Press a Button: Everyone is Catholic (or Protestant, or Jewish, or Muslim, and so on)

[Joel_PF]

It depends. Would it make everyone convert freely and out of a sincere disposition? If so, yes.

But if it would only override people’s free will, then it would have no merit, and I would say no to it. Afterall, it is very insulting to someone to treat them as an object to be manipulated, as if they were not autonomous and rational individuals. And that is what this button would do.

 

[Joel_PF]

I’d argue that it is possible to make someone do something freely. Though the meaning of “make” here must be clarified: if by “make” we mean make them act against their better, rational judgement, then of course it is impossible.

But I can make someone do something by changing their own rational judgment. For instance, if I present someone with a clear and undeniable argument proving the theorem of Pythagoras, I will make them believe it. But this “make” doesn’t override their free will.

Likewise, if I present a very good reason for acting in a certain way (for instance, a man wants to kill a passer-by, and I show it to them that the passer-by is their father, whom they’d never want to kill), I made them act in that way. But I did not violate their free-will.

So, if pressing the button would, for instance, confront people with the best possible case (considering the criteria of each individual) for embracing Christianity, in such a way that they couldn’t resist it, that wouldn’t violate their free will. On the contrary, that would be making them do something through their own free will.

 

[meltzerboy]

I’d argue that it is possible to make someone do something freely. Though the meaning of “make” here must be clarified: if by “make” we mean make them act against their better, rational judgement, then of course it is impossible.

But I can make someone do something by changing their own rational judgment. For instance, if I present someone with a clear and undeniable argument proving the theorem of Pythagoras, I will make them believe it. But this “make” doesn’t override their free will.

Likewise, if I present a very good reason for acting in a certain way (for instance, a man wants to kill a passer-by, and I show it to them that the passer-by is their father, whom they’d never want to kill), I made them act in that way. But I did not violate their free-will.

So, if pressing the button would, for instance, confront people with the best possible case (considering the criteria of each individual) for embracing Christianity, in such a way that they couldn’t resist it, that wouldn’t violate their free will. On the contrary, that would be making them do something through their own free will.

Nice, nuanced analysis of the possibilities! I suppose what I meant is that the button “makes” everyone change automatically, so it’s against their free will decision-making process in the sense that they don’t even have time to weigh the options. In other words, they don’t know what hit them.

 

[kaid100]

My thought processes have gone a few ways over this question. As some have pointed out, “making” everyone else have your religious views implies that Free Will has been removed. I also suspect that it’s the feeling that everyone “must” share their views which leads to religious conflict the world over.

However even if this were not the case, if everyone became Catholic (or any other religion), within fifty years I suspect that new conflicts within that religion would have come to the fore, leading people to ask a question like “Would you press a button to make everyone a Johannist Catholic?”

Even if someone pressed a button to make everyone an atheist, people would argue about something, whether oil or “Communism versus Capitalism”.

If I could press a button for something along these lines, it would be to “make” people more willing to allow others to have their own views, so long as those views don’t harm anyone. A button for toleration. As I type this, I know that for some on this forum “tolerance” is almost a dirty word.

 

[meltzerboy]

My thought processes have gone a few ways over this question. As some have pointed out, “making” everyone else have your religious views implies that Free Will has been removed. I also suspect that it’s the feeling that everyone “must” share their views which leads to religious conflict the world over.

However even if this were not the case, if everyone became Catholic (or any other religion), within fifty years I suspect that new conflicts within that religion would have come to the fore, leading people to ask a question like “Would you press a button to make everyone a Johannist Catholic?”

Even if someone pressed a button to make everyone an atheist, people would argue about something, whether oil or “Communism versus Capitalism”.

If I could press a button for something along these lines, it would be to “make” people more willing to allow others to have their own views, so long as those views don’t harm anyone. A button for toleration. As I type this, I know that for some on this forum “tolerance” is almost a dirty word.

Tolerance is not a dirty word to me! I agree with you wholeheartedly. Live, and let live is still a good way of life. I think that new “conflicts” within any religion would not take as long as fifty years to arise. This in itself is not necessarily a bad thing so long as the conflicts take the form of discussion and debate rather than coercion and violence. Thanks for your (name removed by moderator)ut!