Free Will & Christianity

The topic of free will is important in any person’s belief system. Free will is a huge subject and I today I will only be discussing theological determinism and how that affects free will.

What is free will exactly? Well, the question of free will is to determine whether or not and how a person exercises control of their actions and decisions.

What is theological determinism? It’s the idea that there is a god or some higher power that determines what humans will do either by knowing what will be done or by planning it out. So, if you believe in a fully omniscient God, Fate, or say things like, “Everything happens for a reason.”, and, “God has a plan for us.”, then you believe in theological determinism. The kind of theological determinism the Bible teaches is predestination. That means that God plans out everything for us. Here are some quotes:

"Consider God's handiwork; who can straighten what He hath made crooked?" - Ecclesiastes 7:13

"In love [God] predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves."- Ephesians 1:4-6

"For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." - Ephesians 2:4-10

Believing in theological determinism is not a bad thing per se(if you're ok with lack of free will). Although when contradictions start to arise in your philosophy due to determinism and free will, you must correct it. God is either perfectly omniscient and you have no free will. Or, He isn't perfectly omniscient and you have free will.

The Prayer Problem

If God knows what He wants to do and what you are going to do, what good is prayer? He has created the situations you pray for. He has planned for you to pray. He has planned His reactions to your prayer. Even if somehow you have free will when it comes to prayer, this is what St. Paul said:

"But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, 'Why did you make me like this?'" - Romans 9:20-21

The Problem of Evil

If God has planned everything, He has made all the evil. If God only knows of everything, He allows evil to exist(that or He can't stop evil).

Christian Automaton

How important are your actions if you are not free to choose them? Your strings are being pulled by God. Why should you be praised for the good you do? How can you be blamed for the bad you do? If God is truly in your control, only He deserves praise or blame. You may think I'm going to hell, but, according to your beliefs, I had no choice in the matter.

Unneccesary Wrath

Same logic as before. Why is God pissed at you for doing what He planned for you to do? Why must sins be punished? You did not choose to sin! It was predestined!

Without free will, God's actions seem crazy. Without free will, the point of religion is lost. Our struggles should have a point. When we act in discordance with our belief system, we should grow from that. We should try harder to do as we say we should do. Erring is human. Trying not err is an important part of being a human. It gives meaning to right and wrong. What makes a sin a sin if you have no choice but to do it?

By having the ability to fuck up, you have the ability to make up for yourself. We have the ability to make ourselves better and to choose good rather than bad.

What is this post meant to do? It's not meant to ridicule, but to challenge. One should question the books of one's belief system. One should question the doctrine's of one's belief system. Are you ok with having no free will? Or, would you rather believe that God is not all powerful so that your actions may have meaning?

The point of this post is not enrage, but to enlighten. Question me. Question your belief-system. Question prophets, books, preachers, etc.

And to the cop-out philosophies like Molinism. Those philosophies are just that cop-outs. But, there's criticism for everything I guess.

Here's to questioning one's beliefs!

Congratulations Miguel y Crisol!

On August 16th at around 2 in the morning Mountain Time, Miguel and Crisol got married!

This was the first marriage I performed! They are Catholic!

From Miguel y Crisol

From Miguel y Crisol

From Miguel y Crisol

From Miguel y Crisol

From Miguel y Crisol

From Miguel y Criso

That's one more happy couple in the world!

I Do

Yes! I do weddings!

As a secular humanist reverend for the Universal Life Church, I have the same rights as any ordained minister. Therefore, I am a legal wedding officiant for El Paso County and any other counties with lax marriage laws. If your county only requires a wedding officiant to be backed by a church(proven either with ministry credentials, a wedding officiant certificate, or a letter of good standing), than I can marry you!

My fee is $40 plus any additional costs. Additional costs can be:

• Travel such as gas, plane tickets, etc
• Hotels(or any place to stay)
• Food(if I'm staying for a while)
• Rentals such as a car or outfit of some sort

So basically any expenses that I may incur by marrying you will be paid by you.

I doubt that there will be any additional expenses unless I'm going out of town so don't worry!

If you're looking to get married by me, you can e-mail me at rafael.adan.martinez@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at (915) 317-6699 with your name and number.

Thank You Universal Life Church!

I would not be a minister today if it were not for the Universal Life Church. Check them out here: themonastery.org

The Universal Life Church(ULC) is a non-profit organization that ordains ministers of all belief-systems. Becoming a minister is made simple with this organization. I believe that is a good thing! Yes, the existence of this church means anyone can become a minister. But, is that really a problem?

In the past, people with bad morals and bad intentions have become ministers. Look at the Roman Catholic Church’s history. There have been quite a few bad Popes. We also know of the child-abuse scandals throughout America. At least now, all belief systems have the same chance to become ministers and make their own mistakes.

That’s a big gain in rights! You know you’ve gone far when you’re given the chance to fuck up. Its called responsibility! The ULC allows people of all belief systems to become ministers and to exercise their rights as a minister. The law in some counties is that only someone backed by a church can be a Wedding Officiant.

