Are You an Atheist in a Foxhole?
The power of belief
Photo by Ivan Samkov
Life often unfolds in ways we can’t predict. This week, I spoke to two incredible people who reminded me of the power of belief—not as a crutch, but as a path to peace and clarity.
You know who you are and how much I admire your strong belief.
Introduction
I worked with Mike at a video streaming startup 20 years ago. He went on to start an extremely successful cybersecurity consulting company in Israel. 6 years ago, his wife was diagnosed with brain cancer. After 2.5 years of battle, she died and Mike was left with 3 children and a company he no longer wanted to run. On our call this week, he told me that his 16 year old son kept him alive. They relocated to Colorado, and he restarted his cybersecurity company. Today they have over 250 employees with a global network of security operations monitoring centers. He remarried. His oldest son came back to Israel and became a combat soldier in the IDF; getting out just before Oct 7. He pointed to the sky on the Zoom call and said - “It is all from God - I had nothing to do with it”.
I met Anna on LinkedIn this week and we had a Zoom call. She told me her story. She and her husband founded a startup 7 years ago and pitched a private investor who put in $3M. One day, the investor called them in and booted them out of their own company. Her husband crashed mentally from the blow. The day after they lost their own company, Anna went to her doctor for a routine checkup and discovered a lump. She was diagnosed with breast cancer. Fortunately, it was early and the tumor was removed in time. In the meantime, her husband didn’t recover from his depression. He divorced her and at age 42 she restarted her life. Today, Anna runs a successful coaching business for divorced people over 40 with online courses and IRL support groups. She pointed to the sky on the Zoom call and said: “It is all from God - I had nothing to do with it”.
Our lives often unfold randomly and unexpectedly.
This randomness leads to stress, fears, and worries about "what will happen."
This week, I continue a theme I explored in my essay - Close the Divinity Gap and take a closer look at the different kinds of belief that we have.
Only one of them will bring you to a happier, calmer life.
The 4 types of belief
Let’s go back to the beginning of man.
In the very beginning, man was neither observant nor intelligent enough to develop complex physical models. Man believed in God. It was a simple, foundational assumption.
After a while, man developed powers of observation and deductive reasoning.
The man (or woman) started saying, “Hold on here. God provides all goodness through intermediaries like the sun, moon, stars, constellations, and clouds that bring rain. If He gives them so much power, we should honor them too.
Let’s respect them, give them a place of significance in our lives, pray to them, thank them, and even offer sacrifices to them."
Gradually, alongside their absolute faith in God, man began thanking these natural forces. By the next generation, they believed God had abandoned the earth because He was too great to be involved in everyday matters. They compared Him to a CEO who leaves the day-to-day management to department heads. Over time, they completely forgot about God, believing the world operates independently.
There are four ways people approach belief: through systems (West Coast), through crisis (foxholes), through science (physics), or through faith in a higher purpose (messenger). Let’s explore each.
The West Coast believer
This person believes their wealth and health come from hard work, systems, and technology. Randomness is simply a cost of doing business, and divine power doesn’t factor into the equation.
The crisis believer
In moments of extreme fear or danger, even the most self-reliant individuals turn to faith. As the chaplain William Cummings famously said during WWII, “There are no atheists in foxholes.”
The physics believer
Einstein famously said, “God does not play dice,” reflecting his belief in a universe governed by order, not chance. While physics seeks to explain the laws of nature, it doesn’t address the deeper meaning many seek in their lives.
Physics attempts to understand the laws governing the universe.
Some physics laws are very well understood (like classical mechanics). Other laws are pretty well understood and supported by empirical evidence like quantum mechanics for small distances. Other laws of physics are probably wrong, and still other models (like String theory) cannot be validated by experiment.
Our religious beliefs are our way of giving meaning to the laws of physics. They don’t replace the laws of physics that govern the physical universe.
I think that most of us are “Crisis believers”. We turn to faith in God when very bad things happen.
But, mixing faith in God with randomness is a bug, not a feature.
To understand the bug, think about chopping wood.
The messenger believer
When you chop wood, who does the work—you or the axe?
The messenger believer understands that while we play our part, the ultimate outcomes are beyond our control.
This mindset transforms stress into peace and anxiety into trust.
We are messengers of God.
When you visit a doctor, it’s easy to credit their training and experience for your healing. But what if the doctor is merely the messenger and the healing comes from above?
Likewise, business success often hinges on timing and market forces beyond one’s control. Recognizing that all success, failure, and crisis come from above reduces anxiety and helps us find calm, even in uncertainty.
This understanding can transform our lives, making us calmer and more peaceful.
Knowing that success, failure and crisis come from above reduces anxiety, even when things don’t go as planned.
The takeaway is profound -
Blend belief in God with action.
Do your part, but trust that ultimate outcomes are beyond your control.
By embracing the mindset of the messenger believer, you can transform anxiety into trust and stress into peace.
Remember: You’re in good hands.