All who Wonder are not Lost

Here at Open Wound the inherent value and absolute uniqueness of each individual is a high priority. However, believing in that will not stop me from being pissed off at any unique soul that acts like an asshat. It’s a paradox, I know.

I’ve been vocal about how the expression “everything happens for a reason” gets on my last nerve. Yes, sometimes people suck, so I’ll buy that reason for certain outcomes. But that is not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about fatalism. Dictionary defined as the “belief that all events are pre-determined and therefore inevitable.”  Number one, if all events are pre-determined by an outside agent, there is no free will. Where there is no free will, there is no moral responsibility. Number two, if all things that occur are inevitable, what the hell are we doing here? What could possibly be the point of existence?

Certain religious circles use the phrase the “sovereignty of God.” That can be defined in many ways. If defined as God himself being the external agent causing all manner of human acts, that just makes Him one controlling creep. And again, if God is causing everything, what are we here for? A defender of this view of God will say, “He allows certain evil acts for a larger unseen plan.” Ppht. I’d say, you want to call it God allowing evil, I’d call it free will, plain and simple. That God is not an authoritarian, my way or the highway juggernaut being. That He is a loving creator who grants full-on free will to all. And that He has a love that is so-not-coercive that He grants us the freedom to completely ignore, hate or disbelieve in Him as well. And the free will is where the evil comes from. The tragedies. The abuse. The self-centered, power hungry, don’t-give-a-fuck about other people or their feelings choices of man.

Determinism, which also bugs me, is defined as “the doctrine that all events, including human action, are ultimately determined by causes external to the will. Some philosophers have taken determinism to imply that individual human beings have no free will and cannot be held morally responsible for their actions.”

Probably not used so much in those religious circles I mentioned, because how could anyone ever pass judgement if this were true?

I completely believe in options and free will, and in making judgement calls on behavior as mentioned. Yet I am fully cognizant that our environments have profound effects on our ability to choose.  But not an across-the-board effect, a unique effect, depending on the individual.  An example would be a group of siblings with the same parents who have wholly different responses to they way their parents raised them.

But really, once we discern what those effects are, we have the power to change. Choices to make or not make.

Maybe I just can’t stand the idea of living in a world where will is nullified. Where responsibility is forsaken. Sure, I do plenty of dumb stuff I’d love to blame on an outside agent, but what a cop-out. Again, like in fatalism, what would be the point?

What about identity? What would be the value in being created a unique individual if that individual is nothing more than a conglomeration of the externals that acted upon it? And we all know, there are a lot of ugly acts being written on people in this world.

What about the soul? The seat of the emotional life. Geez, everybody has feelings. Where do those even fit in to these philosophies?

I’ve chosen to believe in my true identity as a creation of God. And life a mystery to be lived and not solved. I will keep making free will choices, and deal with wherever the chips fall. I will grant everyone inherent value as fellow creatures. Part of my free will choice will be to stand in the way of anyone whose choices wound my sensitive self or the people I love.

Deal or deny. Fear or face. Heal or hurt. Hope or harm. Love or lament. Work or waste. Best part of the mystery, there is room for all the choices.

Free will, love it.

Today’s thoughts were spurred on by the following article.

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/06/theres-no-such-thing-as-free-will/480750/