Well, I’m backed by a church thanks to the ULC! I can legally marry people in my home county. I can do everything a priest does, but I’ll be doing it for atheists(sans the child abuse of course). Again, thats a big gain in rights! Atheists are always fighting for separation of church and state. I agree that its not right for religion to have such a strong influence on goverment. But, we vote according to our beliefs and a person’s religion really determines their beliefs. Try as we might, we cannot get rid of religion.

We fight for separation of church and state, but maybe that’s backwards. Are we fighting all churches or just the ones who fly the Christian flag? We can never truly separate church and state because, like I said, people’s beliefs are influenced by religion. Instead, I believe we should fight so that all churches and all belief systems can be a part of the state. This will lead to more compromise and fairness.

Society is not composed soley of monotheists and atheists. The ULC understands this and accepts people of all belief systems. The ULC gives everyone the opportunity to be a responsible minister. I now have almost the same rights that a minister of a traditional Christian church does. Let’s hope this expansion of rights will continue to all the people of this country no matter their beliefs. Let’s hope that one day Freethinkers, Christians, Buddhists, New Agers, and everyone else will have the same amount of influence on their surroundings.

Loneliness and Despair

As an atheist, there is no higher power that I have to guide me.

I can recall Christians that I know telling me about how they have felt abandoned by God and how such a lonely and scary feeling that is. Welcome to an atheists despair.

When times are rough and there seems like nobody is there. It really feels like nobody is there! There’s no higher power to have faith in. There’s seemingly no one to depend on. Sometimes it feels like all you have is yourself.

But, you’re probably just in a very dark place and that’s probably not true. In my belief system, I have true libertarian free will. That means I make my future. I truly control my actions. There is no fate. I am not destined for anything. I have no idea where I’ll be in 5 years. But, nothing knows where I’ll be in 5 years. There’s no path set for me by some higher power. Nothing is set in stone. I am never straying from a path other than my own.

When I do stray, I have to ask myself what am I doing wrong? How am I not achieving my own goals? Are my goals wrong? So, I sit and think. I try to find where the disturbance lies. Is it within my own philosophy? Or, am I just having trouble realizing my own philosophy in the world I am living in?

If there’s a mistake in my own philosophy, I correct it and move on. I learn from my past mistakes. I try not to stray from my path.

If I cannot realize my philosophy, because it just can’t be realized in this world, that is when there is trouble. I am not omnipotent and all powerful; I cannot snap my fingers and change the world to my liking.

So, here I am. I have an idea of where I’d like to be and of who I am. But, I cannot be there and I cannot be that in this world. What do I do?

Well, I have faith. I know that there can exist a future where I am happy. Maybe the world has changed somehow. Maybe my philosophy has. Maybe I have copped out. Maybe I have learnt how to live with my head in the clouds and my feet on the ground. Either way, I have faith that the future can be good and therefore that one day my present will be a good and happy one. I have faith that one day I will be happy.

I mean truly happy! There is happiness in my life. I’m happy when I’m relaxing with friends. I’m happy when I’m with my dogs. I’m happy when I’m cooking. I’m happy when I’m having a good conversation. But, I want to be truly happy. I want to be living according to my philosophy. And, I’m currently not. Happiness is something I enjoy on a daily basis. It’s just that in the back of my mind I know that there is a something wrong. I am not living my philosophy.

And, that’s what living is! I believe that life is meaningless. There is no higher power that gives it meaning. No higher power exists to determine whether or not there is a right way to live. So, I try to find my own way. I have my own belief of what the right way of living is. When I’m not living the way I think I should be, life loses all meaning. Sure, I’m living, but I’m not living according to my philosophy. It’s as though I’m living a lie.

That is what leads me to the point where I’m thinking about my philosophy. Doubt comes to visit. Am I right about my philsophy? Am I right about being unable to live my philosophy? I see myself as being confused. I need to talk to somebody to sort things out! But, who do I talk to? No higher power exists so that’s out. I could talk to friends, but that’s a heavy burden to share. Not to mention the fact that some friends would think I’m just downright insane!

I get to the point where I can’t trust my Self. My Self is confused. Its out of whack. I am confused. I am depressed. It’s impossible to turn to a higher power because one doesn’t exist. I am so confused that I think that I have no friends to turn to. It’s just a dark place.

In this kind of situation, one must remember that one does have friends to turn to! We may fear losing friends by opening up to them, but if you do lose that friend you must ask yourself, “Were they truly my friend?”. Maybe they weren’t. But if you open up and your friend helps you out, you have just strengthened your friendship and gained clarity. Sounds like a win-win to me.

Whenever you feel alone, do not lose hope! There are good experiences to be had. There is great happiness to achieve. There are friends around you to help you on your journey.

How can one avoid feeling such loneliness and despair? I don’t know if it is possible. Maybe we have to stop thinking ourselves into depression. Maybe we should just embrace the here and now once in a while. But, that’s a whole other post.

Till then, there’s hope and questioning!

What Can I Preach?

The question I get asked all the time is:

“What can you preach?”

It’s as though my being an atheist means I have no belief system! I have much to preach about! I will teach about questioning your environment, finding a way, and accepting other versions of the same truth.

We have a lot to learn from each other. And, much more to learn from our environment. We’ll find our way!

Til then, here’s to hope and understanding!