Free Will?

Do you believe in free will?  Or are you a determinist?

What does it mean to have free will?  Philosophically, does it mean that you have the ability to choose one option or another in regards to any situation? Or does it have more of an application with bigger issues, such as violence vs human treatment, committing adultery or not, etc? Or does it apply to whether or not you want cereal or grits for breakfast?

Normally, I would guess, the question of free will or not is brought up in a religious setting.  We have all heard the various opinions of the denominations of mainstream religions in regards to determinism and free will.  However, less heard, are the opinions from people of less mainstream religions, such as Wicca.  Being that I have a larger influence from Wicca and paganism in my beliefs, my thinking in regards to this question will reflect as much.

In addition to this being a religious question, the person attempting to create a response would already have had to answer a previous question in regards to their belief in a god. Therefore, do you believe in a god, under any aspect?  Once you have sat and answered this question, in the context of the type of god, under the type of religion or spiritual belief, then you have almost nearly answered the question of free will.  Why?  Because it is almost inherent in which god you believe in that it has been stated through that belief of what that particular deity sees as you having free will, or they control your destiny.

Which is why, though I have the influence from Wicca, I cannot claim to use the label or the identity of a Wiccan.  First let me explain, Wicca has duality in their god forms, a Goddess and a God.  I go a bit further in saying that, yes, the Goddess and God exist and represent the forms that life take and the way that, we as humans, can categorize life: in a feminine aspect and a masculine aspect.  If you take a step back from the masculine and feminine and combine them, you have what I call the Source.  The Source is THE deity, it creates all else by splitting itself into masculine and feminine forms that, thus, create everything else by their attributes.

Now that I have answered the second question of my belief in deity, therefore I should be able to answer the question that is the title of this essay; should.  However, I do want to state my opinion concerning the inherent conflict between free will and determinism.  I view it in the same sense that the argument between nature and nurture can be viewed: nature via nurture (that the two coexist and need each other to create what we see in ourselves and in the animal kingdom).  Now substitute nature and nurture for free will and determinism.

Finally, my opinion:

We have all been created; we have all been born, despite whatever type of creator one believes in. 

We do have free will, but we are also determined – we will be given lessons to learn by the creator in this life (and in all of our different lives – yes, I believe in reincarnation) – this is what has been determined; it is our choice to learn these lessons, or choose to ignore these lessons – this is our free will.