Choices
In any discussion of Free Will there is a tendency to confuse the availability and exercise of Free Will with the limitations and consequences of Free Will. Let us clarify the issues.
The availability of Free Will simply refers to whether or not we are allowed to make choices. It is an issue of basic freedom.
The exercise of Free Will is in itself a choice we make. If we choose to do so, then our choices will be subject to certain limitations over which we may have no control. However, within these limitations we have Free Will. That is to say, we can make choices but we cannot dictate the circumstances that will affect the results of our choices. For example: I can decide to go out into a storm, but I cannot stop it from raining.
After we make our choices, we are subject to the consequences of our decisions. They are the unavoidable consequence of what we decided to do (action) or think (mental conclusion). For example: I may have the freedom to decide to go out into a storm, but as a result I will get wet.
Thus, we may have Free Will, but our choices are made within certain limitations and subject to a natural result. We are not free to change the circumstances that affect the outcome of our choices, nor are we free to avoid the result. I may have the freedom to decide I will go out into the storm, but I cannot make the storm go away (the circumstances) and I will likely get wet (the result of my decision).
What about Christian Theology?
For the purposes of this discussion, let us first examine the subject of Free Will within the framework of our relationship to God. Within this context, the question of Free Will evokes two possibilities.
There is a God.
There is no God.
From a Christian viewpoint, the discussion of Free Will usually centers on our relationship with God; i.e. are we only predestined to a fate determined by God? Or, does God grant us the freedom to make our own choices? Historical evidence suggests we have Free Will. God apparently encourages us to make rational choices that conform to the values he has taught us. Because they are based on long standing texts, ideas about right and wrong tend to be stable. If we stray from his values, we risk being ostracized by our peers, disliked by the community, punished by the police power of the State, or even by God – perhaps in unexpected ways.
Atheist discussion of Free Will tends to center on an individual’s status or position within a political social structure. From a socialist viewpoint, there is no God. Our perception of Free Will is derived from contemporary secular beliefs. Ideas about right and wrong tend to be unstable, influenced by fluid pop-culture social justice concepts, and often incorporate contentious political ideology. We are forced to exercise our Free Will within these constraints. If we ignore contemporary secular values we risk being ostracized by our peers, public media, public contempt, mob hatred, and the police power of the State.
Limitations and Exercise of Free Will
Our moral and physical behavior is unavoidably influenced by the limitations of the real world in which we live, no matter how “free” we think we are to act and think. Our deeds may also lead to self-destruction. Remember this verse ...
“We cannot break the natural laws of the Cosmos without exposing ourselves to physical or emotional injury. If we defile our being with drugs or alcohol, if we debilitate ourselves with too much stress, or if we ignore the wisdom of experience, we are doomed to suffer the consequences. In so doing, we create our own self-inflicted Hell.”
- Summa 21
Our freedom to make personal choices is influenced, and modified, by our Cultural Ecosystem. The term “Cultural Ecosystem” refers to the cultural, economic and physical environment within which individuals and social groups function, and includes our emotional and intellectual interaction with other people. We may choose, for example, to have expensive tastes, but our ability to consume will be limited by our income. We can break the law, but we know the police power of the State will seek retribution. Free love sounds wonderful until it leads to a sexually transmitted disease (STD), and so on.
Thus while we have Free Will, which is the freedom to make our own decisions, our choices are limited by cultural, economic and physical reality.
Consequences
There is a certain truth to the “obey or be punished” concept. As pointed out in Summa 21, we cannot break the natural laws of the Cosmos, disregard God’s commandments, or ignore contemporary secular beliefs, without exposing ourselves to physical and emotional injury. The concept of Free Will not only means a personal choice, it also requires we accept the consequences of our choices. It is therefore our responsibility, each and every one, to make intelligent choices which elevate our moral character, mental health, emotional stability, intellectual development, and physical health; ... else we risk the creation of our own self-inflicted Hell.
Christianity and Free Will
For Christians, the availability, limitations and exercise of Free Will are an integral component of Christian Theology and philosophy. We believe God gave us Free Will, the right to make our own choices. The Bible contains example after example of how we humans exercised our freedom to make choices and the consequences of those choices. We make good choices and we make terrible choices. But time after time, the text of the Bible shows we had the freedom to make them.
This fundamental belief in the freedom of Free Will influenced the development of the American Declaration of Independence and subsequent Constitution. The freedom to make choices has been a fundamental driver of national political rights all over the world. We humans usually prosper best when all members of our culture have the right to exercise Free Will.
The Christian concept of Free Will is one of the reasons Christian Theology is incompatible with the repression of socialism, communism, and other forms of dictatorship. Oppressive political systems add political, social and legal restrictions on the exercise of Free Will: freedom versus repression.
Conclusion
We humans have and are able to exercise free will but the choices we make are framed by physical and moral limitations.
If we do not believe in God, then we are likely to be influenced by transient moral beliefs. These may lead us to make negative, destructive and immoral choices.
If we do believe in God, the convictions of a 21st century Christian theology and philosophy encourage us to make positive, constructive and ethical choices.
The consequences of our choices may not be what we expected or even something we want; and yet – they are our responsibility.
Ron
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