I recently had an assignment in my philosophy class to answer the question of free-will. I was a little iffy when it came to responding because; 1. I wasn't sure exactly what I believed about it and 2. I knew I could start some pretty steamy debates among fellow classmates. That being said, I posted what I believed regardless of the controversy it may have caused, and this is what I came to conclude:
IF free-will was non-existent people would not have as many religious beliefs. I believe in a God who is based on the idea of free-will. Without free-will we couldn't chose to be with God or a god. Aside from what you believe; being with God will make you more free. A lot of people say religion will just bind you down to more rules and laws, but I disagree. The concept of being with God is so that you can be "free" from all of the other binds in life that could take you down the path of not being free. This may include; drugs, alcohol, sex-addiction, etc...I am not saying that one can't get out of those things once they are submerged, but I am saying it is more difficult to, if say, you had a belief in something much higher than you that will help you stay free from those things.
With that being said, because this concept of God is to "set one free" in a sense, you have the choice to do ANYTHING you want. Being a believer, doesn't make you better and doesn't make your wide variety of decisions in your life different, it just helps you distiguish bad from good and be free of going down a path that could take your free-will from you in a heart beat.
