The Choice to Restrict Freedom
Free will is perhaps the most thought about subject in the history of humanity. Whether it’s Oedipus or the last of the Ten Little Indians in a zombie flick, the struggle against destiny defines the human condition. Add God into the mix and you get paradox with your opiate.
Woody Allen wrote this in his play entitled “God”:
WRITER: But you're saying God comes in at the end and saves everything.
ACTOR: I love it! It gives the people their money's worth.
DORIS: He's right. It's like those Hollywood Bible movies.
WRITER: But if God saves everything, man is not responsible for his actions.
ACTOR: You wonder why you're not invited to more parties . . .
DORIS: But without God, the universe is meaningless. Life is meaningless. We're meaningless. (Deadly pause) I have a sudden and overpowering urge to get laid.
http://members.fortunecity.com/bookdepository/plays/god/god2.html
Yes, if God exists, man has no free will. Evil is caused by the devil, God has a plan, you have a role and there are no choices of your own. Nothing is man’s fault because God created the universe and nothing is man’s responsibility because God will save us. The comforting bosom of a higher power and universal meaning leave man with no choices and no freedom. Even if God’s plan isn’t set and there is no predestination, we’re still left with the choice of God’s laws or infinite agony. Some choice. It’s God’s way or the highway (to hell).
Though this tired “destiny versus free will” may seem like only an abstract concept, it, like pretty much everything, really just tells us about ourselves.
In life, we are given choices and freedom. Like swimming alone at sea, this freedom is not always what we want so we limit ourselves for comfort. Sure, we can see this in the government with the Patriot Act and extra security measures, but we choose to limit ourselves all the time in our every day life.
In relationships, we make a deal with our significant other not to change our minds through marriage. It is not good enough that two people would enjoy each other’s company. The freedom of choice must be taken away to give comfort (and some would say meaning) to the relationship.
We sign contracts with businesses. We buy homes. We form friendships. We ground ourselves with obligations. Those without jobs and homes and friends are seen as having meaningless existences. Like a leashed dog, we hold ourselves back and protect ourselves from choosing a less comfortable and “meaningless” path. That way we can’t fuck up and be responsible for our own destiny.
Woody Allen wrote this in his play entitled “God”:
WRITER: But you're saying God comes in at the end and saves everything.
ACTOR: I love it! It gives the people their money's worth.
DORIS: He's right. It's like those Hollywood Bible movies.
WRITER: But if God saves everything, man is not responsible for his actions.
ACTOR: You wonder why you're not invited to more parties . . .
DORIS: But without God, the universe is meaningless. Life is meaningless. We're meaningless. (Deadly pause) I have a sudden and overpowering urge to get laid.
http://members.fortunecity.com/bookdepository/plays/god/god2.html
Yes, if God exists, man has no free will. Evil is caused by the devil, God has a plan, you have a role and there are no choices of your own. Nothing is man’s fault because God created the universe and nothing is man’s responsibility because God will save us. The comforting bosom of a higher power and universal meaning leave man with no choices and no freedom. Even if God’s plan isn’t set and there is no predestination, we’re still left with the choice of God’s laws or infinite agony. Some choice. It’s God’s way or the highway (to hell).
Though this tired “destiny versus free will” may seem like only an abstract concept, it, like pretty much everything, really just tells us about ourselves.
In life, we are given choices and freedom. Like swimming alone at sea, this freedom is not always what we want so we limit ourselves for comfort. Sure, we can see this in the government with the Patriot Act and extra security measures, but we choose to limit ourselves all the time in our every day life.
In relationships, we make a deal with our significant other not to change our minds through marriage. It is not good enough that two people would enjoy each other’s company. The freedom of choice must be taken away to give comfort (and some would say meaning) to the relationship.
We sign contracts with businesses. We buy homes. We form friendships. We ground ourselves with obligations. Those without jobs and homes and friends are seen as having meaningless existences. Like a leashed dog, we hold ourselves back and protect ourselves from choosing a less comfortable and “meaningless” path. That way we can’t fuck up and be responsible for our own destiny.
posted by American Dilettante at
3:14 PM
2 Comments:
"It’s God’s way or the highway (to hell)."
Well, I've always pictured God as the power that created all of the physical laws of the universe, who started it up and watched it run. So, rephrasing your statement, I would say, it's Gravity's Law or else - death from falling! Yes, some actions will lead to rather certain reactions, sometimes very unpleasant ones - but that leaves a lot of leeway in between.
God is not as restrictive as the Fundamentalists would have you think.
By
mizerock, at 4:10 PM
Actually the fundies believe that sin came into the world through man, so it was man that blew it all, God's great and perfect creation.
Along the same lines, God doesn't actually come it at the end and save everyone. Most of humanity is deemed to be sinners, to be burned in the fires of hell. Only a select few will inherit eternal life.
So the choice part of it is to, as you say, choose God's way (whatever that is) and live, or go our own way, and die.
Of course, since we all will die, even those who don't choose the God of the Christians, still get three-score and ten years, on average, to live, and maybe that's not such a bad deal.
And by the way, American Dilettante, are you on a one-post-per-month schedule?
By
Bulworth, at 10:36 AM
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