Comment 22 by Steve Zara :

Comment 20 by Paula Kirby

In my analogy it is the intellect that is imprisoned; in yours, it is the emotions that do the imprisoning. Two sides of the same coin, pretty much.

Yes. What I find fascinating is the way that believers can think that they are thinking rationally when their arguments are really driven by emotion. All too often, they don't see the bars of the cage imprisoning their intellects.

I think you are right, too, that for many Christians the driving emotion is fear of death. But don't rule out the fear of life too. Life can feel pretty overwhelming at times, and the idea of a benign, all-powerful being who will look after us and 'work all things for good' if only we'll let him can be very appealing.

A story comes to mind of a rat that has been kept in a cage for most of its life. When offered freedom, it ran back to the cage, because the cage, though a prison, was familiar and safe. I don't know if this story is true, but it makes sense.

I suppose the rules in a cage work in a cage, however cruel. On the outside one is in unfamiliar territory emotionally, intellectually and in terms of general networking 'taken for granteds' as well as 'nostaligias'. One quickly feels out of touch and has no idea how to get in touch, never mind catch up on the missed development. It's an echo inside that feels like missed imprinting with reality has bypassed oneself. An emptiness lies where a natural kindredship ought to be. Morris (human zoo) puts it well when he mentions the humanising of animals is a cruelty if ever they are to be put with their own kind. Their instincts have been misplaced too long to reform adequately for complete integration. Everything is a trade off, even if the cage is best left well alone - though religions practise another of Morris' observations as to how many creatures (including us) respond to magnified comforts (especially in times of distress), over and above what they would normally experience - hence religions 'love bombing' vulnerable individuals to gather emotional bondage.

This is an interesting point because even when the mind is freeing up the dogma it ingested, the emotions are waaay behind in establishing, or having any clue as to integrate, network dependencies (as many humans have de facto) that reflect this new wave of thought. It is no easy changeover, in spite of the relief out of delusion.