Foxhole Atheists

[SSanf]

In a piece aired on Wednesday, April 5, 2006, NBC “Today Show” host Katie Couric introduced a segment on religious faith in time of military conflict. The piece was narrated by reporter Lester Holt. Ms. Couric stated: “Perhaps you have heard the expression ‘There are no Atheists in foxholes,’ and the men who have occupied the oval office have also turned to a higher power…”........

The “no Atheists in foxholes” cliche marginalizes and insults millions of Americans who profess “no religion” (American Religious Identification Survey), including those who are serving – or have served – with honor, patriotism and distinction in our nation’s armed forces.

http://www.atheistfoxholes.org/Anyone who says that has a hella of a nerve!

[Agaliha]

To think there are no atheists in the armed forces is lame. And I can see how an atheist soldier would be insulted.

I found some related sites:
Atheists in foxholes - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0oGknDEa1pG_zEAE9pXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTB2cXBibjBrBHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDMwRjb2xvA3cEdnRpZAMEbANXUzE-/SIG=125fc9dv5/EXP=1180417348/**http%3a//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atheists_in_foxholes)
Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers (http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0oGknDEa1pG_zEAENpXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTB2OW00cXMzBHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDMgRjb2xvA3cEdnRpZAMEbANXUzE-/SIG=1197tvibg/EXP=1180417348/**http%3a//www.maaf.info/)

2006 article: Atheist Soldiers Demand to Be Recognized - Newsweek Beliefs - MSNBC.com (http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0oGknDEa1pG_zEAG9pXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTB2a3QwcWRqBHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDNQRjb2xvA3cEdnRpZAMEbANXUzE-/SIG=127j23cto/EXP=1180417348/**http%3a//www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14322117/site/newsweek/)
Snippet: But an increasingly vocal group of activists and soldiers—atheist soldiers—disagrees. "It's a denial of our contributions," says Master Sgt. Kathleen Johnson, who founded the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers and who will be deployed to Iraq this fall. "A lot of people manage to serve without having to call on a higher power."

This is interesting too, slightly older though:
SURVEY INDICATES MORE AMERICANS "WITHOUT FAITH" (http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0oGkxyNbFpGXYEBIhZXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTB2a3QwcWRqBHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDNQRjb2xvA3cEdnRpZAMEbANXUzE-/SIG=1239r0ltd/EXP=1180417549/**http%3a//www.atheists.org/flash.line/atheist4.htm)

And according to Adherents.com:

World stats:
Number THREE: Secular/Nonreligious/Agnostic/Atheist (http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html#Nonreligious): 1.1 billion



US stats:
Nonreligious:37,593,60013.2 %
agnostic 1,424,0000.5 %
atheists 1,139,2000.4 %
http://www.adherents.com/adh_dem.html


Also:
14.1% do not follow any organized religion. This is an unusually rapid increase -- almost a doubling -- from only 8% in 1990. There are more Americans who say they are not affiliated with any organized religion than there are Episcopalians, Methodists, and Lutherans taken together.
The unaffiliated vary from a low of 3% in North Dakota to 25% in Washington State. "The six states with the highest percentage of people saying they have no religion are all Western states, with the exception of Vermont at 22%."
http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_prac2.htm


:lol: Yeah, I remember reading WA state (my state) was one of the least religious of them all. Whoo-hoo!
ETA: Ha.
State-by-state breakdown of religious backgrounds (http://www.usatoday.com/graphics/news/gra/gnoreligion/flash.htm)
Washington is least religious state (http://www.usatoday.com/life/2002/2002-03-07-church-free.htm) :lol: Yea!
Charting the unchurched in America (http://www.usatoday.com/life/2002/2002-03-07-no-religion.htm)

So it's obvious there are quite a bit of people in the world and US that identify as non-theistic and therefore a good number of those in the forces do as well.