I don't see the problem. IN Christian thought, sin (and evil) is intrinsic to people. It is not based on their actions, but on their being. Hence Jimmy Carter's famous "lust in his heart" comment.Flannel Jesus wrote: ↑Tue Jun 24, 2025 1:49 pmAh okay, interesting.Belinda wrote: ↑Tue Jun 24, 2025 12:01 pm If and when I say freedom, I am not talking about so-called "Free Will", which is a religious superstition that serves instead of random guessing . When I say freedom I am talking about free relative to physical, mental, and social constraints. Freedom to think, speak, roam. assemble, believe, worship, disdain, and feel is good and is what education should be aimed at, and is absolutely apart from that version of "Free Will" which holds that there is something non- physical , and ineffable and which is not caused by anything under the sun.
And so then the question from many will be, how do you imagine moral responsibility works in a world with no free will? Some people frame free will as "the ability to have done differently", and so no free will means no ability to have done differently and therefore moral responsibility kind of falls apart. If you can't have done differently, how can you be deemed immoral for what you did?
So the murderer or thief who -- because of his brain neurons or whatever else -- cannot do differently is still morally responsible for his acts. If he were a different person, he could have done differently.
"Free" means "unfettered". If Patty Hearst (I may be dating myself) is forced at gun point to rob banks, that act is not "free". If she decides to rob banks because her neurons control her decisions, in common parlance that would remain a "free" act. Therefore, she can be deemed immoral in the second case, because one is morally responsible for oneself, whether the universe is predetermined or not. Determinism is irrelevant both legally and morally.