... and I choose to sin, and are cast into an eternal fire for my choice... what was "free" about it? It's like a man holding a gun to my head and saying "Give me all your money, or don't.... it's up to you"
2007-11-01 07:09:28 · 17 answers · asked by I'm an Atheist 3 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Logic?
You are expecting logic?
LMAO!
Logic goes over their heads.
Live by Paul's idiotic dogma or spend eternity in a lake of fire.
2007-11-01 07:14:29 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 2⤋
There is no such thing as eternal hell. It is a myth and a scourge on all theistic conceptions. We all have to suffer appropriately for our misdoings, either from this life or previous ones (see "Karma"). But "eternal hellfire" is fear-based religion, and must be completely done away with.
The only thing eternal is the spiritual world, where God lives, where there is no suffering. All these material worlds, where people are suffering and enjoying, going up and down, round and round, are temporary.
As for choice:
I can choose to jump off a cliff and die, or not. My decision may not be well-informed, but it's still a choice.
Taking your analogy slightly differently, if someone held a gun to your head and said something like "tell me where your daughter lives so I can rape her," you would have to think a bit about that, wouldn't you? It's still your choice.
2007-11-01 14:25:44 · answer #2 · answered by djb 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
"Free will" does not mean there are not repercussions for your actions. If you drive drunk, free will will not stop you from having an accident...or getting arrested. But if you didn't have free will on the issue, you wouldn't have had a choice whether or not to drink, or whether or not to drive.
The man with the gun to his head still has free will: he can choose (for whatever reason) to not surrender his wallet. That's his CHOICE. In that example it's probably the only rational choice, but it's still a choice. Nothing is stopping him from taking a bullet in the head if that's what he wants.
One of the problems in America today is that people have gotten tis perculiar notion that "freedom" means freedom from consequences and responsibility.
2007-11-01 14:24:54 · answer #3 · answered by Nightwind 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You have the freedom to choose. However, all choices result in a consequence. What happens to you eternally is a result of the choice you make now. It's not like a man with a gun. It is God on one side offering eternal life with Him in Heaven, and Satan on the other telling you to deny God. If you choose Satan, you go to Hell. (Bible's words, not mine.) If you choose God, you go to Heaven. Don't have to agree with me, it's just what I believe. Then- you choose and make an informed decision. No one is making you choose either way. But if you don't believe the Bible and you don't believe in God or Satan, then you should have nothing to worry about in your mind, so why ask this question? All I can say is- if I am wrong, so what, I rot in the Earth and I never know the difference. If people who don't believe are wrong, the cost is much greater. But the choice is still theirs to make.
2007-11-01 14:21:08 · answer #4 · answered by Jessica F 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The way it was explained to me was that free will should be just be called "will" because it is not really free. We are free to do what we will. But there are consequences to all acts of will.
btw the man holding the gun IS saying just that -give him the money and he MAY not shoot, or don't and he PROBABLY will.
2007-11-01 14:18:47 · answer #5 · answered by absent farmer 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You do have free will...As God wants... Now by that comes responsibility....Choose right and paradise... Choose wrong and damnation.. The choice is clear for me.. Are you willing to take the chance ? If something goes wrong in your life , don't blame God, or ask "Why has God done this to me ? " as so many people have done.. It's is truely your choice, I pray you make the right one.. God Bless You..
2007-11-01 14:45:20 · answer #6 · answered by timmyboy26164 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Going along with your illustration, he wasn't holding a gun to your head. He gave you the choice and you made it.
You are accountable for your own choices.
And on a sidenote, a lot of people have the wrong perception of the idea of "freedom". Freedom is not simply "doing as you please". Freedom is having a choice; and it does not mean that you are no longer accountable for it.
2007-11-01 14:18:26 · answer #7 · answered by twentytwo_eucalyptus_trees 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Because there's no such thing as a "consequence-free" choice. You want to have your cake and eat it, too. There are only two choices to basically every major moral decision...good or evil. There are good/bad consequences for both.
2007-11-01 14:26:16 · answer #8 · answered by FUNdie 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
It's more like choosing to jump off a cliff. Was God a jerk for putting the cliff there, or am I just stupid because I keep jumping off? Just talk to God, He can give you a parachute.
Hey and don't listen to the jerks that just cut you down for not believing like they do. I refuse to acknowledge them as representing my God.
2007-11-01 14:18:45 · answer #9 · answered by The Chaplain 1 · 1⤊ 2⤋
You chose to do evil what you sole you reap. But Jesus Christ is truth. And the DEvil is a liar, he speaks from his own resoruse
2007-11-01 14:26:14 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