R
RiddleMeThis
Guest
This is an interesting question and has resulted in my semi-return to Faith.
A point that you must ask yourself when talking about free will must be, what happened to Judas Iscariot the betrayer of Jesus? The man who betrayed Jesus to the Romans. Where does he sit now? In heaven, or surly Hell for the betrayal of his Mentor? To push that question further, where are all the “Evil” people that have ever died? Adolf Hitler must surely be in Hell. Except that Jesus died for everyones sins not just the Popes, and the everyday people, who did Jesus invite to dinner? The local patriarchs, no he invited the most despised man around, the tax collector.
Over the course of a few years, I have come to a few different conclusions.
Which leads me to third, that EVERYONE goes to heaven. As stated above Jesus died for everyone sins. If you accept that basic belief, then babies don’t need to be baptized, as Jesus has already washed away original sin, which accounts for all other religions, even those who do not even acknowledge Jesus or God. Which brings me back to the “Monsters” of History, Pontius Pilate, the condemner of Jesus, Judas Iscariot the betrayer of Jesus, Adolf Hitler, serial killers, rapist, murders, and every other form of low life that has EVER existed, they all had “effects” on people, which in turn effects other people and so on, in ways that we cannot possibly imagine. I believe that something good comes from everything, and that good can multiply itself by unknown factors, if we make the one choice we have.
It is at this point I get to my fourth conclusion. The only free will we have is Interpretation. (and don’t tell anyone else, but here is where I found The Secret to Happiness that everyone is looking for) Viktor Frankl knew better than anyone that anything can happen to you, and almost always there is nothing you can do to prevent it. The CHOICE you have is not how you react, but how you interpret what just happened. Once you change you mind set, to always assume positive intent, and make the choice interpret others actions in that way you reaction will become a forgone conclusion. How could you assume positive intent on that comment your husband made that could go either good or bad, and still be upset. “You look pretty today.” can be interpreted in 2 general ways, as a positive comment about how someone looks, or a back handed comment on how bad they look every other day. This example is easy, and is always taken as a compliment, but what about the guy that cuts you off in traffic, can you assume positive intent there? Did he not see you there? Were you speeding? What happened that resulted in you getting cut off? What happened in his day that made him cut you off? No one will ever really know, but if you choose to interpret positive intent, or at least in this case lack of negative intent, you wont get angry and yell or do something that comes from assuming negative intent. When enough people realize that they have only one true choice, they can decide how they want to live their life, happy with the choice to see the world around you in a good light, or unhappy b/c they look for a slight everywhere they go. If you assume positive intent, then you wont have a negative reaction. It is here that our choice ends, if you believe in God and in His plan, you then can act only in such a way that reflects those beliefs, which believe it or not works into Gods plan.
A.N. Even when negative intent is evident, by choosing the positive interpretation we can choose not to let that negative event effect the “Positive Intent Mind Frame”, which over all leads to happiness, and what I have experienced only once, a sense of complete internal peace, a result in my own internal epiphany.
A point that you must ask yourself when talking about free will must be, what happened to Judas Iscariot the betrayer of Jesus? The man who betrayed Jesus to the Romans. Where does he sit now? In heaven, or surly Hell for the betrayal of his Mentor? To push that question further, where are all the “Evil” people that have ever died? Adolf Hitler must surely be in Hell. Except that Jesus died for everyones sins not just the Popes, and the everyday people, who did Jesus invite to dinner? The local patriarchs, no he invited the most despised man around, the tax collector.
Over the course of a few years, I have come to a few different conclusions.
- God exists.
- We have no choice over the actions we take.
- God is Just, and EVERYONE goes to heaven.
- The only free will we have is Interpretation
.
First,I believe that God exists, because I know I have a soul, the inner spark within me that makes me aware. This awareness gives me the only choice I have, and believe it or not that choice is not in my actions.
Which leads me to third, that EVERYONE goes to heaven. As stated above Jesus died for everyone sins. If you accept that basic belief, then babies don’t need to be baptized, as Jesus has already washed away original sin, which accounts for all other religions, even those who do not even acknowledge Jesus or God. Which brings me back to the “Monsters” of History, Pontius Pilate, the condemner of Jesus, Judas Iscariot the betrayer of Jesus, Adolf Hitler, serial killers, rapist, murders, and every other form of low life that has EVER existed, they all had “effects” on people, which in turn effects other people and so on, in ways that we cannot possibly imagine. I believe that something good comes from everything, and that good can multiply itself by unknown factors, if we make the one choice we have.
It is at this point I get to my fourth conclusion. The only free will we have is Interpretation. (and don’t tell anyone else, but here is where I found The Secret to Happiness that everyone is looking for) Viktor Frankl knew better than anyone that anything can happen to you, and almost always there is nothing you can do to prevent it. The CHOICE you have is not how you react, but how you interpret what just happened. Once you change you mind set, to always assume positive intent, and make the choice interpret others actions in that way you reaction will become a forgone conclusion. How could you assume positive intent on that comment your husband made that could go either good or bad, and still be upset. “You look pretty today.” can be interpreted in 2 general ways, as a positive comment about how someone looks, or a back handed comment on how bad they look every other day. This example is easy, and is always taken as a compliment, but what about the guy that cuts you off in traffic, can you assume positive intent there? Did he not see you there? Were you speeding? What happened that resulted in you getting cut off? What happened in his day that made him cut you off? No one will ever really know, but if you choose to interpret positive intent, or at least in this case lack of negative intent, you wont get angry and yell or do something that comes from assuming negative intent. When enough people realize that they have only one true choice, they can decide how they want to live their life, happy with the choice to see the world around you in a good light, or unhappy b/c they look for a slight everywhere they go. If you assume positive intent, then you wont have a negative reaction. It is here that our choice ends, if you believe in God and in His plan, you then can act only in such a way that reflects those beliefs, which believe it or not works into Gods plan.
A.N. Even when negative intent is evident, by choosing the positive interpretation we can choose not to let that negative event effect the “Positive Intent Mind Frame”, which over all leads to happiness, and what I have experienced only once, a sense of complete internal peace, a result in my own internal epiphany.
) . Neither can I say I have a passion for philosophy , but my spiritual director had put it to me this way : “Philosophy is a way of thinking. In your case it might be helpful to be reminded that it isn’t the only way of thinking.”