 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://archive.southcoasttoday.com/daily/08-02/08-02-02/a10op068.htm |title=- southcoasttoday.com |website=southcoasttoday.com |accessdate=27 June 2017}}</ref> Richard Tillman, in giving the eulogy for his brother, former NFL player and soldier [[Pat Tillman]], stated: "he's not religious."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=tillmanpart3 |title=ESPN.com - E-Ticket: Part 3 -- Death of an American Ideal |website=sports.espn.go.com |accessdate=27 June 2017}}</ref> Tillman's atheism is discussed in a documentary about his life.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://tillmanstory.com |title=Tillmanstory.com - APK Downloader 2017 |website=Tillmanstory.com |accessdate=27 June 2017}}</ref><ref>"Intellectuals" by Paul Johnson, p. 144</ref> [[Philip Paulson]], plaintiff in several of the lawsuits in the [[Mount Soledad cross controversy]], was an atheist Vietnam combat veteran.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://articles.latimes.com/2006/oct/28/local/me-paulson28 |title=Philip Paulson, 59; atheist, Vietnam veteran fought to have hilltop cross removed |first=Tony |last=Perry |date=28 October 2006 |accessdate=27 June 2017 |via=LA Times}}</ref> |
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| ⚫ | The quote has also been used in non-military contexts. In September 2008, in the depths of the [[2007–2008 financial crisis]], both [[Ben Bernanke]] and [[Paul Krugman]] popularized a version of the quote in reference to financial crises. They paraphrased Harvard professor [[Jeffrey Frankel]], who originally wrote in the ''Cato Journal'' a year earlier, "They say 'there are no atheists in foxholes.' Perhaps, then, there are also no [[Libertarianism in the United States|libertarians]] in crises."<ref>{{Cite journal |last = Frankel |first = Jeffrey |author-link = Jeffrey Frankel |title = Responding to Crises |journal = Cato Journal |volume = 27 |issue = 2 |publisher = Cato Institute |date = Spring–Summer 2007 |url = http://www.hks.harvard.edu/fs/jfrankel/CatoRespCrisesJun07+fn15&2.pdf |accessdate = 2009-12-17}}</ref> The sentence is also quoted in the [[Gustav Hasford]]'s novel ''[[The Short-Timers]]''. The quote has been used by but commonly misattributed to economist [[Paul Krugman]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/12/17/other-peoples-wit/ |title=Other people's wit |author=Paul Krugman |date=2008-12-17 |work=[[New York Times]]}}</ref> |
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[[Joe Simpson (mountaineer)|Joe Simpson]], author of ''[[Touching the Void (book)|Touching the Void]]'', addresses the issue in the film adaptation of his nearly fatal climb up the [[Siula Grande]] mountain. Referring to the moment when he lay at the bottom of a deep crevasse, dehydrated, alone, and with a broken leg, he states: |
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'"I was totally convinced I was on my own, that no one was coming to get me. I was brought up as a devout Catholic. I'd long since stopped believing in God. I always wondered if things really hit the fan, whether I would, under pressure, turn round and say a few [[Hail Mary]]s and say 'Get me out of here'. It never once occurred to me. It meant that I really don't believe and I really do think that when you die, you die, that's it, there's no afterlife."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWhmOwGqcMQ |title=Touching the Void atheism |website=www.youtube.com |accessdate=8 April 2019}}</ref> |
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==Criticism== |
