God’s Ultimate Escape Hatch
Knowing how free will is used to excuse God from the charge of being evil doesn’t mean there is no such thing as free will. There might be, but we can’t know for certain one way or the other. It doesn’t mean people are puppets. We might be, but, again, there is no way to know this for certain.
We aren’t making some huge philosophical affirmation: THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS FREE WILL. We are only saying that whether or not free will exists, we use the idea of free will to excuse God from having to take responsibility for the quality of life by blaming people and the way we choose to live our lives.
If I could do anything I want, I would first have to know what it is I want and not what I am conditioned to want by religion, politics, and ad agencies. And that may be fundamentally unknowable. RR