Theists often claim there are no atheists in foxholes, implying that if in imminent danger, atheists suddenly find religion. Having been in fear for my life in just such a situation, I can vouch that it is not true.
Background: At age eight I first realised that ‘god’ was a human invention. At 16 I told my mum I didn’t believe in any god to which she said ‘No, neither do I’. I was surprised because she adored her mother who was very religious, and I assumed she harboured some lever of religious belief. At school, both primary and secondary, I openly discussed my atheism with fellow students.
The foxhole event: One day at age 18, I was out bush, fossicking for minerals as I was prone to do, when I was confronted by a menacing man with a double-barrelled shotgun. He demanded what the hell I was doing there and levelled the shotgun at me at point-blank range. If there is one thing to make your blood run cold, it’s the sight of those two barrels aimed directly at your chest and knowing nothing about the stranger behind the trigger. I had absolutely no doubt as to the outcome if he were to pull the trigger, and thought this is probably my last moments alive.
I went into survival mode and calmly answered that I was just heading out to meet up with my dad who was out here fossicking for minerals. I pretended to be oblivious to the shotgun. After a few moments of silence, which seemed like an eternity, he backed up, signalled me to continue, then turned and walked away. I moved slowly off watching him in my peripheral vision to be sure he wasn’t following me. Once out of sight, I moved fast as possible out of the area.
At no time during or immediately after this encounter did I even have the vaguest thought of gods, or any other superstition. It was only weeks later when pondering the event that I realised that I had been an atheist in a foxhole.
