In an article simply titled “Determinism,” an unnamed author states that determinism is the opposite of free will. The author states that determinism means that everything is set in stone. He says that everything that will happen in the future is as sure to happen as something that has already happened. This means that everything in our lives is predetermined before our birth, thus, leaving us no free will. The author mentions something in the article that I find very interesting. He describes something called “genetic determinism.” Genetic determinism means that our fate lies in our genes and that our fate is predetermined by our genes. Much like hair color and eye color, we have no control over our “genetic determinism.” However, the author does mention that due to breakthroughs in genetic technology, we should be able to eventually pinpoint the genes and “change our fate” by changing our genetic makeup. He calls genetic determinism “puppet determinism” because “we are dancing on the strings of our genes.” 

The author does bring up a good point about morality in his article. He states that if determinism is true then our outlook on morality is pointless. If determinism is true then we are predestined to do the things we do. Therefore, if we kill someone, it is because we were predestined to kill them. This also means that the person who was killed we predestined to be killed by the person who killed them. According to the author, morals are pointless because we could not, or should not, be held responsible for something that we were predestined to do either by hard determinism or our genetic makeup. Basically, the author states that everything is God’s will and humans have no ability to choose. I believe that determinism is a load of crap set in place by religious leaders centuries ago to control people and force Christianity upon them. Don’t get me wrong, I am a Christian man but I do believe that determinism is a bunch of bull. I think that the church came up with the idea so that anytime something bad happened; they could simply say that it was God’s will and feel better about themselves. I’ve said it once and I will say it again. I believe that the only things in life that we don’t choose to do or not to do, are be born and die. One might argue that one can choose when to die and I do agree with that to some extent, but I also believe that God does have our birth date and death dates predetermined. However, everything in between is free will.  

People do not have deterministic genes that say that they will kill someone when they are 24. People make choices and unfortunately some of those choices are bad. Determinism was the church’s excuse for everything bad in the world. They didn’t want to accept that people were evil. The story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden is the perfect example that determinism is crap. Adam and Eve were told by God not to eat the forbidden fruit. There was no divine power stopping them from doing it. They chose to eat the fruit even after being told not to. This shows that humans have always had free will. If it was God’s will to have sinners in this world, he would not have even wasted his time giving Adam and Eve the opportunity to eat the fruit or not. He would have just created a world with sin. This goes to show that God wanted humans to have free will.  Now, whether or not you believe the story of Adam and Eve is a whole different discussion. However, my point is clear. I really believe that determinism is a ridiculous theory. Everyone is born with a clean slate and can make choices for themselves. Determinism is an excuse for unacceptable human behavior.  Unknown. “Determinism.” . CTNS. 10 Apr. 2007 <http://www.meta-library.net/gengloss/determ-body.html>.