I used to ask, as a Christian, why God seems to be absent from our daily lives. Forget about prayer, or even attending services, it seemed to me that God never cared about what people did. Think about al of the awful things that humans do to one another; All of the atrocities that have occurred during just your lifetime. If there is a loving, caring God, that cares so much about his creation (us) why won’t this God do something about all of the evil people do towards one another?

Of course, according to the bible, Genesis specifically, God did at one time by wiping out all of humanity with the exception of one family and of course animal species from around the world that were maintained on a ship, built by that family, so that the earth would be restored after this Gods’ retribution towards his own creation.

Of course, I was also told that it was God’s plan to give humans free will: that is to accept his love and redemption or to go their own way. The problem I’ve always had with free will is why then, would any God punish any of his creation for behaving exactly as proscribed? Believe or not. Be a good person, or serial killer. Commit genocide. It’s all under the umbrella of free will. But wait! If you’re a genocidal maniac, or a serial killer, you’re certainly going to eternal punishment. Maybe. If you’re laying on the execution table, waiting for that lethal injection, and ask Jesus to forgive you and accept him in your heart? Boom! Next step? Heaven? It doesn’t matter how terrible you were on earth, it’s on;y important that you accepted Christ, even on your deathbed, to gain entry through St. Peters Gates.

Of course this comes from the book of Luke, where Jesus forgives one of those cricified with him (Luke 23: 42-43):

…42Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom!” 43And Jesus said to him,“Truly I tell you, today you will be with Me inParadise.”

I guess this is what is meant by free will: Don’t worry about what you do in your life as long as before you die, you accept Jesus and ask forgiveness Wonder why so many people are rejecting religious belief, wholesale? It’s meaningless. We all have free will no matter what or who we believe in . We make out own choices in life, good or bad. We pay the consequences of those decisions under laws made by humans, not any God.

As an atheist, I agree with the general concept of free will; We all have it, able to exercise our own judgement within the constraint of secular laws. We have no need for any God to instruct us in right and wrong as we’ve decide for ourselves what constitutes wrong – those actions that harm society. I have no intent, ever, of robbing, raping, or murdering anyone, and if I did, I would face the consequences of my peers within society. No God needed. No God wrote those laws, and no God will be my ultimate punishment if I choose, by my own free will, to ignore them.