Premium
Foxhole Faith and Funk Religion: Anglo‐American Perspectives from Two World Wars
Author(s) -
Snape Michael
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
new blackfriars
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1741-2005
pISSN - 0028-4289
DOI - 10.1111/nbfr.12122
Subject(s) - faith , funk , context (archaeology) , world war ii , first world war , value (mathematics) , sociology , political science , religious studies , history , environmental ethics , law , theology , philosophy , ancient history , art history , archaeology , machine learning , computer science
Abstract The role of combat as a religious stimulant was widely observed and debated during both World Wars. Through a consideration of American opinion in World War II, especially in the light of British opinion a generation earlier, this paper illustrates that, however similar expressions of combatants’ faith may have been across time and space, their perceived value was very much dictated by their wider religious context, and particularly by the existing assumptions and priorities of religious observers and pundits. This meant that, in the American context of World War II, appraisals tended to be much more positive than in the British context of World War I, adding considerable substance and longevity to the claim that ‘there are no atheists in foxholes’.