This is an e-mail I sent to Mr. Jaime T. Licauco back in 2003. I am re-posting it here since it’s related to the previous post on Freewill vs. Destiny.
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Dear Mr. Licauco:
I fully agree with you that our freewill is absolute. [Even the devil appears to have recognized this, if we are to believe the discussion between Keannu Reeves and Al Pacino at the end of the movie “Devil’s Advocate”]. I also believe that our destiny is simply the result of the choices that we make.
According to you, predestination is simply the result of free choices we have made in previous lives. This presupposes that one’s life is a continuous thread spanning through different times, which is consistent with the Hindu belief on reincarnation. This is in contrast to the teaching of the Catholic faith, which says that when we die, our souls either go to heaven, purgatory or hell – for all eternity. There are no past lives. I am not saying which belief system is wrong; that is too presumptuous of me.
Now, we may say, for instance, that it is unfair to be born poor, while others are born rich. Some are born with angelic faces, and some are not so lucky (well, I don’t know if I am lucky enough). Some say that this is merely the result of a cosmic lottery. For some, it is just a way of working out the karma we have incurred in our past lives. Nevertheless, from either perspective, what we are at the moment of conception is predestined. I believe that is hardly a matter of choice; but from there, we make our own destiny. What we will become is not predetermined. One’s destiny is as infinite as the choices that he/she makes in his/her lifetime.
It is here where I agree with Prof. Albus Dumbledore (of the Harry Potter movies) when he said, “It is the choices that we make that really makes us who we are, rather than what we are.”
Fred
