This is Dan.
He’s an anaesthesiologist whose job is to administer and manage anaesthesia to people
before and during surgery (often to remove cancerous brain tumours), and he also happens
to be one of my biggest patrons, and hence, he’s largely responsible for my being able
to do this nearly full time.
He’s a legend, twice over, right?
Anyhow, as gratitude for his tier of support, he has both suggested and worked closely with
me on a topic of his choosing, and as is given away by the title of this video, he’s chosen
the argument that ‘There are no atheists in foxholes’.
Now the reason for this (which he doesn’t mind me sharing), is because while he’s
witnessed a lot of people invoking god before being ane-si-tized, by saying something like
‘it’s all up to god now’, or that ‘god will guide your hands’, he’s also witnessed
a lot of atheists not invoking god… he’s witnessed, first-hand, atheists in foxholes.
And so, without further ado, this is ‘There Are no Atheists in Foxholes – Debunked’.
The assertion that “there are no atheists in foxholes” can be traced back to the Battle
of Bataan in 1942, where it was first coined by either reverend William T. Cummings, Lieutenant
Colonel Warren J., or Lieutenant Colonel William Casey.
However, slightly reworded versions of the statement have existed for centuries, and
so its true origin is unknown.
In any case, put simply, it’s the assertion that whenever an atheist is under extreme
stress and fear, such as if they were at war inside a ‘foxhole’, or if they were about
to receive brain surgery, they will all of a sudden turn to, and believe in, god.
Or in other words, it’s the assertion that a scared atheist is a theist…
So, is it true?
Are there really no atheists in foxholes?
Do atheists really turn to god in their hour of need?
Well, the truth of the matter is that these are two separate questions that are often
conflated, and they shouldn’t be, because they don’t share the same answer.
However, before I address either of them, I want to make three critical flaws abundantly
clear.
The first is that even if there were no atheists in foxholes, this wouldn’t somehow prove
the existence of a god…
Once upon a time everybody believed that the earth was flat, but this obviously didn’t
make it so.
“Beliefs don’t change facts”, and hence, if a theist is attempting to use this argument
to prove the existence of their god, then they’ve failed spectacularly… and if they’re
not using it for this purpose, then just what the hell are they using it for?
The second flaw I want to make clear is that whenever a proponent of this assertion says
the word ‘god’, they’re almost always referring to their very specific interpretation
of their very specific god… which means that they’ve either consciously, or unconsciously,
committing a Black & White fallacy.
It’s not atheism or their very specific god – it’s atheism or theism (which means
one or more of several thousand gods).
Or to borrow a line from Hitch, even if this argument somehow proved the existence of a
god (which it doesn’t) it would still leave them empty handed, with all their work ahead
of them to get to theism.
And the third flaw I want to make clear is a superficially pedantic one.
Due to the fact that the most prevalent religions in the West are theistic, within Western culture
the word ‘atheist’ has become synonymous with the word ‘non-religious’, but in
the East, and indeed by definition, the word ‘atheist’ only means ‘without god’
or ‘non-theism’, and hence, non-theistic religions, such as Buddhism, are indeed atheistic.
And so what I’m getting at here is that when someone says ‘There are no atheists
in foxholes’, what they’re more often than not really saying is that ‘There are
no non-religious people in foxholes’.
Either this, or they’re asserting that deeply religious people who don’t believe in a
god, will, in their time of need, appeal not their own religious beliefs, but to an arbitrary
god that they may not have even heard of… which is absolutely absurd!
Anyhow, with these three flaws made clear (which, for the record, means that the argument
is dead and that what follows is merely its burial), let’s go back and answer the two
questions.
To address the former first – that being ‘Are there really no atheists in foxholes’,
the answer is a resounding ‘no – there are atheists in foxholes’… both in the
literal sense and in the metaphorical.
