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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!
camping, you are confusing blessings and cursings with free will. Free will is our right to choose in every instance in our life. If you have blessings or cursings upon you they affect you where you are but they do not affect your right to choose. For example whether you get a promotion or not does not affect whether you will choose to beat your children or not. Or, if you car gets hit by a drunk driver, are you going to curse God? God did not force the liquor down the man's throwt, nor did God violate that mans free will to drive his own car.
So, when people say: "the devil made me do it". They are really saying "I know that was wrong, but I chose to do it anyways". There is no devil making them do anything in the matter. Now, I am not saying that they didn't allow themselves to listen to him and take the suggestion.
Because people have fallen to the old method of using scapegoats as a way to blame someone else for their own actions. I think it could even be a coping mechanism for people presented with thinking that faith in the holy spirit will stop them from doing anything wrong but then end up committing a crime.
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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.
The old excuse of "The Devil Made Me Do It" is just that, an excuse. People need to learn to "Take full responsibility for your actions". It doesn't matter who you are or what position in life you hold, people need to learn to be truthful to themselves and to those around them and to take full responsibility for their own actions and not use some imaginary being as an excuse.
I dont think 'the devil made me do it' is equel to 'temptation'
i was tempted to drink.......and i did/did not
vs i had no control, the little man in red jumped into my head and look at what i did now....
although some would say demon possession is possible...in the sense of those horrible horrible crimes....then the devil could make u do it......
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?
The free will lies in blaming it on anyone but yourself, hence the devil made me do it or the -God wanted this to happen to you-comment which religious rapists often tell their victims
( dunno if they believe it themselves but it wouldn't surprise me if they actually did).
Quote:
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"?
I also don't understand the need to pray to God and asking Him if he could do you favours, as if God should reward you because you have chosen to believe in Him.
Aren't those Christians who do this confusing God with Santa Claus?
Last edited by Tricky D; 08-13-2008 at 04:12 PM..
Reason: typo
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?
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) 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"?
The free will lies in blaming it on anyone but yourself, hence the devil made me do it or the -God wanted this to happen to you-comment which religious rapists often tell their victims 
dunno if they believe it themselves but it wouldn't surprise me if they actually did).
I also don't understand the need to pray to God and asking Him if he could do you favours, as if God should reward you because you have chosen to believe in Him.
