If the Devil made me do it.....where is free will? (marriages, faith)

[Oakback]

Originally Posted by coosjoaquin

Call me a heathen but I'm beginning to think that Satan is just a human creation that was made because of our inherent need to shift the blame away from us. Are we Satan?

Better yet, why doesn't everyone take responsibility for their actions?

[Tricky D]

Originally Posted by coosjoaquin

Are we Satan?

I only know that I'm not, but I dunno about other people.
Especially the serial predators and (easily corruptible) politicians (and other wannabe leader-types).


Originally Posted by Oakback

Better yet, why doesn't everyone take responsibility for their actions?

Because humans are herd animals?

[Miss Blue]

"The devil made me do it" is the lamest excuse I have ever heard..I used to hear it all the time from church members when they wanted to "rededicate". First they say they have sinned followed by quietly admitting that the devil made me do it..They don't tell what they did, (don't have to, because of the (grape vine that seems to tangle through every place where an amount of people gather either in church or at work) because everyone already knows what he did..He sahould have said the good Lord gave me freewill to make choices and I made a bad choice and am sorry and ask forgiveness for that..
I have noticed that a lot of people, especially politicians and pastors of mega churches are never sorry until they get caught

[coosjoaquin]

Originally Posted by Tricky D

I only know that I'm not, but I dunno about other people.
Especially the serial predators and (easily corruptible) politicians (and other wannabe leader-types).

I'm just thinking about people who don't take responsibility for their own actions on smaller things, what you find with serial killers is that many of them don't really deny that they are evil and did such things by themselves. I just think that It's easy to blame other people but even easier to blame the "unknowable".

Originally Posted by blue62

I have noticed that a lot of people, especially politicians and pastors of mega churches are never sorry until they get caught

lol and It's always god's will until they get caught, then it's the devils

[coosjoaquin]

Originally Posted by Oakback

Better yet, why doesn't everyone take responsibility for their actions?

Why would they if they can avoid receiving punishment? Also you need to take into account that they might be really convinced that it was the devil and not them thats to blame because as I said a second ago: Its how they cope.

[Oakback]

Originally Posted by coosjoaquin

Why would they if they can avoid receiving punishment?That's an illusion Also you need to take into account that they might be really convinced that it was the devil and not them thats to blame That's a lie because as I said a second ago: Its how they cope. And that's sad.

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[elwill]

in arabic language and culture , we use this expression " satan made me do it " but we didn't mean by this expression to throw the responsibitly of these deeds from ourselfs

we use this expression as confession that we did evil thing
we use it as a confession of our faults

i think it's the same meaning in any language and in any cultuer

btw, quran used this expression on the tongue of moses (pbuh) when he killed somebody

chapter : al_ qasas
15 - And he(Mosas) entered the City at a time when its people were not watching: and he found there two men fighting, one of his own religion, and the other, of his foes. Now the man of his own religion appealed to him against his face, and Moses struck him with his fist and made an end of him. He(Mosas) said: This is a work of Evil (Satan): for he(satan) is an enemy that manifestly misleads!

16 - He(Mosas) prayed: O my Lord! I have indeed wronged my soul! do thou then forgive me! So (God) forgave him: for He is the Oft Forgiving, Most Merciful.

[Magnulus]

Third possibility- your self is a delusion.

[cncracer]

Originally Posted by camping!

I have heard a lot of religous (mainly biblical/born again Christians) talk about the duality of 'The Devil Made Me Do It/It is all due to the Lord' and I can't help but wonder....what about free will? Granted, my Catholic () catechism is pretty rusty, but I do recall learning that god gave everyone free will. We choose to be good or evil, right? So, what is with this "I look at porn/am mean to relatives/stole etc.. because Satan made me do it/Satan influenced me" as well as the flip side of "Dh got his promotion/the surgery came out all right/son got scholarship because of Gods blessing/all of your prayers"?
Either we have free will, or we don't. The devil made me do it argument seems to be a great way to avoid responsibility and penalty for bad behavior, and the god willed it argument well, that just puzzles me. I mean, if god couldn't/wouldn't save all those that died in the holocaust or the black plague or any other horrible man or nature made calamity -- why the heck would he care if john doe got a promotion? Why would he involve himself for this one but not millions of others? It makes no logical sense to me.
So, if anyone can explain this I would be very grateful!
Thanks!

It is the attempt to dodge responsibility for the things we do which are wrong. Humanity has searched for excuses and scapegoats for most of recorded history, hopefully the day will come when we accept both the good and bad issues we are responsible for.

[Nikk]

Originally Posted by esselcue

This is one of the big "senseless" parts about Christianity that brought me to doubt: We have free will, and yet God knows what we are going to do before we do it...? Then, it's not free will, it's predestination.

I remain a Buddhist/Diest

So, just because God knows what you are going to do you think this somehow affects your free will? It is not a predestination because he did not make you choose to do anything. His knowledge of you actions is separate from your actions. So, you can't even say "God made me do it".