God gave us free will...?

Question

This is an honest question. Please do not get rude, immature, or just put biblical verses on here. I several bibles and I can read them myself. If you cannot contain yourself--just don't answer the question.

Since God gave us free will, who are we as Christians to tell another person (regardless of their religion) what they can and can not do? Basically why should we be able to take that God given right away from a person? Don't you think on the day they are judged they will still be judged the same regardless if we make things legal or illegal?

This is pertaining to legalizing gay marriage, abortion, and many other things I've noticed we force others NOT to do.

Yes, I know these things are sins. I've read the Bible. That is not the point. Why should we slam our views into other people? Basically, what is the point?

I am not saying not to inform others. I am not saying to not spread The Word. I am saying (legally) we are forcing that opinion on others by making it illegal for people to NOT make that God given choice.

Answer 1

Bloody hell, am I... am I AGREEING with a Christian? What's the world coming to?

That's such a good point. I suppose you'll get answers along the lines of "We're only trying to help" or even "We use our free will to save others" or some other such nonsense.

Good work lady, good work.

Answer 2

Here's the deal. They're not just views to the people who believe them. They're fact. And, if you really think about it, they're fact whether you believe it or not. So it's not imposing views upon other people- it's simply making God's laws the laws for everyone. A true Christian can't argue with this logic- again, it's not just a belief, it's a fact. Making something a law doesn't take away a person's free will. They can freely will themselves to break those laws. People do it all the time with crimes EVERYONE has deemed inappropriate like murdering for a pair of sneakers. Making it a law or not making it a law won't change whether people choose to do that particular thing. True, there are some people who will smoke cigarettes because they are legal and won't smoke marijuana because it is illegal...but you and I both know there are loads more people who don't care if it's legal. The same can be said for gay marriage and abortion.

With all of that said, our governmental officials are ELECTED representatives. They should represent the views of their constituents. If the majority of their constituents feel that abortion is wrong, I see no harm in making abortion illegal. Of course, our country is greatly divided on these issues. If enough support one way or the other could be gained on a state level, I could see that being a "fair" way to look at it. The laws in California are not always appropriate for the citizens of North Carolina. If the majority of citizens in NC don't want gay marriage to be legalized, I see no reason why it should. The jury is still out for many people as to whether homosexuality is a natural thing or a nurtured thing. No one can argue the color of one's skin being a natural thing (in case people bring up slavery/racial issues to compare to homosexuality).

As for your original quesiton, "Who are we as Christians to tell another person what they can and can not do?"...we're children of God simply relaying what God has told us we can and can not do. With that said, the Bible does say that each man must work out his own salvation with fear and trembling. It's a personal free will choice. If you feel the government should reflect that personal choice and so do the rest of your fellow citizens, make it so. This goes for people on both sides of the issues. We've deemed other concepts to be crimes such as murder and adultery, which are just as morally debatable as homosexuality and abortion.

Answer 3

God gave us free will, but society has to have some laws in it and those will naturally reflect the morals of the people in society.

Laws against Rape, Murder and Incest are obvious, but there are those who would argue that we have no right to tell those people that they can not do those either.

Abortion is Murder to us, same as if you killed an elderly person for not being productive, again natural law.

Gay Marriage, I can see both sides, honestly, but I will side with keeping the family one man and one woman.

It is not about forcing beliefs on anyone, by not getting an Abortion you are not following ALL of God's laws, just natural law.

Taking away free will would mean forcing people to believe in God and most likely, the beliefs of one group. Like in Iran.

But most Christians know that without free will to Love God, there cannot be a real Love for God. You will never see a large number of Christians calling for a Religious theocracy, that is a scare tactic by the left wing.

By the way, Abortion is legal up to the very time of birth in the US, so if we are forcing our morals on others, we are doing a very bad job of it.

Hope this helps.

Peace, and God Bless you.

Answer 4

Free will has been given to us to obey or disobey God. Our obedience would be to God, not man. We can't take free will away from the person, but we can limit options of actions. The person in their mind can still freely think their way is right even if it wrong, and we can't prevent that. And, even if a "wrong" action were made legal or illegal, abortion or gay marriage, we still owe obedience to God, not man. If we love God, we will obey his commands. God will judge us for what we do and what we do not do. Yes, doing nothing when we could, is a sin. We have our responsiblilty to prevent sin from being done, and if it comes to making a "wrong" action illegal, it prevents the sin being done by others. It helps others to not be judged as wrong in that sin by God.

Answer 5

"Basically why should we be able to take that God given right away from a person?"

I believe you've just hit the nail on the head when it comes to the paradox of the Christian faith. On one hand, you are told to be a witness to your faith. This charges you to proselytize your religion so that others will know about the "good word."

This, in and of itself, is not a bad thing. Just like teaching someone about any subject of study, the individual has the free will and choice to either continue with you, or discard what you are saying.

The problem as I see it is when the action of witnessing your faith becomes a matter of law. Law is something that is applied to every member of a civil society regardless of religion. The moment you attempt to apply an aspect of religious teaching to law, you remove the right of free will.

