Imagine that, finally, you’ve saved enough money to afford that ski trip you and your significant other have been dreaming of for years. It’s a perfect day for skiing, and you’re excited about heading out on the fresh slopes, when, suddenly, a heavily-armed man bursts into the lodge foyer, shouting, “If you’re not Christian, you’re going to die!” As people start to scream and run, the man grabs people at random, giving them quick interrogations — “What religion are you?”, he asks. You can’t hear the response, but the gunman seems satisfied and focuses on the next potential victim. The gunman doesn’t seem pleased with the response of the second person interrogated, and you see the gunman shoot the victim at least three times, once in the head.
Before you can react, the gunman is pointing his gun at you. “What’s your religion?”, he asks.
If you think this is a far-fetched atheist fantasy, you are wrong. This scenario played out in real life at a ski resort in Boulder, Colorado in December last year, ending in violent death and injury.
This query isn’t about whether or not we can or should blame religion or religious people in general for such ills. It’s about devotion and faith, and survival. Many times, we atheists are asked — if there is no afterlife, what have you got to live for? We often answer that we live for life, itself. We value this life more than believers because we know that this is probably all we have. Since we have it, and we know we have it, let’s make the best of it instead of spending our lives worrying about the “next” life. If we all strive to do better in this life, we all benefit.
Christians, on the other hand, as well as many other religious folk, believe that there is some sort of afterlife, and that a deity (or perhaps karma) judges what a person does in this life to determine how the person or person’s soul will be treated in the next life. This is a mainstay of Christianity and Islam, and is the justification for the worry- and fear-based lifestyle that the religious impose upon themselves and attempt to impose upon others. Christians often use a version of Pascal’s Wager, which creates a gambler out of the believer, with the hope of being right versus the worry of potentially being wrong. This gambit is used as a conversion tool — “But what if you’re wrong about everything, and you end up in a fiery pit for all eternity? That wouldn’t be pleasant. So, you have nothing to lose by being Christian!” But when such faith is tested, does it show that believers doubt that fundamental aspect of their religion, or do they stick to their guns and pray they’ve made the right choice?
The scenario above is likely too easy for Christians. Even though one of the victims (the one shot in the chest and head) answered “Catholic” to the query, the next Catholic would probably be able to tailor an answer to satisfy the gunman, but not be guilty of sin, if the gunman didn’t think the person was lying. Christians and other believers claim to hold their faith above all else, to follow the word of their god, to live their lives by their faith and belief. But would they really do so at the risk of peril? Let’s change the scenario and find out.
You’re at the ski lodge, and the gunman bursts in, shouting, “If you’re not Muslim, you’re going to die!” After shooting a number of people, excluding ones who successfully claimed to be Muslim, the gunman reaches you. “What religion are you?”, he asks, with a gun barrel to your chest. How do you respond?
Personally, I don’t have a problem lying to save my own life, especially if by doing so, I’m not harming others. But lying is considered a sin in some religions, especially the mainstream ones. Even more sinful, and potentially a threat to eternal life (in whatever positive place is imagined), is to blaspheme against your own god, your own religion, especially by worshipping another god or idol. Anyway, isn’t it the Christian thing to admit being Christian? Isn’t it “wrong” to lie about your faith, to claim to worship another god when that is not true? If you really had faith, really believed in what you say, and really thought of yourself as Christian, wouldn’t it be the absolute best scenario for you to admit being Christian and effectively martyr yourself for it? That’s practically a guaranteed trip to heaven. If you really believe.
So, what do you consider yourself with regard to religion, what would you answer to the Christian terrorist, what would you answer to the Muslim terrorist, and why?
(It’d probably help if Christians or other religious people ever visited this blog, so feel free to pass it along to anyone you know who is religious)
Thanks to vjack for bringing this topic to attention.
UPDATE: The Chaplain at An Apostate’s Chapel has recently addressed the same question, with an example about soldiers recanting their faith to survive, and the reaction from at least one disgusting observer. Check it out: Armchair Martyrdom
Tags: atheist, belief, Boulder, Catholic, Christ, Christianity, Colorado, death, December, deity, Eden, faith, fundamental, god, islam, Muslim, Pascal, Religion, theist
I hope there are no test questions
Easy. I'll say whatever I think will let me live so I can be with my wife or daughter. Since there is no reason to believe in any after life, this is all you got. In the face of a bullet, i'll choose to say whatever lets me stay.