There are countless non-religious veterans, from all over the world, who were once literally
in a foxhole, fearing for their life, genuinely believing that they’re about to die… and
yet they didn’t all of a sudden start believing in fairytales.
And the same is true of those who have lived through metaphorical foxholes – such as
many of Dan’s ex patients.
Rather than praying for a god to guide Dan’s team, they thanked Dan’s team for what they’re
about to attempt, and science and technology for making it possible.
And so as if this myth wasn’t already debunked, consider this a nail in its coffin.
It’s just nonsense… there are atheists in foxholes and this is proven by the fact
that atheists have survived foxholes.
And to answer the second question – that being ‘Do atheists really turn to god in
their hour of need?’ the answer is actually both ‘yes’ and ‘no’ – and the main
reason for this is because of the definition of atheism.
As previously mentioned, to qualify as an atheist all you have to be is not convinced
that a god exists.
That’s it… nothing else is required.
You don’t need to understand evolution, appreciate the Big Bang, have respect for
the scientific method, or even be non-religious…
And so what this means is that a non-theistic middle-aged superstitious woman who has never
wrestled with existential questions is just as much an atheist as me, Daniel Dennett,
and the Dalai Lama … and so of course, when atheists such as this made up woman are in
dire straits and without hope, they’re bound to appeal to just about anything.
But here’s the thing – and this is extremely telling.
Americans overwhelmingly invoke Yahweh; Cambodians overwhelmingly invoke Nirvana; and Tunisians
overwhelmingly invoke Allah… which makes one thing crystal clear – people tend to
invoke whatever is popular in their culture, and so this isn’t an argument for god, it’s
an argument for irrationality.
As a final act of futility, many people simply reach out for absolutely anything.
Now to be fair, some atheists who have thoroughly thought about religion and the purpose of
life may well become religious in their time of need, be this due to honest enquiry and
personal reflection, or brain damage caused by a tumour, but as already proven, most atheists
of this calibre don’t lose their rationality along with their hope, and since all it takes
is one atheist in a foxhole to disprove this nonsensical, derogatory claim, we can consider
it well and truly debunked…
Now there’s a lot more that can be said about this assertion, but considering the
length of this video, I’m only going to say but two more things.
The first is an excellent point that was first made to me by Dan himself, which after subsequent
research we have found is perhaps best conveyed by Thomas J. Anderson in his book ‘Why We
Believe In God(s)’, and it’s this: “Maybe there are only atheists in foxholes.
If the faithful truly and fully believe in a protective deity, why would they dive into
a foxhole to protect themselves from the bullets whizzing by?
A part of their brain knows damn well that if they do not protect themselves, the bullets
will hardly discriminate between those who claim faith and those who reject it.”
Indeed, there’s a reason why the popemobile is reinforced with bulletproof glass...
And the last point I want to make is actually a reiteration of a truly brilliant one made
by Hemant Mehta: “Every now and then you here these stories about people who didn’t
serve in the military, but pretended to do so.
And we get upset about it – we get angry about it, because it somehow dishonours the
people who really did make that sacrifice.
But I would argue that saying atheists don’t serve in the military should also be considered
an act of stolen valour.”
And I couldn’t agree more – the assertion that ‘There are no atheists in foxholes’
is not only false, it’s incredibly disrespectful.
Atheists have died in the act of protecting our future, and for anyone to spit on their
grave by effectively calling them liars or unthoughtful is truly nasty.
I for one would never do this to a religious person – and yet the religious seem to do
this all the time.
If they’re not claiming that atheists converted on their deathbeds, then they’re claiming
that atheists converted in foxholes, and I find both of these vacuously reprehensible.
As always, thank you kindly for the view, an extra special thank you to my patrons and
to those of you who have donated via PayPal, and a super thank you to Dan, both for suggesting
and collaborating with me on this video, and of course, for your support – which is largely
responsible for my being able to create videos nearly full time.
On behalf of us all, thank you Dan.
You’re helping us spread reason and rationality in a world lacking in both.