Unpaved Roads
How much free will did he truly have? For some reason, Steven had been obsessed with this subject for as long as he could remember. The closest he had ever come to resolving this constant self debate was a passage he had read in a book a while ago. The crux of this hypothesis was that the degree of free will God grants man is in a perpetual state of flux. Man acts and God reacts.
In short, the theory was presented that in fact, at any given moment in time, our free will is quite limited. Based upon our moral decisions, God would either raise or lower our range of choice available to us.
The examples given were that of the common man. Most of us, under normal conditions, do not consider taking another human beings life. Most of us have risen above that sort of barbarism. On the other hand, let us say, to lend a friend a large sum of money, funds which we might be of need of ourselves. Without collateral nor absolute assurance of being paid back in a certain time frame, that sort of altruism is well beyond the scope of the majority.
Anyway, this man’s theory is that for every good deed we do, our point of free choice is raised. Meaning that where once we might have considered acting immorally in a specific situation, we would no longer feel tempted. Furthermore, a good deed which was out of reach before, now came into the realm of the possible.According to this author, righteous actions perfect us to a pre-ordained degree. Unfortunately, it also works the other way, regarding poor moral decisions we make, our overall moral status is lowered.
The author also pointed out that at times, rare to the extreme, a person may undergo a sudden metamorphosis, and these must be considered a pure act of God. Sometimes they are a result of man’s actions, at other times they are accomplished exclusively by the desire of the Almighty, with no apparent rhyme or reason.
These theories satisfied Steven for a while. But after the following episode, he reverted back to his previous state of perpetual confusion regarding the subject of man’s free will.
Steven, as one could have gathered, was a person who did not permit his first instinct to determine his actions. He gave some thought to any happening which, in his mind, was of any significance. He was neither an extraordinary courageous man, nor a coward. He thought himself a very prudent individual, never one to act rashly. He took some pride in this character trait.
So when he was walking home from work one Thursday evening, his mind focused in on some philosophical inquiry, he suddenly heard some man’s ear piercing screams for help emanating from the pitch black alleyway to his immediate right. He knew a crime was taking place, violence definitely involved. Should he go in to inquire as to the precise circumstances, or dial 911 and let the police handle it?
He decided, with little hesitation, upon the latter of the two. After all, he carried no weapon. Furthermore, how would he be able to decipher the guilty from the innocent? Maybe the screaming man was deserving of the beating he was obviously getting? No, better to let professionals deal with the situation.
He stood there, waiting for the police to arrive. It sure was taking them a hell of a long time. With the man’s screams becoming more desperate, he decided to enter the alleyway slowly, as inconspicuously as possible. But it was a dirt road, large unseen rocks and crevices everywhere. He almost fell twice before he heard the sounds of the police sirens.
He retraced his steps in order to direct the officers to the scene of the violence. The policemen, guns in one hand and flashlights in the other, rushed into the now lit up alleyway. Steven followed closely behind.
What they discovered at the scene shocked even these seasoned veterans of the Police Force. What Steven had taken for a man’s screams were those of a youth in his late teens. He was naked, having been sodomized. His body was beaten to a pulp. There was no evidence of any weapons being used, other than the hands and feet and other body parts of the perpetrators. An officer, only in order to follow procedure, knelt over the boy to feel for a pulse. As he knew, there was none. The other officer found some of the young man’s clothing and covered his face.
“You will have to come down to the station with us”, one of the Policemen said to Steven, as they both looked at him with utter repulsion and disgust.
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