Same here. I am not going to blame the atheist for lying on this count. Some lies just have to be told to save the skin.
Beast FCD
Would you blame a non-atheist?
What if your own spiritual advisor, who preached the virtue of always telling the truth, ended up lying in this situation? Would you ever trust that person again? Or is conditional lying okay for anyone?
(not just asking you, Beast_FCD, open question)
I certainly won't blame your spiritual adviser on this count. After all, absolute morality is a fallacy. Moral issues have to be weighed side by side in order to be persuasive.
In this case, the right to life for the guy with a gun pointed at his forehead certainly takes precedence over a simple white lie. Anyone who doesn't lie in this situation ends up dead. And being dead is not exactly a very happy thought for Christians, even if Christians think they can go to heaven after that.
I advise faking a heart attack in all hostage situations.
I'll take the lead from the Jews who survived the Spanish Inquisition. They lied about their "faith" just like I had to lie in order to join my school buddies in the Boy Scouts.
The "bearing false witness" is not being "impeccable with one's word" in the traditional sense since this admission is being "coerced".
And, if you were to submit everyone who professed that they were Christian to a "litmus test" with no penalty but a $1,000 reward, no social rejection, no loss of job, no loss or prestige or standing in the community, I believe the number of Christians would not be as nearly as high as Christians would have us believe!
But, then again, the $1,000 could be considered as a form of "coercion"!
Hmm. Is the promise of heaven and the threat of hell a form of coercion?
The catch in your hypothetical is as follows:
The Muslim gunman demands to know the faith of a Christian. If the Christian lies and says he's Muslim, and the gunman shoots him anyway, he's going to hell because he just lost all his magic Jesus points. So he can't lie about something so damned important.
And if he claims to be Muslim, and the gunman lets him live, does that (under Islamic law) mean he's a Muslim now? Does he now face dangers if he "deconverts"?
I'd lie my sweet ass off.
Indeed. The question is, what gamble would the Christian take? You know, besides the gamble of picking one out of thousands of other equally likely religions.
Thanks for the link to my post. If it was just my life on the line, I've no doubts that I'd say whatever was necessary to stay alive. If it was the lives of my loved ones on the line, I wouldn't even have to think about whether to lie – I'd say whatever was necessary to keep them alive. As for religious believers who "deny" their faith in such circumstances, I wouldn't hold it against them either as fellow humans facing horrific choices or as believers who are "supposed" to stand tall for their God. To expect anyone to do anything other than take steps to survive in such circumstances is unrealistic, perhaps even deluded.
Welcome. Thanks for the comment. I guess the issue that your article brought up more is that despite the reaction from non-believers varying from accusing the liars of being hypocritical to not blaming them at all, the liars still have to deal with their religious peers who quite often aren't as forgiving. I wonder if there's evidence of a church excommunicating someone based on such false testimony. Worthy of some research, I think.
I can't say for sure without being in the situation, but I imagine my first priority would be survival, however I thought that might best be served.
I had a similar, though not really life threatening situation. In order to marry my wife, a Persian girl (from Iran) the government requires me to sign a document proclaiming my conversion to Islam. When I have been over there, technically, I I talk about my true beliefs (or lack there of) I am an apostate.
Since belief is pointless anyway, what real harm is there. It benefited her legally over there, and made it so we can walk the streets together without fearing harassment – unmarried woman should not be hanging out with non-family men. Not that they would bother me, but they could give her problems.
I think of it this way. A kid once asked me randomly in a mall if I was happy that Santa was coming. What does it hurt to answer “yes”. That same silly, infantile, childishness applies here. Only with a gun… Ok, not quite the same.
I am an atheist.
To the Christian, I would say that Jesus is my saviour.
To the Muslim, I'd say that there is no god but Allah and Mohammed is his prophet.
I want to live! It's just words, yo.
Now, if it was more like, "Tell me you're a Christian, or I won't be your friend anymore / take you to the mall today / be nice to you," then that's a whole different story.