"Atheists in Foxholes"

Our local freethinkers' email list had a flurry of activity today after this local newspaper article started with the sentence, "Just as there are no atheists in foxholes, the ranks of the underdog state Senate Republicans are suddenly filled with the religion of reform." Needless to say, some of the local godless types are miffed, what with there being lots of atheists in foxholes. More surprisingly, a couple of them are not only not offended, but think is a perfectly acceptable way of making a point.

The article itself has nothing to do with religion or philosophy, there's just this one clichéd analogy. Undoubtedly, the author uses the "no atheists in foxholes" reference correctly, in context, as a way of saying that the Republicans are jumping on the bandwagon when faced with a desperate situation. As one of the non-offended members put it, the aphorism is not a statement about the patriotism of atheists, or about atheism/atheists at all, but rather about "people's tendencies to 'find God' in times of extreme stress and/or dire need".

That poster was absolutely correct about what the sentence means, but it seems to me, that makes things *worse*, not better! Here are the assumptions it presents:

1. Every atheist always abandons their philosophical position when presented with a difficult or dangerous situation.
2. The only possible alternative position is to "find God".
3. The logic and evidence for the previous two statements are so obvious and unassailable that you can use the term in public discourse as an offhand reference and everyone will accept is as a cliché.

Personally, I find the first assumption both demonstrably false and insulting to my character, the second to be merely illogical, and the third a depressing reminder of the disrespected and marginalized minority freethinkers are treated as in society. I'm not angry at the article's author, because I'm quite sure they only meant to use a common cliché for the purpose of illustrating a point. I am, however, saddened by the thought that they've most likely never even considered the implications of the phrase. I suppose I'm also concerned that such a stereotype is so ingrained in society that even some freethinkers accept it at face value!

Let's try some variations on for size:

• "Just as there are no liberated women when something heavy needs to be carried, the ranks of the underdog state Senate Republicans are suddenly filled with the religion of reform."
• "Just as there are no devout Catholic priests when it comes to child molestation, the ranks of the underdog state Senate Republicans are suddenly filled with the religion of reform."
• "Just as there are no recovering drug addicts in foxholes, the ranks of the underdog state Senate Republicans are suddenly filled with the religion of reform."

What do you think? Are those "common knowledge" statements just inoffensive aphorisms? I can tell you, I felt uneasy publishing them, and I'm not even expressing them as my own opinion. Of course they are offensive! How could they not be? They express all kinds of negative implications about broad groups of people. They are perfect examples of the worst kind of stereotyping, and no newspaper reporter would ever dare to use them in an offhand manner just to make an analogy work.

But I guess it's OK, as long as they're just talking about some weak-willed, misguided, baby-eating atheists.....