"There are no atheists in [the] foxholes"

[Bonnie Taylor-Blake]

I see that the origin of this expression usually gets placed to the spring
of 1942, during the American defense of Bataan.  Fr. William T. Cummings,
whose delivery of the line is mentioned in C.P. Romulo's _I Saw the Fall of
the Philippines_ (published in 1942 and which chronicles Romulo's
experiences into June of that year), is overwhelmingly given credit for
coining the phrase [1], but I think it's worth noting that a Lieut. Col.
Warren J. Clear, who also served at Bataan, used the expression in an
interview printed in U.S. newspapers in the middle of April [2].

But I've also noticed that a similarly worded thought was already in place
by the end of WWI (see below), which suggests that whoever we credit at
Bataan may well have been influenced by this earlier usage.  (Have I simply
missed an earlier attribution?)

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"When Ralph Connor was over here he said that you can not find a man in the
trenches who does not believe in immortality. It is true. There are no
atheists over there when those big shells come over their heads."  [From
"Harry Lauder Interviewed; Famous Comedian is Now Harry Lauder, Evangelist,"
*The Olean [New York] Evening Herald*, 22 December 1917, Pg. 5]

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Now, friends, there may be some among you who have thought lightly of
religion, and others who are afraid to press its claims on children
especially. For you I have this word. "There are no atheists in the
trenches." Before bullets and death men turn to God and find Him.  [From
"Pastor Tells Y.M.C.A. Hut Life at Front," *The Oakland Tribune*, 6 May
1918, Pg. 6.]

----------

Lieutenant Alcide Picard of the French Army, who has talked to the men in
most of the camps in this country says there are no atheists in the
front-line trenches. "The soldier there may not know so much about churches,
but he does know religion with a capital R," says Lieutenant Picard.  [From
"St. Andrew's Brotherhood's Work among Soldiers," *The New York Times*, 19
May 1918, Pg. 49.]

----------

Chaplain F.W. Lawson of the 302d Machine Gun Battalion, who was wounded
twice while in the Vesle sector and in the Argonne Forest, told of his
experiences last night in the Judson Memorial Church, in Washington Square
[...] "I doubt if there is such a thing as an atheist," said Mr. Lawson. "At
least there isn't in a front line trench. The American soldier is religious,
and it is not uncommon to see him sitting on a stone or under a tree reading
his Bible or prayer book."  [From "Tells of Religion in Army; Chaplain
Lawson Says There Are No Atheists in Front Line," *The New York Times*; 25
November 1918, Pg. 13.]

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By the way, the following frequently offered quotations bear some
similarities to these 20th-century forms, but I'm having trouble finding
where Plato and More are supposed to have made these comments.  Can anyone
help?

"Few men are so obstinate in their atheism, that a pressing danger will not
compel them to the acknowledgement of a divine power."  -- Plato (428-348
BC)

"In agony or danger, no nature is atheist.  The mind that knows not what to
fly to, flies to God."  -- Henry More (1614-1687)

(Hazlitt's 1842 translation of the complete works of Montaigne includes the
following, "And what Plato says, [footnote] 'That there are few men so
obstinate in their atheism whom a pressing danger will not reduce to an
acknowledgment of the divine power,' ... " [p. 203]  The footnote points to
Plato's _Laws_, Book X, but I haven't been able to locate the line there.)

-- Bonnie


[1] Romulo mentions Cummings in a description of the aftermath of the
bombing of a U.S. base hospital (this action takes place on or about 4 April
1942):

"Then I saw Father William Thomas Cummings standing on a chair over this
scene of bedlam and death.  The tall, thin figure of this Maryknoll Mission
priest, in the uniform that bore the Cross collar ornaments, was a familiar
one on the battlefields.  It was he who had said in one of his field sermons
on Bataan:

'There are no atheists in the fox holes.'

Now, in calm and even tones, Father Cummings began his recital of the Lord's
Prayer."

[From Chapter 15, p. 263.  Garden City, New York:  Doubleday, Doran &
Company, Inc.  First edition, 1942.]



[2] In a piece datelined 12 April 1942, Lieut. Col. Clear related the
following about action he saw in Bataan.

"Our men were self-confident in battle but there are times when a man finds
that self-confidence alone will not sustain him.  I remember one time when I
slipped into a fox hole, during one particularly heavy bombing.

There was a sergeant in the fox hole, too, and he squeezed to one side to
make room for me and then all hell broke loose, and I wasn't surprised to
find myself praying.  The sergeant was praying, too.  He prayed almost as I
did.  When the attack was over, I turned to him and said, 'Sergeant, I
noticed you were praying.'  'Yes, sir, I was.'  There are no atheists in fox
holes."

[From "Bataan Defenders' Suffering Related," The Los Angeles Times, 13 April
1942, Pg. 3.]

An Associated Press report held that "[Clear] said he and a sergeant who
shared the same foxhole prayed audibly during one particularly heavy bombing
attack. The sergeant, Clear said, observed afterwards that 'there are no
atheists in foxholes.'" [From "Wornout Yanks Ate Pack Mules, But Fought on;
Colonel Says Fatigue Cost Bataan," *The Chicago Daily Tribune*, 13 April
1942, Pg. 5.]

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