Each religion has doctrine that would guide its followers when making
choices. For example in Christianity, there is the Ten
Commandments. In Buddhism, followers are encouraged to give up
attachment to material things. In Taoism, followers are
encouraged to avoid extremes, excess and complacency. Thus in a
way, each religion seems to restrict
free will.
The Need for Consistency
However on deeper thought, each
religion restricts free-will so as to enforce consistency. For
example if we were to have absolute faith in God, then it would be
inconsistent to seek wealth with another god, seek health with yet
another one, and seek solutions from a third one. It may seem
that free will is restricted: "Why can't I 'freely' choose other ways
of practice which seems to work so well for others?" The answer
is, because each religion is a 'package' way of life, one cannot accept
only part of it and avoid inconsistency.
Consistency in behavior and beliefs is
very important to us. If our actions are based on inconsistent
beliefs, we shall face contradictions and regret very often in our
lives. For example if our faith tells us not to kill, but yet we
find an excuse to kill someone whom we dislike (say the religion does
not support this particular kind of killing), then we would create an
inconsistency within us. As our brain tries to rationalize our
actions, we face contradictions like "Why did I do it?" or regrets like
"I should not have kill him" or insanity like "It is my purpose in life
to kill him" etc. All these states are not good for us, and
consume us.
Three Ways to Diminish the
Free Will Conflict
Every religion has an aspect which is
most important to it. For example faith in God is important in
Christianity, ending suffering is important in Buddhism, and achieving
harmony is important in Taoism. From each of these focuses, the
respective religion has an entire doctrine that supports the
focus. Through the test of time (centuries), the test of
diversity (culture), and the test of intellect (human reasoning), I
believe that each religion is 'optimized' for each's focus. When
the follower's objective is perfectly in sync with the religion's
focus, then the follower's choices would also be in sync with the
religion's doctrine. When the follower's objective is not in sync
with the religion's focus, the follower will soon find mis-alignment in
choices. This is when the follower finds 'restrictions' in free
will.
It is important at this stage for the
follower to go back to his religion and seek his religion's focus, what
I call "find the treasures". By
re-aligning his focus with that of his religion, such conflict in
choices will disappear. Alternatively, the follower could study
the doctrine and find out why the doctrine is as such, and what
inconsistency it is trying to avoid. After discovering the
rationale, the follower would also align his specific choice with that
of his
religion's. Finally, if the follower is not intellectual
enough to follow through all these reasoning, like perhaps the follower
is a young child or mentally troubled at the moment, then a third
method would be to use the religion's fellowship to encourage the
follower into the 'right path'. For example a drug addict cannot
muster enough control and determination by himself, hence the
encouragement and support of his fellowship are needed.
Help
Religion and free will is really an
important issue, because the mis-alignment of free will is a symptom of
a much larger problem - that of
inconsistency within a person's beliefs. It is important for the
dedicated follower to clear his inconsistency quickly before it piles
up and becomes almost impossible to clear. An inconsistent-belief
follower is dangerous to his religion as well as to his society,
because his actions become irrational. If help is needed, the
follower should sit with his religion's councilor to confront such
problems. In the worst
case, if the follower's objective simply cannot be aligned to that of
his religion, then the follower should explore the possibility of
adopting another good religion instead. A happy follower is a
source of positive energy to the society.
May all find bliss and happiness in
their religion.
-By Lee Hon Sing, Oct 4 2003. All ignorance is mine.
Email Hon Sing
.