Open Letter

March 21, 2003

Mr. Tom Brokaw
NBC Nightly News
30 Rockefeller Plaza
New York, N.Y. 10112

You continue to perpetuate a tired myth on your evening news program of March 11, 2003 by saying, "There are no atheists in foxholes." The sheer inaccuracy of this statement ought to be obvious, but apparently is not.

There are atheists in foxholes. So many in fact, that they are organized into a group called the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers. History tells us that far more atheists come out of foxholes than go in, the horror and carnage of war devastating many people's belief in a benevolent higher power.

You probably did not intend to offend the diverse community of forty million Americans with no religious identification. In the future however, please refrain from implying a person's morality and humanity is diminished simply by virtue of their atheism. As the nation is now engaged in yet another war, your refutation of this illogical myth is appropriate.

Sincerely,

Tony Hileman, Executive Director