BP Totty – I won’t speculate whether these miners will carry their faith into the future, but I will speculate on the faith of those who are not ma’amad Har Sinai.
As we know, the practice of rabbonim receiving inquiries from prospective geirim is to initially discourage the geirus. The corollar of that is that we do not actively proselitize. We also know that there are sheva mitzvos b’nai Noach. So, when combined, we arrive at the following analytical construct: We have 613, they have seven, including monotheism, belief in One G-d. So, we see that there is a basis for belief in One G-d in the non-Jewish world.
Is that basis acted upon? I would say, yes. We may look around at common societal values – movies, television, etc., and ask, “Does this society reflect Divine values?” And, I’ll acknowlege that there is room and basis upon which to ask that question. But, much the way we forgive the tinok she’nishba, we might consider the possiblity that many people in the general world are not sensitized to the proposition that much of today’s “popular” art, music, culture could well fail standards to which b’nai Noach are subject.
But ask the average man on the street whether he believes in a G-d who loves and gives, a G-d who will exact punishment, and a G-d who created the world, and I think the answer, particularly in the heartland of America, will be yes.
So, faith in the One is expressed in different ways, some more frequent than others (we go to shul seven days a week, others go once per week). But, I would argue that the difference between ma’amad Har Sinai and not having been ma’amad Har Sinai is not an inherent obstacle to believing in a Creating G-d.