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I think many of you have strayed far from the point. There is nothing in this life that God made for us that speaks of servitude, groveling or pleasing. We are here to ENJOY the beauty that God has given us. Hate, anger, displeasure and anything that leads us away from love are MAN-made occurences. Adam sealed our fate when he and Eve ate from the Tree of Knowledge. Before that, Adam and Eve's life was nothing more than enjoying the fruits of God's labor and giving their love back to him. Adam and Eve were the closest to God that any human could ever be, and will ever be for eternity. Our own sin and the sins of others lead us away from God, dispariage us and make us believe that life is not worth living.
The issue of free will is reletively simple, but people seem to enjoy exploiting it to their favor. God created us, therefore He knows what we're thinking and what we're going to do. But did he plan this out? No. Did he at some point, sit down (metaphorically) and say, "hmm...on August 31, I'll make Spektr sit down in front of his computer and yack about Me?" No. God is a being completely outside of the realm of time, and untouched by any of the forces that we are affected by (because He created them). He sees all of eternity as one moment, beginning to end. He sees everything at once, hence, he knows our actions, but he did NOT plan them. We truly have the gift of free will, but God can still know what is going to happen. Afterall, He is God.
I realize that this is a very complex issue, and not easily discussed by most people. I might sound like some fanatical bible salesman, but rest assured, I'm a very devout Jew, and we don't believe in prostelytizing. This is how I feel right now, and right now I'm the most religious I've ever been. I was an atheist most of my life, and most of my life I've been unhappy. Now I'm considering becoming a rabbi. I enjoy talking about this stuff, so I hope it ignites some good conversation.
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