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Several atheist organizations object to the phrase. The [[Military Association of Atheists & Freethinkers]] has adopted the catch-phrase "'''Atheists in Foxholes'''" to emphasize that the original statement is just an [[aphorism]] and not a fact. The over 200 members of this organization publicly display their military service in order to show that there are atheists in foxholes, on ships, and in planes.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://militaryatheists.org/atheists-in-foxholes/ |title=Military Association of Atheists & Freethinkers |accessdate=27 June 2017}}</ref> The religious convictions of current US military personnel are similar to those of the general American population, though studies suggest that members of the military are slightly less religious.<ref>21% of US military atheist or non-religious, Source: "America's Military Population". by David R. Segal and Mady Wech Segal. Population Reference Bureau, 2004. [http://www.prb.org/Source/ACF1396.pdf?page=27 page 25] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727185232/http://www.prb.org/Source/ACF1396.pdf?page=27 |date=2011-07-27 }}.</ref> Department of Defense (DoD) demographics show that "Atheist" is selected as a religious preference (0.55% or less than 1 percent of the total DoD force) more than non-Christian options such as Agnostic (0.12%), Hindu (0.07%), Buddhist (0.38%), Muslim (0.24%), and Jewish (0.33%).<ref>[http://militaryatheists.org/demographics/ militaryatheists.org], Military Religious Demographics Survey</ref> [[James Morrow]] has been quoted as saying "'There are no atheists in foxholes' isn't an argument against atheism, it's an argument against foxholes", as the mental state, or decisions, of an extremely frightened and desperate person can hardly be imagined to be ''more'' rational than those of a person in a calm state.<ref>{{cite web |first=Faith L. |last=Justice |date=3 December 2001 |title=Interview: James Morrow |publisher=Strange Horizons |url=http://www.strangehorizons.com/2001/20011203/morrow.shtml |accessdate=2009-11-14}}</ref> Due to its opposition to the phrase, the [[Freedom From Religion Foundation]] has erected a monument to "Atheists in Foxholes".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ffrf.org/outreach/atheists-in-foxholes/ |title=Atheists In Foxholes - Freedom From Religion Foundation |accessdate=27 June 2017}}</ref> |
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Several atheist organizations object to the phrase. The [[Military Association of Atheists & Freethinkers]] has adopted the catch-phrase "Atheists in Foxholes" to criticise the aphorism.<ref>{{cite web|title=Military Association of Atheists & Freethinkers|url=http://militaryatheists.org/atheists-in-foxholes/|accessdate=27 June 2017}}</ref> Author [[James K. Morrow]] said: "That maxim, 'There are no atheists in foxholes,' it's not an argument against atheism — it's an argument against foxholes."<ref>{{Cite web|last=Justice |first=Faith L. |date=2001-12-03|title=Interview: James Morrow|url=http://strangehorizons.com/non-fiction/articles/interview-james-morrow/|access-date=2024-11-07|website=Strange Horizons|language=en}}</ref> In 2015, describing the phrase as a "tired, old, untrue cliché", the [[Freedom From Religion Foundation]] erected a monument to "Atheists in Foxholes", commemorating American atheist, agnostic, freethinking and skeptical US armed services veterans.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Seering|first=Lauryn|title=FFRF unveils 'Atheists in Foxholes' monument at new headquarters - Freedom From Religion Foundation|url=https://ffrf.org/news/news-releases/item/24221-ffrf-unveils-atheists-in-foxholes-monument-at-new-headquarters|access-date=2021-10-16|website=ffrf.org|date=6 October 2015 |language=en-gb}}</ref> |
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==Notes== |
==Notes== |
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[[Category:Religion and atheism]] |
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[[Category:Adages]] |
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[[Category:Criticism of atheism]] |
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Latest revision as of 02:59, 8 November 2024
"There are no atheists in foxholes" is an aphorism used to suggest that times of extreme stress or fear can prompt belief in a higher power.[1] In the context of actual warfare, such a sudden change in belief has been called a foxhole conversion. The logic of the argument is also used to argue for the opposite.
