Faith vs. Anxiety: Debate Over Free Will in Spain

Faith as an antidote to anxiety: the debate denying free will

There is a thesis defended by a forum user with mantra-like force: everything happens because God wills it. From this derive three levels of faith that, he argues, turn worry into a symptom of lack of trust in the creator. The first: Adonai wills it so. The second: it is for good. The third: there is a message in every moment of life. Those who apply them full-time, he argues, live permanently in the present and do not worry prematurely about anything. The proposal is not minor: it instantly deactivates anxiety, planning and, incidentally, individual responsibility.

The problem is that life insists on contradicting the framework. Is a murder because God willed it? Is cancer for good? The answer from this trench is that everything is everything, without exceptions. If the creator made us, he has his reasons for anything that happens, including a Russia-sized asteroid. Authentic faith, he insists, does not stop at the first level: it recognizes that illness is because the father wills it, therefore it is for good, and reaches the third, the hidden message. Those without faith, however, get stuck on the first step and believe things happen to them for their harm.

The three levels of faith: wisdom or resignation?

The architecture of the argument has its internal logic. If God controls everything, worrying is a form of ego, even idolatry: implying that one decides or can interfere. "We don't decide shit," he states. If tomorrow the creator decides to turn the sun into a red giant, we are screwed in zero point something. Under that prism, worry is not only useless: it is an identity signal of the herd, of those who have understood nothing. The person with authentic faith is in the present, not because they emphasize the self, but because they clearly see that everything responds to the three levels.

The problem, critical voices point out, is that this framework turns humans into mere spectators. If everything is decided, free will is a fiction and sarracena dissolves. The response from faith is paradoxical: increasing the frequency of applying the three levels increases the quality of free will. A twist that leaves the reader wondering if it might be the other way around.

Cancer, murder, and the problem of evil

The debate intensifies when descending into the mud of extreme cases. Was a murder because God willed it? Was dismembering a person for good? The answer is affirmative without ambiguity: it is not that one believes it, but that one is convinced. It will be up to the murderer, during his long term behind bars, to find out what message the crime hides. And with cancer, the same: if it is said that everything is because Adonai wills it, is for good, and there is a message in every moment, why would it be an exception?

The distinction drawn is between populations. One without authentic faith will not recognize that illness is because their creator wills it, will believe it is for their harm, and will not reach the third level. Another with authentic faith will. It is the difference between a giver of light and a receiver of light. The herd, being a herd, prevents itself from maximizing its fruta power because its ego hinders its development.

The father's response that grants freedom to his son

Against the thesis that God wants everything that happens, a weighty theological objection rises: it is not "because God wills it," but because he allows it. It is very different. God does not want someone to become alcoholic and turn their small problems into grave ones, but if they insist on drinking excessively, they will extract the best from the new situation created by that person in the exercise of the freedom granted to them. The example of the father with his son is eloquent: he begot him, loves him, could have avoided his errors if he had not given him freedom to commit them, but the consequences would have been worse. None of that means he wanted or caused those errors.

Living in the present: inner peace or herd resignation?

The most incisive criticism comes not from theology, but from sociology. "Living in the present and worrying about nothing" is the optimal way for the herd to feel comfortable and happy in a life without a decent future, waiting for an unpredictable shepherd to decide what use to make of them. Their only occupation is running towards where the shepherd puts the feed or away from where his dog barks. Everything else would be worrying, and that is very bad because it implies thinking and, therefore, suffering unnecessarily. The thesis, from this angle, is not spiritual liberation, but a mechanism of social control.

The Superman example and the elohim

In the midst of the theological debate, a curiosity appears that disorients: the Superman movie subliminally names the elohim. Jor El, Kal El. The hero's story could be that of a member of an international tribe: "although you were raised as a human, you are not one of them; you possess enormous powers; live as if you were one of them but keep in your heart the pride of your origin." The connection with the chosen people to bring light to the nations is inevitable. Forbidden to interfere in the history of men, but one can guide through leadership.

Abraham, joy, and the elite

The conversation drifts toward the weight of tradition. One does not leave Abraham: he is mentioned in the three monotheistic religions. But there is a nuance emphasized: rabbis often repeat that, no matter how much one trinc the 613 commandments, if one does not go through life with joy, what one does is worthless. Hence the comparison arises: is it superior to trinc the three levels of faith than to know by heart the meanings of the 80,000 words of the Torah? It is like comparing someone with several degrees who works as a civil servant with a self-made man, entrepreneur, and comfortably billing. There is no clear answer.

What is defended is that giving maximum importance to increasing the frequency of use of the three levels allows anyone to approach their heavenly father, and not just the elite. Perhaps that viewpoint ensures that new generations are not splashed with past errors. The desire, it is said, is to be content if that were the case.

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Is authentic faith a liberation from anxiety or an excuse not to think? The three levels promise fulfillment, but demand renouncing the idea that one decides anything. Those who apply them live in the present; those who question them remain worried. The question, in the end, is not whether God wants cancer or murder, but whether it is worth living in a world where everything is justified beforehand.