tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12969277.post4028860900807040879..comments2023-07-02T04:23:08.798-05:00Comments on Sew's Spot: Free WillSewmousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01698392521648800227noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12969277.post-80059224911159135282007-08-11T02:29:00.000-05:002007-08-11T02:29:00.000-05:00Our moral freedom, like other mental powers, is st...Our moral freedom, like other mental powers, is strengthened by exercise. The practice of yielding to impulse results in enfeebling self-control. The faculty of inhibiting pressing desires, of concentrating attention on more remote goods, of reinforcing the higher but less urgent motives, undergoes a kind of atrophy by disuse. In proportion as a man habitually yields to intemperance or some other vice, his freedom diminishes and he does in a true sense sink into slavery. He continues responsible in causa for his subsequent conduct, though his ability to resist temptation at the time is lessened. On the other hand, the more frequently a man restrains mere impulse, checks inclination towards the pleasant, puts forth self-denial in the face of temptation, and steadily aims at a virtuous life, the more does he increase in self-command and therefore in freedom.<BR/>PEACE BE WITH YOU<BR/>MICKYAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07940745178193985942noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12969277.post-4218626966688005932007-06-26T09:24:00.000-05:002007-06-26T09:24:00.000-05:00I'd have thought it best to leave the Bible COMPL...I'd have thought it best to leave the Bible COMPLETELY out of it. It's just a seething mass of outdated contradictions. Most of it in my opinion is chinese whispers, utter fiction, so what on earth it's got to do with making important life decisions I have no idea. I just don't get its relevancy.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12969277.post-28196060150804321212007-06-22T20:45:00.000-05:002007-06-22T20:45:00.000-05:00Hi Sewmouse: I enjoyed reading your post about Fr...Hi Sewmouse: I enjoyed reading your post about Free Will and damned if I didn't go to another friend's blog and she has written a post about free will and God's plan. Very syncronistic (sp?). Thought you might enjoy reading it. She's a word buff also. I'm sending her to your's too.<BR/><A HREF="http://ticdesign.blogspot.com" REL="nofollow">TicDesign</A>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12969277.post-75611409471988760882007-06-20T21:54:00.000-05:002007-06-20T21:54:00.000-05:00Hey, you were indisputably correct about one thing...Hey, you were indisputably correct about one thing -- it could get ugly.<BR/><BR/>And it did.Jim Wetzelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07358539074647113747noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12969277.post-51049229148633553982007-06-20T15:41:00.000-05:002007-06-20T15:41:00.000-05:00Well, thanks, and welcome, Annie!At least this way...Well, thanks, and welcome, Annie!<BR/><BR/>At least this way I can differentiate you from the tons of other Anonymouses that leave comments from time to time. Some of them have been quite rude.Sewmousehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01698392521648800227noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12969277.post-83801518676694805402007-06-20T10:45:00.000-05:002007-06-20T10:45:00.000-05:00(previously known as annonymous)Okay, here's a nic...(previously known as annonymous)<BR/>Okay, here's a nick. I still don't know exactly how to address your issues from either free will or predestination. I guess you did a fair job with your attempt from the free will aspect. Predestination gets a little ugly. When taken to it's logical conclusion, predestination suggest that we can't help what we do (since it is all preordained) and yet we are punished by God for something set in motion by God, something we are powerless to stop. It also suggests that God (who has known who would be saved and would not be saved from the beginning) made certain people for no other purpose but to cast them into hell and enjoy their screams of agony into the far reaches of eternity. Although I'm not an atheist, I would certainly prefer atheism to this particular image of God.<BR/><BR/>So what's my personal view of abortion? For me, the whole thing is a non-issue. I am no longer able to procreate and am content to let everyone else make up their own minds. I suffer from no fear that the human race will die off from rampant abortion. I also suffer from no fear that it will ever become impossible to get an abortion. There are people on both sides of the issue that I like enormously and they are mostly content to let me blow it off. So if it's a non-issue for me, why did I write at all? *shrugs* I guess I got hooked by the free will/predestination thing. I love/hate circular arguments that have no point and can't be resolved. Perhaps I was sucked in by your making an argument about something you are passionate about, using something you don't really like or believe in. Nothing particularly wrong with that, it was simply a unique twist for me. Interesting and different.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12969277.post-84863599920578771422007-06-20T10:03:00.000-05:002007-06-20T10:03:00.000-05:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12969277.post-22264219509579268662007-06-20T06:38:00.000-05:002007-06-20T06:38:00.000-05:00BBC: The first paragraph gives the disclaimers, H...BBC: The first paragraph gives the disclaimers, Hon. If we do not use the tools with which they are willing to agree, then we cannot expect them to listen. We ourselves do not have to personally believe in their tools, just use them.<BR/><BR/>Anonymous - please use "Other" and give yourself a nickname next time? I'd like to discuss with you further. BTW, I was brought up LCMS (Lutheran) so that may be why I lean heavily on the "Free Will" doctrine when talkin' "Xtian"Sewmousehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01698392521648800227noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12969277.post-48534117442777947542007-06-20T04:38:00.000-05:002007-06-20T04:38:00.000-05:00they have a "moral imperative" to make sure that t...