So would people turn to faith more in order to escape the evils of ITTL?
Like with most things, the answer is "both". When catastrophe strikes, some people double down on their faith, others question or lose it. Some people find faith, others are reconfirmed in their non-belief.
As Incognita says some would and some would see it as "proof" there is no God, but keep in mind a LOT of the post-WWII 'revival' OTL was driven by fears of "Godless Communism" and the Cold War which isn't so TTL. That's where we got "mandatory" Pledge of Allegiance every morning in school and "In God We Trust" on our money. Myself for example had 'social' rather than actual faith till much later in life. Neither of my parents went to "Church" but they required that I do so, (my Mom took me till I was about 8 or 9 and then I went with family friends who attended regularly) until I turned 16. Many kids in my community were the same and more were more heavily involved both due to more religious parents and more social expectation to be faithful and attend Church.
There is a saying 'there are no aethiests in a fox hole'. However the codicil to that is 'though they often look a little silly when they get home'.
It's one of those saying that actually HAS to have the little 'codicil' because in reality there are PLENTY of aethiests in foxholes who remain atheists through their whole combat experience.
Pretty much exactly like the idea that, say, and anti-vaxer posts about standing up to her doctor and "everyone including the nurses and aids clapped and cheered" it's very much a /thathappened thing.
I was a witch/wiccan through my whole combat experience and never called to a higher power to protect me or smite the enemy... I DID however very often take the Lord's name in vain and speak Jesus' name out-of-context more often than normal which made several people who "knew" me assume that the above saying applied to me. What they did not know, or appear to grasp was that I was from a former career field where "f***" was a VERY flexible work and could be noun, verb, or adjective all at the same time! But it caused many of them to 'assume' that I would soon be attending Church with them and officially 'converting' to a Christian faith. (Oklahoma after all)
When I was adamant that nothing had changed the above saying and codicil was tossed around with abandon but I kept pointing out the FIRST assumption was invalid in the first place so no I was not feeling at all 'silly' at all. But above all those who are truly "faithful" have learned to be able to take certain things AS "faith" despite any evidence to the contrary
I saw that in the movie, Oh Brother Where Are Thou. George Clooney's character, an arrogant fugitive of the law, is about to be lynched. After going on rants about superstitions, he prays to God to spare him and his friends. When he is saved from hanging by a flood, he is then quick to return to atheism.
Yes and that was intentional since the time period and area being depicted had a very high rate of "revival" Christianity which was coupled to the "Old Time" music phenomenon. Clooney's character is using both to move forward but he really has no actual 'faith' even when he does pray. I tend to equate his character as a more competent version of "Bennie" from "The Mummy", he basically has whatever 'faith' is going to get him out of his current predicament as needed
So would the Polish people who managed to survive the war would thank God for their lives?
Likely since the majority that 'survive' move to foreign enclaves when the Catholic church is still very strong and a very deep component of the community. As for those who actually survived IN Europe keep in mind that most of them won't remember a "church" or "Poland" which was for the majority wiped out before they were born. Older folks may have some memory but it won't be the 'same' as returning Poles who's religion will have taken on a "flavor" of whatever nation their parents fled too and their practice will reflect the same. It's going to be a very individual thing but I suspect that rather than thanking "God" the survivors will thank the A4 and it's goals and policies will become very close to a religion among them.
Randy
