Foxhole Atheists

[H Nelson]

In the US, there is a saying: "There are no Atheists in foxholes". It gets thrown around alot, and no one seems to really give it much thought. But can you imagine what an atheist service member would feel if you said this to him/her? You would, in effect, be saying that "I know what you believe, but as soon as it's tested, you will come around to my way of thinking." How insulting.

Americans are probably familiar with the religious proselytizing scandal at our service academies. Somehow, some people believe military service and religious duty are intertwined - You join the military to "Serve God and Country".

Recently, atheist service members at Fort Bragg protested the base spending over $50K (in government money) to host a Billy Graham Crusade. They were also denied funding to invite an Atheist speaker.

This seems like an unacceptable government endorsement of religion. Not to mention a smack in the face to brave service members who choose not to believe (a right granted to them by the Constitution they would give their lives to protect).

My issue - there remains a religious bias in the US military, one which is inconsistent with basic constitutional principles. These proselytizing actions should not be tolerated by those who support our armed forces.

 

[Feanor]

I'm not particularly religios myself, but at the end of the day the majority of the US military is. I'd say as long as the atheists get a proportional amount of funding for the events they want to hold, it really doesn't matter.

 

[Shock]

Recently, atheist service members at Fort Bragg protested the base spending over $50K (in government money). They were also denied funding to invite an Atheist speaker.

i find that odd that they ask for an Atheist speaker. i would have figured that they would have requested that money spent on religous activities to be spent on more equiptment or the like.

kill two birds with one stone. :daz

 

[Kilo 2-3]

Based on my experiences, most people don't easily fit into one camp or the other. By and larger, they simply haven't thought about whether or not they believe there is a God. So, while there may be no atheists in foxholes, that doesn't mean that everyone or even the vast majority of everyone is technically a "believer."

As far as the US armed forces go, think about the social and regional demographics of the military and how that impacts levels of religious belief vis a vis the general population.

All the same, it's important to allow everyone fair access to resources and freedom to pursue their faith. Now, whether or not that should be done proportionally to the numbers/ratios of believers in each camp or simply evenly across the board is up for debate. All in all, the military isn't doing half bad; but I would agree there is some Judeo-Christian bias, probably due to traditions and probably due to the fact that most service members who do practice a religion fall under those categories.

In all fairness, some bases/branches are trying to broaden their horizons (USAFA just built a stone circle for the practicians of druid-esque religions).

 

[Rimasta]

Atheists in foxholes

Well I'm not too familiar with religious bias in the military. During my time in the Army's field artillery I worked with soldiers who were of many different beliefs and any discrimination based on that never entered into our thought process. I couldn't say if the battery first sergeant would pass someone over for promotion because they don't believe in god, possible but I'd say highly unlikely. And to finish the quote "there are no atheists in foxholes" is not an argument against atheists, it's an argument against foxholes.