<I>they have a "moral imperative" to make sure that these "murders" do not occur.</I><BR/>Having been reared by these self appointed, God's water carrying freaks......<BR/><BR/>The hallmark of their existence is cherry picking "causes" from the bible. One of the most interesting things about that book of myths, is that you can prove anything "right" and anything "wrong", by selective quotation from the Old and New testament. The bible so often contradicts itself that I don't see how anybody can believe anything in it. The Reich Wing Terrorists tend to go by the old testament, as the new shows Jesus to be too much of a liberal (free health care, food welfare, compassion, etc.) However, you'll note that they make heavy use of the book of Revelations (the original terrorist manual) to preach doom, gloom, and general "God's gonna get your liberal asses!" crap. Bush is a Fundie, and that's where he gets his talent for preaching fear. That's also where the "rapture" bullshit comes from. Sitting in a building with a bunch of those crazy bastards discussing that chapter, is better than any science fiction movie you'll ever see.:)<BR/><BR/>As I have on so many blogs, I must make the admonishment that these crazed cultists currently holding us hostage, are NOT Christians. They merely kidnapped Christianity and are using it as a shield for their own agenda.<BR/><BR/>I was once talking with a Freako who was spouting off about the sanctity of life. During the "discussion", he stomped on a bug, to which I quickly said: "You only respect SOME life, right?" He got so pissed he took off.:)The Future Was Yesterdayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06515544130113138363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12969277.post-37941182872774425642007-06-19T23:00:00.000-05:002007-06-19T23:00:00.000-05:00Well I declare. I actually agree with BBC's opini...Well I declare. I actually agree with BBC's opinion on abortion. This could be a first and a last.<BR/><BR/>Sewmouse, as for your post - Amen sister!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12969277.post-16279900935415402182007-06-19T20:11:00.000-05:002007-06-19T20:11:00.000-05:00Look hon.Lets leave the bible out of this, we know...Look hon.<BR/><BR/>Lets leave the bible out of this, we know that there is what anyone wants to find and believe in it.<BR/><BR/>And one of it's biggest mistakes is to say that God gave mankind freewill. Maybe you don't follow other blogs that have discussed so called freewill a lot, but I have. <BR/><BR/>Freewill is an interesting subject of course, but there is no such thing as complete freewill. We have to accept and live by certain rules around each other, that over rules complete freewill or any man that wanted to have sex with you could.<BR/><BR/>So not having complete freewill is a good thing.<BR/><BR/>Let me try to keep this short though. Should a woman be able to decide to abort if she wants to?<BR/><BR/>Yes, and the decision has nothing to do with any God. Look at it this way. If she knows that she is too immature or not able to care for a child for twenty years God isn't going to slight her for aborting the child because the spirit knows that may be too much for her to cope with and handle. <BR/><BR/>Well, I explained it the best I could in a comment box.<BR/><BR/>BTW.... If you have a bible, toss it in the garbage can and start thinking for yourself. Hugs.BBChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15323188240580782454noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12969277.post-63868820605797469042007-06-19T18:03:00.000-05:002007-06-19T18:03:00.000-05:00i think its a beagle puppy :o)i think its a beagle puppy :o)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12969277.post-47915547565615422182007-06-19T16:38:00.000-05:002007-06-19T16:38:00.000-05:00Free Will is not a stand-alone concept in the Bibl...Free Will is not a stand-alone concept in the Bible. The reverse is Predestination. Both concepts are covered thoroughly in the Bible. How can God know exactly what we are going to do, who exactly will be saved, unless we don't, in fact, have free will at all? Although God seems quite comfortable with both concepts (assuming the Bible was inspired by God), people just can't seem to make those two concepts shake hands and be friends. These two have been debated ad nauseum for centuries to no avail. It appears to me that most denominations solve the dillemma by granting the existance of both but leaning more heavily on one than the other. The Lutherans, for example, lean more heavily on free will. The Baptists lean more heavily on predestination. Some people solve the problem by saying the physical world exists in TIME while God is not hampered by time in the least, existing in a kind of eternal now where all things happen at once. Others would say this is all simply evidence that the Bible is a load of crap. I doubt this helps. I just got on a roll.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12969277.post-69985394047336709342007-06-19T14:49:00.000-05:002007-06-19T14:49:00.000-05:00Me too, Mary - but this whole philosophising bit h...Me too, Mary - but this whole philosophising bit has been running through my mind for a long while. Why do I keep thinking "Hypocrite" when I hear anti-choice folks?<BR/><BR/>This is one of the reasons - so I thought I'd share it.Sewmousehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01698392521648800227noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12969277.post-11257228762735371762007-06-19T14:30:00.000-05:002007-06-19T14:30:00.000-05:00I just wish we could allow each woman to make her ...I just wish we could allow each woman to make her own decision with or without the biblical influence.Peacechick Maryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16808832340636218022noreply@blogger.com