part0022

A moment ago, I chose to write about this subject. I feel as if I made that choice freely. But did I really make this choice freely, or was it inevitable based on an almost infinite series of prior causes and events? In other words, could I have possibly made any other choice given my genetics, upbringing, education, knowledge, past choices and thoughts? If the answer’s yes, that’s freewill. If the answer’s no, that’s determinism .

This philosophical debate has been going strong since the ancient Greek philosopher Leucippus produced the earliest known view on the debate roughly 2500 years ago.

Although most contemporary philosophers and scientists believe we do possess some form of freewill, the extent of that freewill is a source of continual study and debate. And the idea that we might not be as “freewilled” as we thought can have significant implications on religion, as we will see.

The idea of determinism is quite scary. Imagine that anything and everything you do has been predetermined and you are powerless to create your own destiny. You may think you are in the driver’s seat, but every single choice you make you had to make — it couldn’t be any other way.

But some people like the idea of being a passenger in the car of life, as long as God is the driver. The big question is: can you tell God to stop the car and get out if you wanted to? If you can’t, freewill doesn’t exist, and you are nothing more than God’s puppet and can no more make moral choices than your mailbox can. Of course, this means that you cannot be held morally responsible for your actions, or your beliefs. It would be wrong for God to judge you in Heaven .

Without freewill, the whole idea of personal responsibility and salvation collapses.

But worry not. God is said to have given us the gift of freewill. The ironic part is, as author and journalist Christopher Hitchens frequently points out, we have no choice but to accept it. Or do we?

Even if freewill does exist, we have significant empirical evidence, which shows that much of who we are, the decisions we make, and the beliefs we hold are either influenced, or in some cases, predetermined — by factors outside of our control. Some of these factors include genetics, brain activity/defects caused by physical trauma, family environment, hormones, education/ignorance, peers, drugs and alcohol, luck and/or chance, and others. Some of these influences, especially when combined with others, are so powerful, that “free choice” in this case would be like the “free choice” you have to stop eating for several days. It’s possible, but painful, and some might even suggest against nature.

While it may not be classical determinism, many people, perhaps most of us, can attribute our actions, behaviors, and beliefs to a series of highly-influential past events. Which leads to the question: would you treat people any differently if you knew that it was extremely difficult for them to be any other way than they are now? Do you think God would?

Let’s assume that there is a perfectly just God who judges us at the time of our death and allows us into a wonderful place called Heaven if we believed in him at the time of our death. Take two people, both with freewill and both who did not believe — myself and St. Paul. Wouldn’t St. Paul have an advantage since Jesus appeared to him even though Paul didn’t ask for it? That sucks for me who doesn’t even get an appearance by him on my burnt piece of toast. I can really use that kind of revelation to assure my ticket into Heaven.

In this case, the influential factor would be “divine influence.” Paul still has the freewill to deny Jesus, but given that Jesus has appeared to him and said “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting...” (Acts 9:5), his freewill has been influenced quite a bit, to say the least.

When we live our lives assuming pure freewill, we ignore the circumstances which led a fellow human to their current situation and feel hostility toward them for their “poor” choices rather than feel empathy and understanding. But when we recognize that there are influential and even deterministic forces at work, we see people in a whole new light. No longer are people simply evil. They are just people who happen to do “bad” things to whom we can offer words of encouragement and support while helping them to overcome the negative forces working against them.

Do you have freewill? Prove it and make the choice to change your attitude towards others. Of course, that’s really not proof since you could have been predetermined to do this anyway.