Free Will or Forced Devotion?
Merriam-Webster defines free will as “the power of acting without the constraint of necessity or fate; the ability to act at one's own discretion.” But when filtered through the lens of organized religion—particularly Christianity—this definition collapses under the weight of doctrinal contradictions.
Consider the religious definition: “Free will is a precious gift from God, for it lets us love him with our ‘whole heart’ because we want to.” Yet, the Bible commands: “You must love Jehovah your God with your whole heart and with your whole soul and with your whole mind” (Matthew 22:37). Therein lies the paradox. If love is mandated under threat of divine retribution or damnation, is it truly free? The concept of free will within religion is rendered impotent by the very commandments that claim to affirm it.
Bertrand Russell and the Voice of Reason
Bertrand Russell, Nobel laureate and preeminent philosopher, wrote with unflinching rationality:
“And if there were a God, I think it very unlikely that He would have such an uneasy vanity as to be offended by those who doubt His existence.”
“The fact that an opinion has been widely held is no evidence whatsoever that it is not utterly absurd.”
Russell never preyed on fear or finances to spread his philosophy. Contrast that with televangelists like Graham, Osteen, Jakes, Robertson, and Creflo Dollar, whose empires thrive off the backs of those desperate for salvation. Where Russell offered logic and inquiry, they offer promises—conditioned on tithes and submission.
Religion as a Tool of Control
Since antiquity, religion has served as an effective mechanism of mass control and financial exploitation. From the First Crusade to the modern-day missionary, religion—especially Christianity—has manipulated billions under the guise of divine mandate. These conversions were rarely acts of free will.
From History.com:
“The Crusades were a series of religious wars between Christians and Muslims... The bloody, violent and often ruthless conflicts propelled the status of European Christians.”
These were not noble spiritual pursuits. They were brutal territorial and ideological conquests.
Forced Conversion: A Global Pattern
- African Americans were indoctrinated into Christianity by slaveholders who used the Bible to justify their oppression.
- Indigenous Americans were stripped of their spiritual heritage through forced missionary conversion.
- European pagans were Christianized under imperial edicts, most notably under Constantine the Great, whose legacy includes executing his wife and son while promoting Christianity as state religion.
- Theodosius I, in 392 CE, decreed Christianity the sole legal religion, criminalizing pagan practices and declaring non-believers as “demented and insane.”
Christian Atrocities: Historical Evidence
- Massacre of Verden (782 CE): Charlemagne ordered the execution of 4,500 Saxons for refusing conversion.
- Lithuania (1387): Christianity was imposed via military force, not divine revelation.
- Kievan Rus': Vladimir the Great mandated mass baptisms under royal decree.
- Ivan the Terrible: A self-proclaimed devout Christian who committed genocidal violence against Muslims in Kazan—110,000 killed—while performing religious penance.
Even Jews were coerced under the threat of death. Marranos—Jews forced to convert in Spain—were hunted during the Inquisition for maintaining secret adherence to their faith.
The Goa Inquisition: A Case Study in Religious Terrorism
During the Portuguese colonial period, the Goa Inquisition rivaled Spain in its brutality:
- Hindu temples were shuttered by 1541.
- Children were dismembered in front of parents to force conversion.
- Those refusing to abandon their native faith were burned alive or strangled publicly.
- Catholic inquisitors used torture machines to compel public confessions and conversions.
- Francis Xavier, canonized as a saint, was one of its architects.
From 35 Brutal Facts of Goa Inquisition (Christian Terrorism):
“The natives refused to get converted under compulsion... so the missionaries used the 'machinery of death' to force acceptance of the gospel.”
Modern Evangelism: Same Mission, Softer Methods
Today, Christianity spreads less by the sword and more by psychological infiltration—through schools, youth groups, and mission trips. Yet the core tactic remains: emotional manipulation, fear of hell, and guilt-driven salvation.
Ruth Hurmence Green, a former Christian, put it bluntly:
“If the concept of a father who plots to have his own son put to death is presented to children as beautiful... what types of human behavior can be presented as reprehensible?”
Conclusion: Religion's Most Enduring Myth
Christianity, like many institutionalized religions, is less a path to enlightenment and more a system of control. Its history is drenched in blood—pagans, Jews, Muslims, Indigenous peoples, and dissenters all suffered under its moral absolutism. The illusion of free will offered by religion is undermined by the command to obey, convert, and conform.
“Christianity, along with all other theistic belief systems, is the fraud of the age… It supports blind submission to authority… and empowers those who use the myth to manipulate society.”
— Zeitgeist
True free will begins with the freedom to question, to doubt, and to reject without fear. Until that freedom is honored, religion remains not a spiritual journey, but a cage gilded with divine rhetoric.
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