No Religion? No Free Will.

Originally posted by junglejakeFree will is the ability to, when faced with a choice, influence the course of future events by your choice, and you do have a choice. It hasn't been determined the instant of the big bang, but rather the instant you make up your mind to do something.

The big bang has nothing at all to do with freewill, since the concept of same is representative of an ideology that has nothing to do with doctrinal discipline. To this end and in response, true freewill were there an entity as per religious doctrine as known today to which we must answer, it would not provide more than one path, where one is a path of resistance to him/her where s/he would tell us that to take the path of resistance would result in the most horrific punishment we can imagine. This would be a violation itself against such a notion of freewill as it would be intended to not only sway one from their natural choice by reason, but to use undue influence to force them into a decision amenable not to them but to the one laying down the options. Since this person laying down the options is God; the supreme; the one whom we are told owns the final resting places of our souls, the offer is akin to saying: here is a den of vipers, step into it and you will die a slow agonizing death, if you choose to do otherwise, when you die it will be a feeling of euphoria. We know what it is like to die of snakebite, who wants that? So the scared and believing opt for their chances at euphoria.

SomewhereInBetween, do you believe you can do this?

Do I believe I can do what, change the course of events? If I cannot, that means no other person has had that ability either, and might I direct you to those who issued the order for the dropping of the bomb over Japan, much less the creators of same, did they have the ability to change the course of events? And, Junglejake, if I am not to believe I can influence the future, then I say that you have defined the future to be set in which case there is no freewill, is there?

… I do not understand, however, the scientific reasoning that there is free will, with or without God.-

For you it is relegated to a scientific reasoning because this is how you must process the difference. For me, the absolute freedom of choice without the dire flesh-burning; soul-searing consequence is common sense, that inate sense God implanted in everyone to use, discard or forget about. A mind of my our to think and rationalize, not a mind that can be controlled and told what to think and in what terms to think. There is no freewill in that, in fact, there is nothing free about it, and certainly no will for those who relinquish that right out of fear.



[edit on 8/25/05 by SomewhereinBetween]