Of course we must have laws so a civil society will continue to be "civil." But this should only apply to how we interact with each other, such as in the cases of theft or murder. That harms another person. It's direct and has obvious consequences. But gay marriage? Abortion? How does that have a direct effect on you personally? It doesn't. It simply upsets you because it goes against what you "personally" believe to be true.

So there's the problem in a nutshell. On one hand you are charged to preach the good word. But it is up to the individual to either accept it or reject it. Technically, that's as far as you have been asked to go. Doing more upsets civil society's apple cart and restricts free will. Consequently, I fully agree with you. Difficult though it may be for the Christian who wishes it otherwise.

Answer 6

I trust you on homosexuality, i do not understand what the answer is not any matter if that's a sin or no longer, yet I do imagine that that's between God and this man or woman. My interest as a Christian is to love them and be form to them. The question of abortion is one which's amazingly diverse and that i will answer this as both a Christian and on soley an psychological aspect. As a Christian, i trust that all existence is sacred, that as we talk of theory a residing soul has come into the international to finish God's purpose (regardless of that would properly be). putting my Christian beliefs aside (I comprehend that no longer each and every man or woman is a Christian or stocks my beliefs), American regulation errs on the aspect of conservatism (i.e innocuous till shown in charge). the american clinical association has determined that at a particular aspect in fetal progression (i trust that's 16 weeks) it will be considered a existence. properly when we've determined that at a particular aspect it does develop right into a existence (they themselves use the word "round") what if that's 15 weeks or 14 weeks? That being stated I trust that professional-lifers elect to step up and take responsibility for his or her beliefs (when you're professional existence, do you volunteer to artwork with deprived babies, are you a foster determine? Do you supply to charities that help babies and unmarried moms? in case you personal an organization, do you grant day care?) because i'm a specialist-lifer, I position self belief in kinfolk making plans and condom use (if the egg and sperm by no skill meet, there s no theory)

Answer 7

We should not force others to do or not do anything because ultimately God will judge them is an argument that leads to anarchy. Given free will, should we all be allowed to do whatever we want? No. Anarchy leads to social unrest. Society needs laws to protect the vulnerable... really to protect us from one another. Generally, social rules mimic the moral values of a society.

Therefore, if the US truly believes "that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness" then laws must be set-up to safeguard these core values. This certainly pertains to abortion as it involves killing a living human being after his or her creation.

Answer 8

Think of it this way. When you were a baby learning to walk, your parents had to hold you up, let you go and let you fall down. I bet some falls hurt and others you got used to. Well, the parents had to learn to let you go to fall so you could grow. In most cases, the parents were near by ... or left others to be near you while you practiced walking.

We're all one family ... all brothers & sisters. As siblings, we're not as omnipitent as the Lord ... but when we see you about to fall off a cliff ... well, we need to tell you. We need to treat you the way we want to be treated. If I were to fall off a cliff, I'd want to know. God left us as your brothers & sisters to help you walk and get to him. We would disgrace our Father should we watch you fall & laugh without helping. Even worse ... if your actions took down more ppl than you we should work to get you back to safty.

Abortion kills ... sure there's the "Forgive them for they know not what they do" ... but as someone who's witnessed the evil in abortion ... I feel the need to warn before they harm their souls & others. Most will ignore messages and go for their self wants ... but if I don't warn, then it's the same as me commiting the abortion. Same with same-sex marriage.

Sure, we're all FAR from perfect. This is why sometimes we sound "Self Righious" ... that's kinda like when the oldest (probably wiseist sibling) bosses everyone else in the family. If you've ever encountered a big brother ... he's usually right; annoying, but has his heart in a good place.

Answer 9

I have to agree with you. My parents are devoted Baptists and I attend a Pentacostal church. They are forever bashing me and the church, saying they are some sort of cult.......I don't see this. They teach from the Bible and I have learned so much from them. I say whats good for one person may not be whats best for another. What a person chooses to do and how they choose to live their lives is noone elses business. I have the happiness of knowing that I'll face nobody's record but my own when I die. And I feel that the way we judge others here on earth is the way God will judge us when we go before Him.

Answer 10

no one has the right to tell another person what they can or cant do, i think its completely wrong when people try to force things on other people or take things away, this is where people get christianity all mixed up, as christians we are not suppose to tell people what they can or cant do, yes we can tell people about our religion and our believes and lead them to god but only if they want, they have free will as well, and yes i believe we will all be judged equally in the end. as far as gay marriage and abortion goes, yes in the bible there are scriptures that talk about gay marriage being wrong, but where do we have the right telling them they are all wrong, you can protest if you want but its really a personal decision about wether you want to be against it, it all comes down to personal opinion and beliefs in the end

Answer 11

Yes, God gave us free will ... but, at the same time we are not to force anything on anyone. We are to be witnesses to the world. We are to let people know what is sinful or not. However, we all have to stand before God and be judged. If one doesn't accept Jesus and salvation ... that's their right, there is nothing we can do for them except pray for their understanding and salvation.