I was surprised to see an article in Bowhunting World, which I receive as part of the benefits of IBO membership, stating as it' s title that there are no atheist grizzly hunters!

I wonder what documentation the author has for making such a statement? I suspect that the statement is meant to imply that anyone experiencing either the awe, or the fear, of a brush with one of nature' s most imposing predators must abandon their prior thoughts on the subject of a supreme being and somehow be immediately converted to some sort of religious belief. This is in the same spirit of the old statement that there are no atheists in foxholes. That particular offensive statement has been proven false many times over.

I find such a statement to be patently offensive and completely out of place in the magazine. I can' t definitely state from firsthand knowledge that he is factually wrong, since I' ve never hunted grizzlies myself and have no knowledge of the religious beliefs or lack of same of those who have. However, since a recent poll on a popular bowhunting site I view regularly showed a number of avowed atheists among the members who responded, and lacking any evidence to suggest that the percentage of atheists among bowhunters is noticably less than among the general public, it would seem extremely likely that in addition to being offensive to those of us who don' t share the author' s religion, the statement is also false.

I have no objection to the authors stating his personal belief in " the Man upstairs" in the article, as that is his own belief and he' s certainly entitled to it, and entitled to express it as his own belief. But to make such an insensitive statement about others' belief systems is totally out of place.

I do (normally) enjoy the magazine. I' m also not usually among those who are quick to take offense at anything like this. I' m reasonably sure it was not done with malicious intent, but the fact that it was selected as the title at all, plus the fact that it wasn' t changed by the editorial staff, indicate that some more thought to sensitivity might be in order for both the author and the staff. Hopefully a statement of apology will be forthcoming.