Origin
[edit]The statement is an aphorism used to argue that people will believe in, or hope for, a higher power in times of fear or stress, such as during war ("in foxholes").[1] The origin of the quotation is uncertain.[2] The U.S. military chaplain William Thomas Cummings may have said it in a field sermon during the Battle of Bataan in 1942,[3] though scholars have been unable to find a firsthand witness to the sermon.[4][5] Other sources credit Lieutenant Colonel Warren J. Clear (or the anonymous sergeant he spoke with there), who was also at Bataan and published the usage in 1942;[6] or Lieutenant Colonel William Casey. The phrase is often attributed to war correspondent Ernie Pyle;[7][8][9][10] however, no such source published prior to Pyle's death is known. It was also quoted by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in remarks broadcast from the White House as part of a February 7, 1954, American Legion Program. With slightly different wording, the statement appears much earlier in press reports dating from the end of the First World War, while a similar concept has been sought in Plato's Laws, and in Karl Marx's often-misrepresented[note 1] partial quote that "Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people".[2]
Usage
[edit]While primarily used to comment on the experiences of combat soldiers, the aphorism has been adapted to other perilous situations, as in "There are no atheists in probate court".[citation needed] Although the adage occasionally means that all soldiers in combat are "converted" under fire, it is most often used to express the belief of the speaker that all people seek a divine power when they are facing an extreme threat.[1][12] The quote is also referenced when discussing the opposite effect — that warfare causes some soldiers to question their existing belief in God due to the death and violence around them.[13][14][15]
The quote has also been used in non-military contexts. In September 2008, in the depths of the 2007–2008 financial crisis, both Ben Bernanke and Paul Krugman popularized a version of the quote in reference to financial crises. They paraphrased Harvard professor Jeffrey Frankel, who originally wrote in the Cato Journal a year earlier, "They say 'there are no atheists in foxholes.' Perhaps, then, there are also no libertarians in crises."[16] The sentence is also quoted in the Gustav Hasford's novel The Short-Timers. The quote has been used by but commonly misattributed to economist Paul Krugman.[17]
Criticism
[edit]Several atheist organizations object to the phrase. The Military Association of Atheists & Freethinkers has adopted the catch-phrase "Atheists in Foxholes" to criticise the aphorism.[18] Author James K. Morrow said: "That maxim, 'There are no atheists in foxholes,' it's not an argument against atheism — it's an argument against foxholes."[19] In 2015, describing the phrase as a "tired, old, untrue cliché", the Freedom From Religion Foundation erected a monument to "Atheists in Foxholes", commemorating American atheist, agnostic, freethinking and skeptical US armed services veterans.[20]
Notes
[edit]- ^ Karl Marx's quote is only quoted in part as the interpretation of the metaphor in its context has received much less attention.[11]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Reese, Thomas J. (May 31, 2007). "No Atheists in Fox Holes". Washington Post Company. Archived from the original on June 8, 2009.
- ^ a b "Discussion on Linguist List". Archived from the original on 17 June 2008. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
- ^ "I Saw the Fall of the Philippines", Carlos Peña Romulo
- ^ Crosby, Donald F. (1994). Battlefield Chaplains: Catholic Priests in World War II. Page 26
- ^ Page 2 of Fulton Sheen's Wartime Prayerbook
- ^ "The Heroic Defense of the Philippines", reprinted in Reader's Digest, July 1942
- ^ "Oops! He Did It Again! Brokaw Repeats Canard, "There Are No Atheists In Foxholes" During NBC Evening News". Flashline. American Atheists. 2003-03-12. Retrieved 2008-11-27.
- ^ Johnson, Chip. sfgate.com; "GI turns to Islam to find God." San Francisco Chronicle. Monday, March 6, 2006. Accessed Nov-22-2009.
- ^ "Faith, Hope, and Charity in North Carolina". Retrieved 27 June 2017.
- ^ Down in the drink: true stories of the Goldfish Club, Ralph Barker 1955
- ^ McKinnon, Andrew M. (2005). "Reading 'Opium of the People': Expression, Protest and the Dialectics of Religion". Critical Sociology. 31 (1–2): 15–38. doi:10.1163/1569163053084360. hdl:2164/3074. S2CID 143119316.
- ^ "Report on Chaplains." Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers. Accessed Nov-22-2009.
- ^ Resnicoff, Arnold E. (June 28, 2004). "On becoming our own worst enemy". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 2009-11-14.
- ^ Allen, Joshua. There Are No Atheists in Foxholes. Rhode Island Monthly. April 2007 issue.
- ^ "Religion: Atheists & Foxholes". Time Magazine. June 18, 1945. Archived from the original on September 19, 2010.
- ^ Frankel, Jeffrey (Spring–Summer 2007). "Responding to Crises" (PDF). Cato Journal. 27 (2). Cato Institute. Retrieved 2009-12-17.
- ^ Paul Krugman (2008-12-17). "Other people's wit". New York Times.
- ^ "Military Association of Atheists & Freethinkers". Retrieved 27 June 2017.
- ^ Justice, Faith L. (2001-12-03). "Interview: James Morrow". Strange Horizons. Retrieved 2024-11-07.
- ^ Seering, Lauryn (6 October 2015). "FFRF unveils 'Atheists in Foxholes' monument at new headquarters - Freedom From Religion Foundation". ffrf.org. Retrieved 2021-10-16.