Do you believe in god? Sorry you have no free will.

Thank you, backwardseden, for posting this discussion. I'd love to talk this over with you and go through your arguments. However, I'll tell you ahead of time that I am a child, and my parents have a restricted video mode enabled, so while I was able to watch the first two videos, I was unable to watch the next two. I'll address the first two to the best of my ability, however. I'm going to start at the beginning and work through all of your arguments, trying to pick apart each one. ARGUMENT 1: THE BIBLE DOES NOT SAY ANYTHING ABOUT FREE WILL Contrary to what you said, the Bible actually does address the issue of free will, and it does it quite clearly. Galatians 5:13 says, "You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love." Joshua 24:15 says, "But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." Deuteronomy 30:19 says, "This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live". And at the very beginning of creation, when Adam and Eve first sinned, he even reminds them that they are free to do what they wish, but consequences will be wrought upon themselves if they break his law (Genesis 2:16-17) ARGUMENT 2: IF THE BIBLE DID TALK ABOUT FREE WILL, IT WOULD BE A CONTRADICTION, AS SHOWN BY THE TEN COMMANDMENTS Your argument was that because God threatened people with death, it means that they have no free will. You offered the Ten Commandments (which gave rules that are rarely followed, even in the Christian community) as examples of the fact that God is manipulating us with punishment to get us to do what he wants. However, this is easily countered by this simple observation: because people are breaking the Ten Commandments, they obviously cannot have been forced to obey them. God did not MAKE them break the Ten Commandments, he simply offered punishments for not obeying them. This may seem like it's only a small difference and your point still applies, but it doesn't when you consider God's motivation for offering punishment. Look at Psalm 119:75. God punishes us because he is righteous and holy, and sin must be punished. He doesn't do it because we are his pawns or his tools, but he gives us a choice to disobey. ARGUMENT 3: GOD'S REQUESTS ARE UNJUST You used the Ten Commandments as evidence that what God wants from us is unjust and therefore we shouldn't be forced to obey with the threat of death. But the rules that you gave as examples cannot be declared as unjust. Taking the LORD's name in vain makes sense, because if God is really "God", then his name is holy, just as every part of him is, and he calls us to honor him in that way. Working on the Sabbath makes sense because again, God is holy and therefore it is right and good that we give him our time at least one day a week so that we can be with him. Adultery makes sense, because God has given us our spouses for a reason, and asks us to be committed to them. Honoring your mother and father, as you stated, is much harder and a little more complicated. When children struggle with abuse and neglect, asking them to stay with their parents is unbearably cruel. But the problem here is your definition of honor. You talk as if honor means to "agree with what they are doing", or "love who they are as people", but that's not what honor is about. Honor is founded on respect and loves even despite horrific opposition. Love is not conditional, and even when people treat you disgustingly wrongly, you are still obliged to respect them. This does NOT mean that God does not love children, and he DOES give separate commands to parents to honor their children (Proverbs 22:6, Deuteronomy 11:19, Colossians 3:12). ARGUMENT 4: GOD DOES NOT HAVE FREE WILL, SO NEITHER DOES MAN I disagree with the idea that God does not have free will, although I understand the basis behind this. The idea of the argument is that because God knows the future, he knows the perfect way to live, and therefore won't make any other choice. But this does not mean that he CAN'T make any other choice. God has a mind, and he is conscious, he is not controlled by anyone else, does not answer to any authority, and is not limited by any external constraints. God knows the future and the best way to live, but that does not mean that it is the only way that he can live. So he can indeed pass free will on to us, and therefore, we do have free will. ARGUMENT 5: GOD DOES NOT STOP EVIL OR RAPE, AND THEREFORE THE FREE WILL THAT HE DOES GIVE US IS DISTORTED AND CRUEL You are right that the free will we have now IS distorted and cruel, and the examples that you gave absolutely prove this. When people have free will, they naturally abuse this. In the garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were told not to sin, but they weren't forced. They chose to sin, and sin came into the world. Again and again, these decisions are repeated, and they won't stop being made until he returns. Your problem, however, is in assuming that the evil in the world is God's fault. You've already acknowledged that free will is needed for people to be able to make a choice, and yet now you are angry that evidence of people abusing their free will is being shown. It is not God that is abusing free will, it is mankind. God gave us free will because he cares about us and he wants us to be able to make our own choices, and when we do, people suffer for it, as you have clearly shown. But God doesn't just sit back and say, "oh well, they made their choice". God didn't give us free will and then leave us alone. He is going to punish people for disobeying, as is right and just for him to do. Go back to argument 2, where you expressed complaints that God DID offer punishments for wrongdoing. We've already talked about the idea of death, and hell, and that does come for people who chose not to follow him. God is planning to return, and Jesus promised that he will someday come back and rule over the earth forever (Matthew 25:31, and again and again throughout the Bible, as shown in Revelation). All evil shall be cast into the lake of fire and he will rule over the earth forever- a perfect earth, without pain, hurt, or heartbreak.