Seems like everyone here is getting fairly close to the meaning here.
The song has only one real meaning, but the way you interpret that meaning will vary depending on whether you're religious or skeptical.
Postmortum, I have to point out that you are incorrect. However absurd it is (Atheist here) Faith wins. He's saying:
"There are no atheists in the Foxholes,
(no one at war will resist faith for comfort)
There is no intellect in the air,
(no one can be skeptical when faced with certain doom)
there are no scientists on the way down"
(no one will accept that there is no afterlife when their one shot is up)
In other words, Faith wins because no one will accept that Physics dictates their demise, instead they turn to Faith for a "better" answer (perhaps one where they survive their own death)
The words in the hook are, however, ill-informed. Plenty of skeptical people die everyday with the full knowledge that when it's over, it's over. No great intellectual has ever begged "God" to take him on his death-bed (No matter what heinous, and usually proven false, stories you may hear form desperate zealots)
Seems like everyone here is getting fairly close to the meaning here. The song has only one real meaning, but the way you interpret that meaning will vary depending on whether you're religious or skeptical.
Postmortum, I have to point out that you are incorrect. However absurd it is (Atheist here) Faith wins. He's saying:
"There are no atheists in the Foxholes, (no one at war will resist faith for comfort) There is no intellect in the air, (no one can be skeptical when faced with certain doom) there are no scientists on the way down" (no one will accept that there is no afterlife when their one shot is up)
In other words, Faith wins because no one will accept that Physics dictates their demise, instead they turn to Faith for a "better" answer (perhaps one where they survive their own death)
The words in the hook are, however, ill-informed. Plenty of skeptical people die everyday with the full knowledge that when it's over, it's over. No great intellectual has ever begged "God" to take him on his death-bed (No matter what heinous, and usually proven false, stories you may hear form desperate zealots)