Limitted causality (even if the threshhold is extremely small) does not deny free will, if there is enough randomness in the picture there is room for novelty even on larger scales. Understanding, of course, that free will does not in any sense equate an eternal soul... and everything could be an illusion anyway.
Ryan, I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on the issue of neuroplasticity as it relates to free will, as touched on in that article.
Like Ryan I can not imagine a realistic circumstance that would alter my "realist" world view. That is, my realist world view is an acceptance, for the basis of moving through life, of an objective reality that can be understood and can best be understood through the cumulative efforts and practice of science. Religious practice is human phenomena that can be understood, partly, in such terms. There is nothing that adds to scientific understanding by incorporating the supernatural, and there is not scientific basis for bringing the supernatural into an objective view of the world. Its not a choice thing. I sometimes wonder how otherwise good people could possibley support a celestial dictator and all time world champ murderer, torturer, and othewise petulant bastard monster kind of a god. If there is a Pascal's wager logic to this, it is morally sick. But, as I don't hold any such supernatural to be real in the first place, why in hell would such as I care about what people believe? There are issues about how such beliefs factor into communal governance. I do have such political concerns, but its just one part of a long list of people being people, which is the nature of life on this earth. I'm glad to be here among the believers, I'll have to say. If this is the way its got to be, fine with me.
Anastasis, I agree with what you are saying, and it is kind of the point. Religion is just about society and how it evolves, grows, shares, and lives together. It is a human construct, not divine. Spirituality is open to however anyone wants to think of it. I tend to think of it in regards to my place in the physical world, independent of my own experiences, friends, family, and whatever else. That may sound strange to think fo it like this, but spirituality is something that can really never be defined, like faith, it is up to only your mind.
^ That's far too blanket of a statement. Plenty of organized religion admits it doesn't know a lot and would rather have people asking honest questions instead of blinding accepting things.
