How is your life controlled? Is it fate and destiny, having your life already planned out for you? Or Choice, vhere your life is hatched out through your choices in that life, and you control your fate to an extint? Vhere as I believe in choice, others may believe in fate...vhich do you believe in?

I believe in choice...the choices I make affect my life...I haven't been a situation where fate has control.

I don't think it does either...I think that vhile there may be some higher power out there, that it has no control over vhat ve as human beings can do.

Well I think my choices are kind of controlled by the chioces of other's like listening to what they say or not and such choices.

Both.

Fate/Destiny is being brought on Earth to do something special.

Choice is what you choose in life, and whatever happens is all up to you.

Yes, but I feel that your choices can determine wether or not you carry out your purpose in life...

boy this sounds familliar *coughclickherecough*
I believe:
1-we have free will.
2-God knows what we will do.
3-God knows what choices (using our free will) we will make.

Agreed.

I don't really think that bringing your religious beliefs into this was nessessary, as no one cares. I believe that we choose what we do with our lives and how we do it. No one tells me what I do with my life, as its mine.

Wow..I completely agree vith Durendal, and completely disagree vith aiscool and Legault....the fact that some higher power, whoever it is, has basically complete control over us is absurd. Then there is no meaning in life if you yourself can't live it because someone else already has your choices made out for you.

Peoples religious beliefs are brought into anything and everything they do. So I don't see how it's unnecessary to bring them up in a topic such as this.

aiscool just said the exact same thing as you:

The only difference is, he also believes there is a God who knows what we will do, not because he is controlling us, but because he just knows everything.

I must say that I do agree with aiscool....And with you.

Yes, as that is true, but what I meant by it was that you could just use "some higher power" instead of God, Buddha, or anyone you worship....that way this is a neutral topic that doesn't appear to support any religion...but I don't like or agree with the fact that the higher power already knows what we will choose and basically, in a way, already has our lives planned out for us, because if that higher power is our maker, why would he allow us to make choices such as rape and murder, when that higher power wants what's best for us.

Because if he didn't, the "good" choices we make would be pointless.

Ok, you got me there, but vhat about the people those evil acts are done to, vhat about them? Vas it the higher power's plan for them to experience that?

If they are indeed evil(which I believe they are) then no, of course it wasn't what he wanted.

But there is no way to protect those people, without taking away free will.... and by that, making life pointless.

I know, but don't you think if he really didn't want that to happen there should be some sort of divine intervention?

Who is to say there isn't?

But at the same time, if God intervened all the time, then wouldn't that still be in some way causing free will to cease?

Yes....and no...I mean, you can still make choices, but when that higher power intervenes in an instance that you don't have control, such as being attacked by a rapist or murderer, how would that interupt free will?

hmmmm....You know what? I can see that argued both ways, and honestly...I'm not sure which way I would agree with.

edit:but at the same time, that's like saying: you may have chocolate or vanilla, and when they choose vanilla, you say NO that's bad for you! Here have chocolate.

I do believe that God does intervene. Why he does not always intervene, I'm not sure..

Vell, vell, vell...I see we've entered a stalemate, as we both agree on something! Darn, I don't know vhere to go now!

how do you propose we talk about destiny and avoid religion?

for some thing to be destined it must have been decided upon by some ultamate deciding force.

Yes, but why have someone have your life planned out, when you can make your own choices in life?

I have a mind so I controlled myself. Those without one, I think, is the one that let others controlled.

Good point, those that rely on a higher power to explain things are in capable in believing in coice, I believe.

the 'higher power' (God) has given us a free will. He gave us the ability to choose to do good or bad.

Yes, but if he is our savior, then why doesn't he prevent some of the bad things from happening to people who can't make the choices to save themselves?

When God created Man, he gave them a decision to either obey God or to disobey him. That was man's choice to do what they wanted. So since man rebelled against God in the Gared of Eden, sin entered the world and punished man for rebelling. That's why God doesn't intervene everytime. If it's something that was supposed to happen because of sin then it will happen, but if it isn't then there might be some intervention.

:peace:

myles_master

yes, but, when the sinful act against a saint or someone who hasn't sinned God is just supposed to sit back and watch? How can that be right? Just because man's predecessors rebelled against God doesn't mean everyone else has to pay the price...that's just not right!

Everyone is born with sin because of Adam. Since Adam disobeyed God, God cursed the seed. (which is everyone) The curse was sin. Nobody hasn't sinned except for God and Jesus. Everyone is punished because of sin.

:peace:

myles_master

But why have they sinned? Are you saying that a newborn child, who hasn't done a single thing in the world that could be declared sinful, has sinned because God cursed his ancient anscestors? I just don't see that as fair or right....

I take the fact that noone has answered my question as proof of my point, but anyway

everyone is born with a sinful nature, not sin. he isn't saying that newborn baby are sinners, he's saying tht we are all cursed because of Adam.

i dont believe in destiny or fate, i believe in hope and luck

an we are all cursed because of 1.the serpent (devil) 2. eve (she took the fruit)
3. God (for putting the tree there in the 1st place

So you are saying that because we are compelled to sin those that even haven't sinned yet have their fate cut out for them, even if that means being raped or brutally murdered?

when the first man(Adam(along with eve,the first woman)) sined sin enterd the whole world through him. the sin was in him so when he had children the sin was in them because the child was born from sinnfull beings.

but if you believe in your heart and confess with you lips that Jesus Christ died for our sins and is God (one part of the trinity). God will take our sins away so that we will go and live in heaven with Him when we die.

That is completely wrong to me...I'm sorry, I do believe in God, but I'm agnostic for these very reasons because I don't think that just because you are born from sinful ancestors doesn't mean you should have to say Jesus died for us just so you can go to heaven..I'm sorry if I offend people, but those are my views.

Well, some churches believe that the baptism of a child is there passage into the kingdom of heaven. Confirmation also plays a role in this.

But how can practically drowning a kid be passage into heaven? This isn't one of my views, it's an ACTUAL question.

no where in the Bible that i have EVER heard that infant babtism is a good thing. being batised is an outward proclomation of you faith in God and Jesus Christ.

even if we are born 'without sin' we arnt that way for long. I am yet to see a speeking child who hasnt sinned.

Yes, we make mistakes, but I don't see why one mistake can condemn someone for an eternity, unless the claim that "God is our savior and our creator, and I give myself to him so I can go to heaven." is made....how is that fair? One mistake and your in hell?