Thoughts on Free Will

While I hate to start things off on such a religious note, I feel I must. I am trying to make this applicable to everyone, not just one subset of people. This point however is built purely from a Christian standpoint. I've thought quite a bit about this, and since it seems to drive my morals and ethics so much, it is the only place I can start. This also ends up addressing one of the more difficult theological questions that exist. My answers run a little contrary to how most Christians believe.

Why are we here? It's asked by everyone at one point or another. Christians are taught that God created us. (I'm not debating the method of creation today.) However, we are not the first creations. Before light came his messengers, commonly thought of as angels. So, the act of creation can not be the sole reason for our existence. What we are commonly told is that God created man because unlike His angels, we have free will. We can choose. This becomes very important. If this is true, then free will is the point. Existence itself is due to our ability to choose. The logical fallout from this is pretty powerful.

One of the overwhelming theological questions is now very simple to answer. "Why would a loving caring God allow suffering?" Two reasons, as SMBC so aptly put it; Firstly, nature cares not for man, secondly, people are dicks. More to the point, people choose to be dicks. I do not think that God overly cares about our comfort or our suffering, these are simply side effects of living and choosing. Furthermore, it's rather arrogant of us to assume that suffering a bad thing. I've gone through tough times and tribulations and I will go so far as to say that I am defined by my pains. Through my suffering I have learned patience, compassion, tolerance and control. I'm certain that nearly everyone can mention a time when suffering a little has improved us. I think that the end product of our lives is not measured in comfort or happiness, but by the quality of our character.

Another thing that comes from this is the unfortunate revelation of just how wrong Christians have been in the past and in the present. We cannot take a person's choice from them. Not only is it arrogant and presumptive to force our moral codes onto others, it is WRONG! Every time I read of people trying to change a law to make it conform to Christian dogma, every time I hear of converts made via the threats of hell, ever time I hear of another faith being attacked in the name of God, I feel shame. It makes all Christians seem like monsters, and the results are wasted. If the universe really did work on a merit system where our sins are tallied against us, a person who made a correct choice because they had no choice at all, or feared reprisals from others, did not make a choice at all, thus would gain no credit for their actions. However, the one who removed the choice from said person has committed the sin of removing from that person God's most precious gift, free will. Jesus' message spoke of not worrying about the individual rules and instead focused on being a good person. This is something that you cannot force someone to do. Long story short; forcing Christian morality on others is the exact opposite of what God intended (but we are still free to make that mistake).

The final conclusion I come to from the importance of free will is this; it is in God's plan for us to say no. The fact that we can say "No" is what makes us saying "Yes" all the more special. If God wanted us to choose to worship him, then it is critical that we take that choice with the weight that it is due.

I am reminded of a discussion I had with a minister on the subject of speaking in tongues. I've never felt the need or desire for this. I've gotten carried away in church before, I've fell down, I've danced, but I've never felt the need to ramble incoherently. He was of the mindset that it was a blessing, blessings are inherently good, therefore it was inconceivable that I should not receive this blessing. Now, just to make it clear, I'm not disrespecting those that speak in tongues. I can see how the ability to not worry about words during worship makes sense, it's just something I felt I've never needed. God granted me the ability to never be at a loss for words. I've never been in a position where I've felt words were limiting. I'd also like to make it clear that the minister in question is a good man, he's one of the best teachers I've ever had the privilege to listen to. So to have this battle of wills between this man and I was a strange thing. His insistence placed me in the position of faking it and thus lying to God, or outright defying him. We've had a similar discussion about baptism. His point of view is valid, but I feel that such choices about God should be made with more feeling and conviction then "All right, I guess so." He is right that blessings are good things, but forcing such things on people taint these gifts and cheapen them for the rest.

This all goes to reinforce what I feel is a core rule of my life. No man has the right to remove free will from another. In fact, doing so is one of the greatest sins conceivable, for in doing so, you remove from your fellow man his most precious quality. Since this is one of the most important things, a Christian who feels called to do things for the good of others must gauge their actions against the possibility that we may be removing from someone else the choice to do the right thing themselves. This comes with it the risk of us being disappointed when the person makes the wrong choice, and we have every right to express that disappointment, but that's as far as it goes. We cannot force them to not make that mistake. (Within reason of course. I can come up with many exceptions to the rule.) This is the price and the responsibility that comes from us having the ability to choose, we must respect that others will choose differently.

I'm sorry that this had such a Christian bent to it, I want my writing to be understandable and accessible to all. As a side note here, I really hope that you can agree with the concept of treating free will with the utmost respect, and hold to the ideal that in every way possible we should protect this. I don't feel that this is an ideal that requires religion for validation.