Soldier finds protection in prayer

[Synnical]

http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050416/NEWS10/504160314/0/NEWS24

<snip>

Army investigators told Sergeant Brasington afterward that someone had pushed two detonator buttons to trigger the four bombs, but the detonator to one pair malfunctioned immediately, and fuses leading to the other two bombs each stopped, independently of one another, an inch short of the explosives.

The Army investigators found no physical reason for the failures, Sergeant Brasington said.

"That's pretty awe-inspiring stuff," he said. "Why did that happen? You know God's watching over you."

Organizations such as the Military Association of Atheists and Free Thinkers (www.maaf.info) and Atheists in Foxholes (www.atheistfoxholes.org) stridently disagree, claiming that the old maxim, "There are no atheists in foxholes" is both "untrue and discriminatory toward atheist service members."

Sergeant Brasington agrees that the saying is inaccurate, but for a different reason.

"Nobody uses foxholes anymore," he said. "It's a different kind of war. It should be changed to 'There are no atheists in armored Humvees' or something."

He said the reality of combat changes the way a person looks at the world.

"These people are right that some soldiers don't believe in God and they never will," Sergeant Brasington said. "But if they were in the situations we were in, they would. I've heard them. They'll say, 'God get us through this.' They might not even remember saying it. It's different being an atheist in a protected area, but when there's a hailstorm of bullets and rocket-propelled grenades all around, I guarantee they'll pray to God."

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Opinion letters:


[e-mail]

[Zenlitened]

1. "God, um, uh, how come you can stop bullets and bombs just like that...

... but you didn't do anything to prevent thousands and thousands of Iraqi children from being killed and mutilated?"

[zippy890]

2. I stopped believing in God

when I read about all the people getting gassed and killed in WWII concentration camps.

all those people in the gas chambers, praying to God

What kind of God would allow that to happen?

Not one I can believe in. "He works in mysterious ways" is always the response. That is ignorance parading as an answer.

If people want to believe in a God, fine, I'm sure it must be comforting in times of great suffering, to feel like there is someone there. and its nice that people get strength to keep going by believing that.

but please take the praying-to-God sentiment somewhere else, please respect our space here

thank you

[Synnical]

3. The post is about atheists in the military

Did you even read it?

[zippy890]

5. Yes, but I guess not carefully enough

I read it through again, from the perspective of a discussion topic, and I see that your point was not to promote praying.

I apologize for the misunderstanding.

I'm a bit oversensitive with all the religiosity out there, thought it was seeping in here.

Peace

[Synnical]

6. Limited amount of space for "subjects"

We're good. The time for editing had elapsed for the original post. Now here, I am again, fixing typos! Sorry, I should have worded the subject line more appropriately.

Best regards,
Cindy

[Warpy]

12. but please take the praying-to-God sentiment somewhere else, please

respect our space here.

That bore repeating, and I don't think it's too much to ask.

I don't give a rip if Johnny Soldier thinks praying made him bulletproof. If it made him feel better about being thrust into such a terrible situation by another self professed believer for the sake of corporate profit, so be it.

However, I've been in a fire and a race riot, and neither provoked me to pray to some god I don't believe in.

Sorry, buddy, but it just aint so.

[Zenlitened]

10. Hey, stop persecutin' us!

Sorry -- just thought it might have been 5 minutes or so since you last heard that! :D

[Zenlitened]

4. I think Synnical was just posting it here for discussion.

:hi:

[onager]

7. Oh yeah?

Pvt. Keith Lance of the 84th Div. was that rare creature, an atheist in a foxhole.

His buddy was "a good Catholic boy from upstate New York." They were being shelled and the buddy "Hailed Mary" all night.

"After taking so many hours of that," Lance commented, he had had enough, so he dashed out of the foxhole to "check on the guys."

As he threw himself into the next hole, Lance heard an explosion. He looked, aghast--it had hit his old hole. His buddy was badly
wounded...

From Citizen Soldiers by Stephen Ambrose (the account of the American advance thru Europe in WWII)

After my first month in Vietnam, I became an atheist.

My former religion was Lutheran, due to my Swedish ancestry which traditionally dictates that progeny be so baptized. I could understand only a primitive concept of God.

I rebelled. No compassionate God, I thought, would permit all this killing to happen...

http://www.infidels.org
Library: Modern Documents: Philip K. Paulson: I Was an Atheist in a Foxhole

[beam me up scottie]

8. AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRR GGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

nt

[Kolesar]

9. Sergeant Brasington is a brainwashed, gop moron

"He said he believes the Iraq war is the result of "humanity's downfall," not God's will, and he supports President Bush's decision to attack because Saddam Hussein posed a serious threat to the United States and committed genocide against his own people.


"America is a very compassionate nation. We have the ability to help others and we take that seriously," Sergeant Brasington said.

He said he wishes that people who pledged to "never forget" the terrorist attacks of 9/11 would be more supportive of the global war on terrorism.
"

[Jokerman]

11. My dad joined the Navy in 1939.

At the time he joined he was, like the rest of his family, a devout Methodist. He participated in a number of combat missions in the Pacific including Pearl Harbor where his best friend died along with many others aboard the Arizona.

He saw first-hand the death and destruction wrought by both sides on military and civilian targets.

His "foxhole" experience cased him to renounce his church and his faith over sixty years ago. He remains an atheist to this day.

[LisaLynne]

13. The logic alludes me ...

So, "God" decided to save this one guy in this one instance. Now, even if you think "God" only saves American soldiers, there have been far too many who have died. So, why them and not this guy? How does that even begin to make sense? Ok, I know it doesn't, but how can these people even think stuff like that? I guess it's easier than dealing with the fact that life is pretty precarious, especially in a war zone, and actual life and death can swing on pure, unadulterated luck.

[Synnical]

14. Cross Post from LBN- Air Force Cadets See Religious Harassment

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1406211

[YankeyMCC]

15. They could've at least acknowledged reality

to the extent of saying "There are no atheists in UNarmored Humvees'

As is the case for the most part in Iraq.