Some people say that God won't intervene to help someone in trouble because he doesn't want to interfere with free will. Does that mean a person should be a witness to a murder and not do anything to interfere with the murderer's free will?
2007-05-23 07:00:36 · 20 answers · asked by Graciela, RIRS 6 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
I'm a humanist.....as such, the idea of god's will doesn't come into the equation if I am to help somebody in need.
I don't need to pray beforehand and I won't mind my own business if I see somebody in need of my help.
2007-05-23 07:08:43 · answer #1 · answered by Humanist 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Am I my brother's keeper? A question God never directly answers, because Cain is being sarcastic.
Let's start here.
Your example above makes three false suppositions. 1. That everything is black and white and 2. that the murderer is the only person with free will. 3.That God giving us free will means we have to respect other people's entirely. The Victim has free will and it probably their will for you to save them. You also have free will.
Here si the justification for stopping him - with deadly force if necessary. 1. he is infringing on the will of the victim to live. 2. He is commiting a violation of the commandment. 3. society expects you to do something. 4. the victim is probably worth more then the murderer as murderer's tend to murder people. However, your free will also allows to to take into accounts some other things about him. like 1. there is no one else on the street to help you. 2. it's dark. 3. He's 6'3" and he has a knife 4. Your 5'6" and only have a twinkie with you. This is where free will kicks into action, your choice which is juat as valid as anyone else's. God might not come down in a bolt of Thunder, but your certianly on the scene. So you have a choice, come out screaming and bludgeon him with your twinkie and hope he's creme filling intolerant - or stay safe where you are - maybe call the cops on your cell phone and give them a description when they get there - or, you could always slip away unnoticed and go about your life.
The doctrine of free will is not about what other people so, it's about what you do with your 2- cents worth. We were not only given free will, we were given the sense to decide what is right and act within those morals and ethics.
ou must choose whether to infringe on other people's free will or not, weighing all the various factors - and then act int he way you think best. And there is no clear answer until you find yourself int he situation. Would you stop someone from committing suicide? For my part, yes, unless there was some extenuating circumstance like the person had terminal cancer and was in pain.
There are no correct answers. Like peolpe like to say
Violence is never justified". Then why do we have Police forces with guns and Militaries? Obviously there are occasionas where violence is very justified.
My rule of thumb is, I try not in infringe on the free will of others unless they are infringing on the free will of someone else - or might hurt someone else.
Also, intervention doesn't always involve someone shooting someone or lockign someone else in a closet. You can also intervene in the right circumstance by just saying "I love you" or "I'm worried about you."
That's my 2 cents on free will.
2007-05-23 07:26:52 · answer #2 · answered by Cindy H 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
God gives us the will to love-To love Him and one another. However, with every "will", there must be an opposite extreme. In other words, if there is a choice to have a perfect love, there must be an equal and extreme choice to have perfect hate. Otherwise, it isn't really a choice at all. God had a choice to create us all as puppets or as free creatures with an ability to love Him and His creation. With this choice came a risk and with every choice comes a risk.
Our choice to love another in spite of the risk, is a reflection of God's love.
By the way, sometimes he does intervene. With God, everything depends on "eternal" consequences not necessarily what we can see for the here and now.
2007-05-23 07:12:49 · answer #3 · answered by alrightalready 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Just because the murderer is using their freewill, does not make it right, put yourself in the place of the one being murdered, would you want someone to help, or just say its freewill or pray ?
C'mon people, if we all intervened there would be no crime !
But, i think self preservation and self importance, overides intervening, thats what criminals want..... But there are levels of intervention that work too, like letting the criminal know they are being watched, or remembering specific details, or calling the Police...... For crime to thrive, it only takes one good person to do nothing......
I will use my freewill to intervene !
Blessings.
2007-05-23 07:21:12 · answer #4 · answered by sittingbear43 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
How would free will be justified to the person being murdered. The murder had free will to break the law, and suffer the consequences.
2007-05-23 07:07:59 · answer #5 · answered by Robert S 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, it certainly does not. People have a free will to choose right or wrong, but they do not have the right to use that free will to take actions such as evil doing or murder. You have the free will to stop a crime, such as murder. The free will issue does not super-cede Gods law or mans law.
2007-05-23 07:08:18 · answer #6 · answered by GeneGregoryArt.com 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think that if you are present and see with your own eyes, you should intervene, but if it's a rumor or you heard something, well then you don't have the right to intervene.
An example: I heard a rumor that my sister's husband was cheating. I wouldn't do anything about it because I don't have proof that it's true but If I would have seen him with another girl kissing, making out, or whatever, I think I should talk to my sistr about it, let her know what I saw.
2007-05-23 07:06:12 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
No, because it can be your will to act ethically, even altruistically, and helping others can be an exercise of your will.
If you want to involve God in the argument, some would say that he acts through us, and some would argue that God isn't part of the equation. But the bottom line is that refusing to act to confirm your own will is vain, because in doing so you're probably acting against what you really wished to do.
2007-05-23 07:04:36 · answer #8 · answered by ? 5 · 3⤊ 0⤋
The Lord looks into the heart of a person and we are supposed to help one another.... however we should not intervene with his will so before helping someone I always pray first that in the end his will be done. I trust that when things are good and when things are difficult... whether for myself or for someone else. The key is staying in fellowship and that helps to know (by the holy spirit) when to help and when not to.
2007-05-23 07:03:43 · answer #9 · answered by sassinya 6 · 2⤊ 2⤋
Free will consits of doing good not just doing anything we want.
Here is what the Catechism says:
1731 Freedom is the power, rooted in reason and will, to act or not to act, to do this or that, and so to perform deliberate actions on one's own responsibility. By free will one shapes one's own life. Human freedom is a force for growth and maturity in truth and goodness; it attains its perfection when directed toward God, our beatitude.
2007-05-23 07:04:27 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