Lead as contributing factor to crime?

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SentinelofTruth said:
No, but I think if I wasn’t homeschooled I would be. Why?
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OK - I figured you were a teen. Not a put down, just an observation.

I agree that Free Will is tremendously important, and s something that no other created being shares with us. I understand you wanting to defend that truth.

However, just as true is that the brain as an organ can be damaged or hindered in such a way that suppresses our ability to make free choices.

The CCC actually says as much (see some of my posts above).

For instance my 15 year old son has down syndrome. He doesn’t really know right from wrong. He can’t tell when his behaviour is upsetting or even hurting others.

Is he less human? No.

However, he is not able to make free choices since he mainly acts on his desires and needs, and often can’t think beyond them.
 
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triumphguy:
The CCC actually says as much (see some of my posts above).
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You were gravely misinterpreting the CCC.
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triumphguy:
For instance my 15 year old son has down syndrome. He doesn’t really know right from wrong. He can’t tell when his behaviour is upsetting or even hurting others.

Is he less human? No.

However, he is not able to make free choices since he mainly acts on his desires and needs, and often can’t think beyond them.
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Having a rational soul with free will is what it means to be a person. Your son thus clearly has free will. If he doesn’t know right from wrong and can’t tell what his behaviour is doing to others, that’s not the same as not having free will. Also, “mainly acting on one’s own desires and needs” doesn’t mean he doesn’t have free will.
 
SentinelofTruth said:
You were gravely misinterpreting the CCC.

I don’t think so.

Having a rational soul with free will is what it means to be a person. Your son thus clearly has free will. If he doesn’t know right from wrong and can’t tell what his behaviour is doing to others, that’s not the same as not having free will. Also, “mainly acting on one’s own desires and needs” doesn’t mean he doesn’t have free will.
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If we can’t agree on how the CCC is to be interpreted, then we shall have to resort to reason rather than assertions. Here’s an argument:
(1) Free will exists.
(2) In a physical system, such as the brain, every event is caused by something else, i.e. neurons don’t choose to fire, they do it because the rules of physics required it. In short, no physical system has free will.
(3) Therefore free will cannot be explained in terms of the brain.
 
SentinelofTruth said:
If we can’t agree on how the CCC is to be interpreted, then we shall have to resort to reason rather than assertions. Here’s an argument:
(1) Free will exists.
(2) In a physical system, such as the brain, every event is caused by something else, i.e. neurons don’t choose to fire, they do it because the rules of physics required it. In short, no physical system has free will.
(3) Therefore free will cannot be explained in terms of the brain.
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OK - you are seeing free will in terms of ontology (almost like a sacramental mark on the human soul) in that we are created by God with free will, and that this is a fundamental attribute to being human.

I agree with that.

I also believe that free will can be limited by various factors. I think you are saying that free will still exists in our being even if our biological nature reduces the ability to exercise that free will.

I see that as splitting body and soul - we are a whole, not two separate parts, matter and spirit.
 
SentinelofTruth said:
If we can’t agree on how the CCC is to be interpreted, then we shall have to resort to reason rather than assertions. Here’s an argument:
(1) Free will exists.
(2) In a physical system, such as the brain, every event is caused by something else, i.e. neurons don’t choose to fire, they do it because the rules of physics required it. In short, no physical system has free will.
(3) Therefore free will cannot be explained in terms of the brain.
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Do people in a coma have a free will, say to pray and worship God? Do we have an active free will while we are fast asleep?
 
You have free will while you are asleep, you just don’t have consciousness.
 
SentinelofTruth said:
You have free will while you are asleep, you just don’t have consciousness.
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But you do have consciousness while you’re asleep (e.g., dreaming). Do I have free will, for example to say a Hail Mary, while asleep? Do I have free will not to engage in sexual thoughts (i.e., dreaming) while asleep?
 
Robert_Sock said:
But you do have consciousness while you’re asleep (e.g., dreaming). Do I have free will, for example to say a Hail Mary, while asleep? Do I have free will not to engage in sexual thoughts (i.e., dreaming) while asleep?
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I think he’s splitting the “having free will” from the ability to “exercise free will.”

Which comes down to the same result.

If your free will is impaired then one of the three requisites for sin is not present to the degree of the impairment.
 
Free will is the ability to control one’s actions. But when you are asleep, you are not conscious, so you don’t have any actions. A warrior doesn’t lose his strength (ability to swing a sword) because he loses his sword.
 
SentinelofTruth said:
Free will is the ability to control one’s actions. But when you are asleep, you are not conscious, so you don’t have any actions. A warrior doesn’t lose his strength (ability to swing a sword) because he loses his sword.
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Sexual arousal during sleep is not an action?
 
I don’t know what an erection is, and neither do I know what a wet dream is.
 
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triumphguy:
I see that as splitting body and soul - we are a whole, not two separate parts, matter and spirit.
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I am indeed splitting body and soul- doesn’t my argument prove that they are split? If you have an objection to my argument, raise it rather than saying “your conclusion is false, therefore your reasoning must have a hole”.
 
Which is made in the image and likeness of God - our bodies or our souls?
 
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