[Trantor]

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This past weekend I visited the University of Notre Dame on the occasion of the Notre Dame-Navy game. One of the pregame celebrations was in memory of Father William Corby. Father Corby was a priest who was a Civil War Chaplain. He is well known among Civil War enthusiests for granting General Absolution to his unit in the Union prior to Gettysburg. The account follows:

"The Rite of Absolution

Gettysburg NMP
Another interesting monument near this location is that to Father William Corby, chaplain of the famous "Irish Brigade". On the afternoon of July 2, just prior to the brigade's advance to the Wheatfield, Father Corby stood upon a large boulder and granted general absolution to the catholic members of the brigade. It was a most stirring moment as the chaplain raised his voice above the din of battle while over 300 Union soldiers who were about to face death knelt before him. Within the hour, the brigade was in the thick of the battle. To commemorate this unique event, a statue of Father Corby was erected upon the exact boulder where he stood that afternoon, and was dedicated on October 29, 1910."

FYI, General Absolution is a tool catholic priests use to forgive the sins of people in emergency situations where their lives are in grave danger (e.g. a civil war battle). The Church requires that those who receive GA and survive the emergency situation must confess their sins to a priest at first opportunity to make the Absolution valid. If a person dies, then GA provides him/her the graces necessary to enter Heaven immediately.

This is a situation where someone has a high probability of dying. Here's my question for the non-believers: Each soldier in that formation knelt down to receive General Absolution. If in that formation, would you have knelt to accept General Absolution as well? What about a situation where death is almost certain, like an airplane about to crash?

It seems to me that even for a committed atheist, this is entirely a "spiritual freeroll" with no downside and only a very large upside. I'm curious about the rationale for those who wouldn't take it.

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An operation to remove my appendix about 5 years ago (age 45 and so an atheist of some 4 decades) has a finite chance of death and odds which do not alter the premis of your question even though obviously far from near-certain death. It never even crossed my mind to say a prayer or make any vows before going under.