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Politics : Should God be replaced? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Greg or e who wrote (2791)	10/27/2000 9:29:27 AM
From: epicure	Respond to of 28931

Opportunism as a basis for belief. An interesting hypothesis. It does make sense that people faced with irrational and frightening forces beyond their control would attempt to make sense of the world by retreating into fantasy- any fantasy. I agree with you that this might be a good reason why so many people in prison are religious. As there are no actual studies on religious affiliation in fox holes I won't rely too heavily on that oft quoted statement. My father was an atheist in a fox hole- so I know it is not true that there are NO atheists in fox holes (the traditional statement).

To: Greg or e who wrote (2791)	10/27/2000 3:13:08 PM
From: Krowbar	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 28931

Grag, In fact I suspect that there are as many atheists in foxholes as there are any place else. That is nothing but a wisecrack perpetuated by religious folks to make themselves feel better about their irrational beliefs. Do you have a link to studies to back up the statement that there are no atheists in foxholes? Del

To: Greg or e who wrote (2791)	10/27/2000 3:30:53 PM
From: cosmicforce	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 28931

Technically I wasn't in a fox hole, but did join the Navy as a volunteer and spent 3 years in service. I had non-denominational on my dog tags (to avoid the stigma of being an atheist) , but really, I was closer to being an atheist in those days. Now, true I did volunteer because I thought the risk to life and limb were low compared to the benefits I was going to receive, but I wouldn't have deserted because I lost "the bet" with the government. They did renege on many of the terms of the bet, so there is no honor amongst thieves even when they are governmental thieves. So much for the morality of "One nation under God." You do seem to be suggesting that atheists are "cowards" (or convert to belief under stress), though I'm generous enough of spirit to allow you an opportunity to recant or explain what you meant. I think that fear and distress can do remarkable things to people's judgement. Hope for something positive in a terrible situation is understandable but doesn't really support a very cogent "belief" in God. More like belief out of desperation.