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I have head this before. Atheists pray in foxholes.
Has anyone experienced this in battle or heard of this first hand?
I have never been in a foxhole, but I've had several close brushes with death...The thought of praying never entered my mind...The saying is just stupid in my opinion.
I have never been in a foxhole, but I've had several close brushes with death...The thought of praying never entered my mind...The saying is just stupid in my opinion.
You said you have had close brushes. What kind of brushes? Were other people trying to kill you?
It's just a popular Christian talking point, not supported by any actual facts. It used to be "there are no atheist on a plane that's about to crash." That was a popular one when I was a kid. I suppose the new one is more catchy.
These fallacies are in the same vein as deathbed conversion stories of famous non-believers, also spread by Christians and lacking in any facts. Stories such as those are nothing more than blatant lies, such as the Darwin conversion myth.
There is nothing new about it. It references a specific type of uncertain danger that was peculiar to foxholes. You are in an identified battle line target with your buddies. Mortars arc in the air and drop down without warning. It only takes one time to see one of your buddies blown apart without warning in the same kind of foxhole as you to reveal the entirety of your total helplessness. It tends to evoke desperation.
I have two friends who were injured in Iraq- one in the army, the other a marine. Both went into the battle where they were shot an atheist and walked (or, rather, were dragged) out the same. One very honestly told me that the only thing he was "praying" for was his mommy.
I have two friends who were injured in Iraq- one in the army, the other a marine. Both went into the battle where they were shot an atheist and walked (or, rather, were dragged) out the same. One very honestly told me that the only thing he was "praying" for was his mommy.
You missed the point . . . it is not just danger. . . it is a specific sort of completely helpless and unavoidable desperation over which you have zero control.
You said you have had close brushes. What kind of brushes? Were other people trying to kill you?
No, nature tried to kill me a couple of times during my 23 years at sea....We were even caught in a waterspout once.... Then there was the old lady who tried to kill me while I was riding my motorcycle....Does a heart attack count?
As a kid I fell through the ice on a river and washed downstream under the ice....Probably the scariest few minutes of my life....Never prayed once
No, nature tried to kill me a couple of times during my 23 years at sea....We were even caught in a waterspout once.... Then there was the old lady who tried to kill me while I was riding my motorcycle....Does a heart attack count?
As a kid I fell through the ice on a river and washed downstream under the ice....Probably the scariest few minutes of my life....Never prayed once
Those sound frightening to say the least. A heart attack could happen in the most pleasant of places so I am not sure if that counts. It sounds like you have never been in a life threatening situation where you had others around you who talked about faith and praying at that scary moment. I could be wrong.
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