Many believe that God wanted people to be free to choose
their behavior. But, while being free to choose the "good",
they are also free to choose evil behavior. If God wanted true
"children", rather than robots, there was always the risk that they
might abuse their gift of free will, and choose evil behavior.
A great deal of the suffering in this world really should
not be blamed on God. It results from mean, cruel, inhuman choices people
make. For example, people-initiated acts of greed, social prejudice,
racism or oppression, often lead to the evils for others of poverty and social
marginalization, resulting in misery and premature death, that could have been
avoided. Even with natural disasters like landslides and floods, much of
the suffering that results would be alleviated if people chose to help out more
in the aftermath.
However, this does not explain why God does not block the
harm to others caused by our bad choices. We do not let a child run out
in front of a speeding car, just to let him exercise his free will. We
would want to block major harm to that child! Why doesn't God do
that? Is the need for free will a good enough reason for all the options
of evil that seem to come with it? We retain a wide range of choices on
how to act as God's "agent" on earth.
As a Christian, I do not believe that I was born morally
neutral. It seems that from the beginning, I was biased toward sinning
---- that too often I would make an evil choice. In the exercise of
my free will, I was apt to choose what benefited me in some way, not
what benefited others. So, I am grateful that someone named Jesus made a
very great sacrifice to redeem these mistakes. While I do have some power
of decision in my daily life, too often I seem to continue using my free-will
powers to please just myself.
There are so many ways we can freely reject God in our daily
lives, and then try to serve as our own God. For example, we
seek pleasure in boosting our ego. Or, indulging in simple things like
eating certain foods to excess.
Besides making occasional "evil" free will
choices, sometimes we also choose behavior which actually limits the
future exercise of our personal free will. For some folks, there is the
discovery of certain chemicals and drugs which give them relief from the pain
and anxieties of everyday life. In effect they are surrendering to an outside
factor, but it is not God. If they do this frequently, it becomes a
habit, and then an addiction. By definition, the person has now lost some
of the "free" from his free will. The addictive compulsion has
nullified the person's ability to freely choose.
On February 2, 2014, New York City police found the dead
body of Philip Seymour Hoffman, a highly-regarded film and stage actor.
Apparently, he had struggled with heroin addiction for some time and he seems
to have died of a heroin overdose. A syringe was found still inserted in
his arm. Often, an addiction begins with over-use at home of prescription
drugs. Heroin is well-known to be highly addictive, but we also have
other addiction options.
Colorado and Washington State have legalized the public sale
of marijuana, and other states may follow. While marijuana may have
legitimate medical uses as a pain killer, it is not hard to see how it's wider
availability will draw-in new users, creating new addicts and compromising
their free exercise of God-given free will.
The smoking of tobacco products is less lethal than heroin
or "pot", but it kills 480,000 Americans a year, reports the New York
Times. Kathleen Sebelius, former Secretary of Health and Human Services,
said that each day some 3,200 children under age 18 will try a cigarette and
700 will go on to become daily smokers. That means, she said, that 5.6
million American children alive today will die premature deaths because of diseases
linked to smoking.
But, some good news was also reported by the New York Times
---- about 18% of American adults smoke, but that is down from 42% in
1965. In New York City, which has used a combination of steep taxes on
cigarettes and bans on smoking in public places, to discourage smokers, the
decline is even greater, dropping to 14%.
Alcohol consumption is another addiction for some
people. What all addictions have in common is that the victims have
surrendered control of their God-given judgment and capacity to choose
freely. Sometimes third-parties can bring an addiction victim back into
self-control, but usually it is not easy and it often takes the continued
support of other family members ---- and even then, it is not a sure bet.
Perhaps the best course of action is alertness to all
potential addictions, and then to avoid them as if our lives depended on it
---- as they surely do. It may start as a desire or a longing.
Temptation starts when we think about giving in to a desire, or about fulfilling
a legitimate desire in a wrong way or at the wrong time. Temptation
always starts in one's mind, not in the circumstances outside of us. One
finally acts on the thought we have been toying with in our mind. What
began as an idea gets born into behavior. Now we give in, and the next
time we are challenged to take this action it is more difficult to say
"NO". This is addiction and it is self-reinforcing.
Addiction over-rides our freedom of choice ---- we are no
longer in control of some of the behavior and choices God has granted to our
personal domain.
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These thoughts are brought to you by CPC's Adult
Spiritual Development Team, hoping to encourage you to pursue some personal
spiritual growth this winter at CPC.
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