Thursday, January 1, 2026

Why Don't Athiests In A Foxhole Cry Out To Superman?

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"The saying "There are no atheists in a foxhole" is well known. Faced with a clear and immediate life-threatening danger, even those who define themselves as atheists and heretics often begin to pray and ask for help from God or a higher power. Believers see this as proof that deep down, these people really believe in God (at least as a reasonable possibility), and only external motives cause them to deny Him; in times of danger, the inner truth is revealed, the masks fall and faith is revealed.

On the other hand, atheists argue that the only thing this proves is that in emergencies people tend to behave irrationally, and are willing to cling to superstitions and nonsense like a drowning man clutching at straws, in a desperate attempt to save their lives. This does not mean that they were always disguised believers, but that the danger confused them and drove them out of their minds. As someone put it: "The argument about atheists in foxholes is not an argument against atheism, but against foxholes."

But if this is indeed the case, the question arises: why do those atheists in danger choose to pray - and not, for example, to do magic? Why not try to cast "Wingardium Leviosa" on a crashing plane, or raise a wooden stick in front of the falling shells and shout "Protego"? After all, according to their stated method, God and Harry Potter are equally imaginary; so why turn to the former and not the latter? Why pray to God, and not call for help from Superman or Pinocchio's Blue Fairy? I have not yet heard of anyone trying to do such things, even in the most desperate situations.

It turns out, therefore, that even if those atheists who pray in the trenches are not completely "believers at heart" - they still attribute much more probability to God than to the imaginary creatures they like to compare Him to. It's a shame it takes trenches or a crashing plane to get it out of them."