Following up on our Xmas atheism discussion here is another angle on faith: religion on the battlefield. A recent Canadian press article looks at troops on the ground in Afghanistan and their change in religiosity.
“I don’t normally think about God at all,’’ said one member of the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry recently. “But when the Taliban start shooting at me and I am pinned down, I say “Jesus, just get me out of this alive.’’
Understandable in the least. This is religion being used as a way to deal with an unbearable situation. That is an important and very powerful aspect of religion. In my opinion, this is the core of the purpose of religion: bending reality with the power of the mind in order to overcome something.
That should get some people riled up. ;)
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COMMENTS / 10 COMMENTS
Kevin added these pithy words on 31 Dec 06 at 7:59 am;)
Kevin added these pithy words on 31 Dec 06 at 8:24 amOh…and Merry Solstice
!
Kenneth added these pithy words on 31 Dec 06 at 10:09 pmIt would have been interesting to have done such an investigation on the Soviet military….
That said, people don’t “turn” to a higher power when being shot at- it just brings out latent religious impulses when you’re scared out of your wits.
[T]his is the core of the purpose of religion: bending reality with the power of the mind in order to overcome something.
Or attempting too. Couldn’t have said it better myself. Religion, contra the mainstream media, is not an intrinsic characteristic of humans. It has no basis in biology; it’s just a psychological response to material circumstances.
Scof added these pithy words on 01 Jan 07 at 12:46 am“Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry”
ROTFLMAO!!
...
...still LMAO!!
Kevin added these pithy words on 01 Jan 07 at 1:42 amRober Greene
(scroll down to religion is essential)
lirelou added these pithy words on 03 Jan 07 at 12:39 amAnyone who has never met an atheist in a foxhole has obviously never been in many foxholes. One of the favored songs in the II Corps MIKE Force in 1968 was “Jesus saves”. No chaplain would have ever hung around for the lyrics, which were highly offensive. The (relative) kids who sang those lyrics and survived may be born again christians (or jews) today, but many were aggressively non-religious when their life expectancy was measured in days, and at times minutes. Today’s recruiting base may have provided an enlisted base that is more religious at present. It will be interesting to see what, if any, metamorphisis they undergo as they mature. Interestingly enough, the few cases of religious conversion I witnessed in 1968 was among the rear echelon elements at a nearby air base. Perhaps the personality traits that send one man to volunteer for a hard-core combat unit, versus another who takes his chances with the rest, but no more, also accounts for the depth of their religious or anti-religious beliefs.
alec added these pithy words on 03 Jan 07 at 4:19 amReligion is the impotence of the human mind to deal with occurrences it cannot understand
Kevin added these pithy words on 04 Jan 07 at 10:09 am“Religion is opium for the masses.”
-Marx
lirelou added these pithy words on 05 Jan 07 at 12:29 amJust a footnote: I have never seen any evidence that the non-religious, to include agnostics and atheists, are any more intelligent than true believers. But I have occasionally run into both agnostics and atheists who presumed that their declarations to be such was, ipso facto, proof that they were superior in intellect.
Quare
