META: The problem of "Good vs. Evil"

[Tom Russell]

On Feb 19, 6:07 am, Martin Phipps <martinphip... at yahoo.com> wrote:
> On Feb 19, 3:29 pm, Tom Russell <milos_par... at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> > On Feb 19, 2:12 am, Jamas Enright <t... at eyrie.org> wrote:
>
> > > (cf. God has a plan for us that none of us can fathom, nor presumedly
> > > change.)
>
> > Calvinism.  Feh.
>
> > > Bah, "free will", don't buy it. Illusion thereof, yes, but actual?... no.
>
> > Hold on a second there.  Are you saying that human beings are actually
> > incapable of making decisions and controlling their motor functions?
> > That we're unable to choose the words that come out of our mouths?
>
> > Because that's what you're saying if you reject the concept of free
> > will.
>
> Look at it this way.  Suppose, hypothetically, you had a really bad
> day: your political ambitions weren't going as well as you hoped and,
> to top it off, you got fired.  Now, suppose you go online and read
> somebody's story and work out your frustrations by posting a scathing
> review.

Yeah, that's completely and exactly _not_ the case, Martin, and even
with the smiley/"purely a hypothetical" I'm deeply hurt by the obvious
implication.

With the exception of the super-short and general review I wrote when
you kept pestering me to review your stories, I have always tried to
make valid and helpful criticisms.  You don't think they're valid and
you don't think they're helpful-- fine.

But don't accuse me of pulling stuff out of my ass or venting
displaced anger.  I don't appreciate that in the least.

==Tom