I wanted to say a few things last night in this thread, but as I said in another, I wasn't feeling well dure to oral surgery. I'm still heavily medicated, so bare with me.
Since when did having faith in a religion become the same as wearing shackles around one's ankles and hands? I have every bit as much freewill as the next person. You choose what is right for you, and I do the same. It doesn't matter where one's morals are derived because there is still always choice. Our actions are influenced by various things for different people, so there really is no difference. Christians and other people of some religion just have fear of what their actions in this life will impact their next life. But living out of fear is not what drives most Christians that I know; it's the desire to do what's right. And when one is doing what he or she wishes to do, how can someone else say that person's life is an imprisonment.
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Punishment for wrong doing dates back to early man. Punishment in Britain is not related to the Bible, a fact which is made obvious by the existance of executions throughout history - a thoroughly unchristian practice.
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Surely, you have heard of all the stoning in the Old Testament. Fortunately, such practices have been overruled.
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First of all, eternal salvation isn't something you live for anyway. You need to be dead to recieve eternal life.
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Well, you do have to live a good life in order to receive it when you're dead. (Excluding young children who haven't come to the "age of accountability".)
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I am a man of science, therefore I believe in niether. But again, you are totally entitled to that belief (although science disproves a lot of destiny and fate theories).
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Hmm, can one not be a person of science and a follower of God? And I'm curious, how has science disproved destiny and fate?
While I'm on this subject, my personal belief is like that of Alcar. I believe I have freewill, but my choices are already known... but not chosen for me. I'm terrible at explaining this, but I shall try. Okay, here's an example that sort of makes more sense out of what I'm saying: You have a friend, that you've known your entire life. This friend has been presented with a choice of cheating on a test or working hard to study for it. Well, you know your friend so well, that you absolutely know(it's impossible to know-know, but it's that solid feeling that you know what is going to happen... You just know.) that he will study because that's the kind of guy he is. I think that's how God's knowledge of our actions works to some degree.
I believe there is a limited fate and destiny for all of us, like only certain events happen for a reason and have been set to happen to us no matter what. Other daily things are just sort of there. I also think that if our paths have been predetermined, it's in a way that we still have choice. Like our paths that we are set on always have branches, which are permanently set, but we have the choice of which branches to walk onto. Then God's all knowingness is like... He knows what will happen for each individual path if we choose it, but he leaves it up to us to do choose the right thing and choose the correct paths.
Time for more medication...