What Do Atheists Do In Crisis? Wrong Question

One of the questions that continually gets asked by theists attempting to give themselves a higher ground is "What do atheists do in crisis?"  What do they do for comfort when things turn bad, what do they turn to when they have doubts, etc.  Recently, it was asked during a Fox panel as part of discussion about Hurricane Irene.  Why they brought an atheist on only try and bully for being "mocking" when you have to know full well what his opinions would be is it's own can of worms.  Douchebaggery aside, it's common for theists to use this as a way to try and show how empty a life without a divine creator would be.

On the surface, it makes sense.  The big sticking point for why many people do believe in a god is the feeling of security.  God has a plan and is in control, and you are a part of it.  This notion helps many people get through rough patches, so it's somewhat understandable that they would be a bit confused as to how people manage to go through life without the comfort of a supernatural bodyguard.

But really it's one of the dumber questions you can raise.  What do atheists do in crisis?  Largely, what just about everyone does.  They plan, prepare, try to figure out the best way to deal with the problem at hand.  The big problem with the panel I linked above is that it plays out more like gross parody than an actual debate.  Even among the religious, the majority of people are not simply going to pray that things will turn out OK, though they certainly will do that (and before you bring up Rick Perry's Prayer-a-palooza, I am very aware and disturbed by it.  But as much as they like to pretend they represent the American people, they are a small percentage of the actual population).  Most of them will also do at least basic preparations, such as, to use Hurricane Irene as an example, boarding up windows, storing food, or actually listen to local officials and evacuate.  Sure there will be outliers who will blindly believe that the savior of their choice will protect them and do nothing.  But then I also know fellow atheists who are boneheaded enough to wait out the storm without preparations because nothing bad could ever happen to them.  It comes down to stupidity and stubbornness, and while we may not like to admit it, there are atheists out there who do exhibit those traits.

But in general, both groups will prepare in ways any sane person would.  So really, the question should be reversed.  Since theists are the ones adding an extra step to dealing with crisis, they must be the ones to explain why they are doing so.  Basically, the whole "burden of proof" argument that theists have been ignoring forever.  Maybe praying brings comfort to believers to help them get through hard times.  But in what was the best point made in the above link, so do drugs.  The question should really be "Why do theists pray in times of crisis?"  That is the question that should be answered.  If you have two neighbors, and one of them leaves out a whole rotisserie chicken on their doorstep every night, you don't ask the other neighbor why they don't do that.  You ask the first neighbor what the deal is.  If we really want to make this into a big deal, let's do it correctly, shall we?