[ SECRET POST #2069 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #2069 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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[The City of Dreaming Books]


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[Teen Girl Squad]


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[Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind]


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[Avengers]


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[The Monkees]


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Notes:

Important: I'm really sorry about this, but I accidentally clicked the wrong thing and deleted the submission post from last week instead of saving it. Managed to save the first page (25) of secrets, but the rest (a bit over 100) are gone.

If you submitted something last week (Aug 26-Sept 1), please resubmit it here and it will still go up this week.

The submissions post for next week is linked below as usual.

Secrets Left to Post: 00 pages, 000 secrets from Secret Submission Post #296.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

I do this... and it's because I see atheism as basically the default position. Babies are born not believing in higher powers. Religion is something they come to over time, by being taught it or seeking it on their own for whatever reason. Nothing is born religious.

[(Anonymous)]

i don't think atheism really is the default position tho. i suppose no, babies don't have a religion, but that doesn't mean religion is only taught, i don't think. by that logic, u could say because babies dont think about boning, they arent born with a sexuality ...

but i know from the age of 2 i thot i was reincarnated, and some other religious beliefs. this is actually not uncommon, for kids to claim this, even when raised in a religion the claim is not compatible with. i was raised in an atheist house

[fleshydisguise]

That could easily mean you just had a vivid imagination, or overheard them from other sources.

[(Anonymous)]

well sure im not implying it means its the truth or children are born enlightened or something


i just dont think its necessarily the natural position to be atheist

when we ask ourselves "why am i here? where did i come from?"

i think some of us, even as children, will have a more atheistic viewpoint and others a more spiritual viewpoint. i think it has to do with personality and how you think about the world as much as what youre taught

[(Anonymous)]

they arent born with a sexuality

I disagree completely. I think most* people are sexual beings from birth, we just don't usually think about sex or have much interest in it until we get closer to becoming physically sexually mature. Sexual interest need not be taught.

*Not asexual people, obviously.

[(Anonymous)]

oh, i agree

that was my point, i think we are all predisposed to certain things because of our genetic makeup, early experiences, etc.

that includes our sexuality and also (imo) a predisposition toward certain religious beliefs, as well as perhaps political beliefs, based on personal psychology

[(Anonymous)]

If I'm understanding what you're saying correctly, your case doesn't help the argument for religion not being innate - your religious beliefs might be based on knowledge you had during your past life.

[(Anonymous)]

I'm another one who is skeptical of atheism being the "default" position. I think we, as humans, have a tendency to seek out the spiritual in order to get a better understanding of the world around us. Out of the tens of thousands of different cultures throughout the ages, every one has a history of some form of spiritual belief system. Yes, religion needs to be taught, but there's a helluva distinction between "religion" and "higher power(s)."

[gobbledigook]

The only reason humans are known to attribute things to higher powers is because they are curious, not because they're naturally spiritual. When they couldn't understand something, the best explanation for it is, of course, to attribute it to a power they couldn't possibly understand. That they are more likely to believe in gods when they don't understand something only proves that they weren't knowledgeable enough to come up with a real explanation at the time.

As for the atheism default position, it's not really a disputable thing. Atheism means lack of belief in god/gods, and that's exactly how we are when we are born. In fact, everyone is an atheist to some point, babies are just more so.

[(Anonymous)]

Uh, not really. I think you're really oversimplifying it. Sure, some people are more likely to believe in gods when they don't know shit about science. But to some people, a higher power simply makes more sense than one not existing. Some of the most educated scientific minds believe in a higher power. As the industrial revolution came along, there was a whole school of thought that didn't reject it, but also did not reject god - thus: deism.

To some people god is only an answer to a question, and it is easier to not believe in god when your main questions are answered. To others, god seems to exist even when many of the questions are answered. I don't know if there is a god or not. I just think you're really wrong in presupposing what people believe and why. I think some people naturally tend toward disbelief, others naturally toward belief.

There are some people who, no matter how much they learn, how many of their questions about the world aren't answered, that has no bearing on their belief in god. Because they believe god to be a thing that exists outside of the illusions of linear time and separate matter that we are currently in. Many religious people believe that as much as you learn about this world, you will never be able to learn about the next world. To some God is tied to this world, gods existance or lack thereof answering questions in this world, in others eyes, they are by definition separate things.

I'm not doing an amazing job of explaining this and I'm not even pro religion or anything. I just think you are massively oversimplifying the reasons people believe or disbelieve things, and because of that you really can't paint either atheism or theism as the default position. it depends on the individual and their psychology

[gobbledigook]

Some of the most educated scientific minds believe in a higher power.

Hmm. I don't see any particular merit in giving certain beliefs credit because smart people believe in them. I'm sure there were great minds that believed the Earth was the center of the universe at some point, but what's true is true regardless of whether it's a belief held by a intelligent person or not.

I think some people naturally tend toward disbelief, others naturally toward belief.

This is probably true, yeah. But I'm usually suspect of the whole "God as an answer" thing because it usually works like finding excuses as to how things we know link back to gods and their powers, even when a higher power isn't really needed for it to make sense.

I'm not doing an amazing job of explaining this and I'm not even pro religion or anything. I just think you are massively oversimplifying the reasons people believe or disbelieve things, and because of that you really can't paint either atheism or theism as the default position. it depends on the individual and their psychology

(: It's ok, I understand your point of view. I personally think these matters are better dealt with as much simplicity as you can, and I guess that includes realizing that sometimes arguing about it is just kind of useless.

[(Anonymous)]

You make a good point about "God as the answer." I guess I also have a suspicion that certain religious beliefs may be based less in "I need an answer" and more in "I need a purpose"/"I can't stand the thought of being alone in life/death." I think it can often be based around a fear of death. That's what I meant when I brought up scientific individuals. Not to give their beliefs more merit, but to suggest there are psychological reasons beyond unanswered questions. I think I get what you mean though.

[(Anonymous)]

No, a lack of understanding of the world is certainly not the "only" reason people believe in higher power. For some maybe, but for others...not a chance. Just look at the world we live in today. We know so many things we didn't know thousands of years ago, but people still believe, and some even take certain passages of holy texts to be 100% literal, even though there is tremendous scientific evidence to the contrary.

[gobbledigook]

That's because the typical person finds it easier to just accept "truths" that have been found for them rather than doubt and make questions(religion actively making itself a stone on the shoe of whoever decides to make questions throughout history).

The existence of gullible people or people that are satisfied with non-answers doesn't prove that people are wired to believe higher power, it only proves a lot of people can't be bothered to go beyond something they're already comfortable with.

[(Anonymous)]

And what would cause someone to not accept the "truths" of contemporary science? In your comment, you stated that the ONLY reason people believed was because they were curious about the world. Well, now we know more, yet people still are drawn to the spiritual. Community can be one reason, and another important reason is the spiritual fulfillment it gives. If you feel like you have a genuine relationship with a higher power, then your life is transformed. This can obviously be a really good thing or a really bad thing. The search for the big life questions that everyone has leads many to God. Every person asks certain questions in their lives, and what they conclude will lead to a belief or disbelief of a higher power. Each person is different, so yes, I do believe some are naturally inclined (or "wired") to seek out God.

I am a bit perplexed by your suggestion that it is "easier" to believe in a higher power than to doubt or accept other beliefs that have a more solid basis. In my experience, every person of faith I have ever met in my life has had period of doubts. We are all humans, and to question is in our nature. Some end up rejecting God, while others end up going back to or accepting Him. To believe with the absence of proof is the very definition of faith, and to do something like that is generally not easy. It's not "comfortable" to believe in things that are generally perceived as having very little scientific evidence.