A couple of friends and I spent the night in the Devil's Tramping Ground recently, and aside from the fact that nothing strange at all happened (even though we were actually within the circle itself the whole night), it was a very enjoyable time. However, something struck me about the whole experience.
When we arrived at the site, we were surprised (and somewhat disheartened) to find that there were two cars already parked on the side of the road! We parked, entered, and found a small group of 18-26 year olds checking out the are. They were supposed paranormal investigators. They claimed to have photographic evidence of high spiritual activity within the circle, and also claimed to have been physically affected by spiritual forces (a push, a scratch, etc.). I made it clear to this group that I did not believe in the legend (or any of their supposed paranormal activity) and was simply there to disprove it. After some fairly civil conversation (and watching them try to contact spirits), they went on their way. I was told something very interesting, however, before they left.
I had made a comment that I do not remember, but it was simply another expression of my disbelief. I realized that it might have sounded more mocking than I had intended, so I apologized for the tone of my statement, and then simply told them again that I did not mean to mock them, I just did not believe as they did. The leader of the group told me that was fine, and then that "Disbelief and skepticism are simply signs of cowardice." I did not know how to respond to this statement immediately, so I just shrugged and expressed my apathy towards his claim, promptly disregarding it, not fully understanding what he meant. This morning, I think I began to realize what he could have intended, and then I realized that if his logic is correct, there exists not a man who isn't a coward.
I think what was meant by his statement was that I was refusing to believe in something because I was afraid of it, and instead of facing my fear, I escaped it by not allowing myself to believe it, thus, I was being a coward. I think a good example of this logic is when someone I knew found out I did not believe in Hell. This person believed that I must be going to Hell because I didn't believe in it. This was the logic: I knew I was going to Hell and that terrified me, so I decided to dismiss the idea of it so I could live my life without changing. The cowardice I was being accused of was that I dismissed anything that frightened me so I would not have to deal with it. Allow me to ponder that for a moment.
What would frighten me about the spiritual activeness of legendary locations? What would it do to me if I had a paranormal experience? I suppose that may frighten me because it would be something that didn't fit into the way I saw the world. I would not be able to explain a ghost in my worldview. I have little room for hauntings and angry spirits in the way I see things, and to experience a specter would shake the foundations of my beliefs. The idea that spiritual forces really are active and manifest in the world just doesn't fly with me. I do not deny that spiritual forces exist, but I do deny that they care enough about spooking superstitious people for the fun of it.
Shaking the way people see things. That really is the only fear that I think people have. I do not mean fear as phobias; I do not count fear of spiders or heights true fear, I consider those severe emotional drives of disgust and anxiety. I think that true fear is the unraveling of the way things are for a person. I think that everybody "knows" how the world works, and they will rationalize it to stay the way it is. Therefore allowing myself to believe in these "superstitions" as I call them would unravel my worldview, and I would thus be afraid.
My answer, however, as I have already stated, is that everybody has this fear. The man that implied I was a coward had his own worldview which probably didn't allow for these superstitions not to be true. If this man had devoted his free time to studying paranormal phenomena (as he had expressed to us that he had) then what would it mean for him to find out that he was completely wrong? He would be afraid. I cannot blame him. I would never call him a coward for it either. I would simply say that he has the same fear as all of humanity. Take a look at the man of deep faith who has devoted his entire life to the worship of the Christian Trinitarian god of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. What would happen if that man found out that there really is no god at all, and all of his life's faith was in vain? He would be afraid. And what would happen to the lifelong atheist who spend his life debating and arguing that there is not god or eternal life? If he found out he was wrong he would probably be afraid for his soul.
What I am saying here is that every man is a coward if I am correct in stating that the only fear humanity has is that one's worldview is wrong, and that cowardice is hiding from fear. I believe this is essential. What would man be if he did not fear the error of his worldview? He would have no follow-through. He would be principally flimsy. He would believe nothing. If I had no reason not to do something, I would probably do it. If a man had no fear of changing his worldview, I would question the validity of his humanity. There is not one human being I have met that didn't believe the world to be a certain way. Certainly, there are many (myself included) that do not know or understand every part of the universe, but they do believe in a system (worldview) that everything is based on. There is no one that believes nothing. Believing is a human essential. Understanding is not. I claim much understanding, but I claim stronger subjectivity.
I conclude in saying that I do not believe that either skepticism or faith arises from cowardice, but that they arise from being human. It is only when they run against experience that I believe they become scapegoats from reality. It is probably commonly thought that I have fallen far away from faith in the theology I grew up with, but I believe that if I had held to it when my life's experience has pointed in another direction, only then would I really be a coward.
