Buddhist US Soldier on Faith and Foxholes
A Buddhist Zen priest living in Austin conducted an interview with 1LT Stephen Hunnewell, an American Soldier and Buddhist who was serving in Afghanistan at the time. In the interview, Lt Hunnewell said that while he was long interested in the eastern religions, he didn’t really begin to practice a faith until returning from a combat tour:
It was not until I returned from my last deployment in Afghanistan, 2008, did I really begin a practice. During my last tour in Afghanistan I began to search for a spiritual path. The old adage, “There are no atheists in foxholes,” could not be more true.
For those who don’t closely follow Buddhist/military discussions, it is interesting to note the vein of pacifism often associated with Buddhism; in fact, some might say pacifism is a larger part of Buddhism than it is often associated to be in Christianity.
Interestingly, while Buddhism is not often thought of as a “proselytizing” religion, he indicates that when asked by his fellow Soldiers about ways to cope, he taught them about his faith:
Most who I serve with know I am Buddhist. I have been asked many times about both yoga and meditation as a way to cope with the psychological factors of being in a state of constant conflict. I show other Soldiers meditation techniques such as vipassana in order to quell anxiety or assist with combat related sleep issues.
When was asked directly about how he has been treated with respect to his minority faith, Hunnewell said most people knew of his faith, he shared his faith, and he was able to connect with Buddhist military Chaplains.
Consider: The Lt is in a (very) minority faith, serving in Afghanistan — a country that was historically (very) hostile to Buddhist tradition — and yet he did not speak negatively about the military culture of his peers, and the US military was still able to provide him with resources for his faith. It is unlikely that it was perfect; in fact, he thinks some Chaplains “assumed” he was Christian, and if he made requests for Buddhist texts or the like it would probably have taken some time to receive them.
Still, Hunnewell’s experience appears to present a particularly positive example of the US military’s protection and provision of religious freedom within its ranks, even under austere and limited circumstances.
Read the full interview here.
Via the Buddhist Military Sangha.
Again, a moronic claim about the non existence of atheists in foxholes. It is demonstrably true that there ARE atheists in foxholes. There have been for centuries and there will be for centuries. But, still people continue to lie and you continue to promote the lie.
I am an Atheist and I love this country as much as any Christian could. I’d be damn-well willing to be in a foxhole. Such a lie. It’s insane and idiotic to beleive that an Atheist can’t love a country without a belief in a God so much that he’d kill and be killed for it.
@Ethan
He’s Buddhist, not Christian. If you’d read the article more carefully, you might have avoided acting under the assumption and stereotype you find so upsetting when applied to you.