Talk:Bending arts/@comment-97.97.52.204-20120423170824/@comment-198.109.220.6-20120424141819

Alternately, it is genetic and the Air Nomads were not all as peaceful as people remember them to be. It's possible they purged their people of all non-benders in tghe distant past and their descendents forgot/suppressed this fact. Not a pretty picture, but an eternally peaceful society with no historical bagage is not just unlikely, it's pretty near impossible. There is already an example of an evil airbender, so spirituality clearly does not affect one's ability to bend entirely, nor will a water tribe person raised in the fire nation bend fire (to my knowledge).

Spirituality is almost certainly a component of bending, but that does not explain how people like Guru Pathik were non-benders.