## Does God's Belief In Free Will Make Society Better Alex believes it does. When you know free will doesn’t exist, you recognize the outside factors that have led someone to where they are today. You are less judgmental. You know if you were in their situation you might have done the same. [[Why knowing free will doesn’t exist makes you a better person|Read more here.]] Ben Shapiro disagrees. Even if free will didn’t exist, practically it wouldn’t be helpful for a society to live with the implications of that. Sure, some people of profound intellectual and philosophical capability like Alex O Connor can live with the belief free will doesn’t exist. But the average person wants to believe they have control over their decisions. Alex responds that free will is so evolved as an adaptive mechanism in our psychi that even after you convince people against it, people continue living their lives exactly the same. How Do We Find What Is Moral In Society? Alex doesn’t think there is an easy answer. But he does believe there are fundamental problems with basing morality in God. Let’s say someone came up to you and said they were going to do something terrible, like kill your child, or take your home, and they were atheist. You might be able to convince them against that with law, or reasonable debate. But if that person were religious and believed they were doing so for some divine order, good luck convincing them otherwise. Ben Shapiro responds by saying this example can and does happen in the world. But non-religious life creates it as well. It’s just motivated by self-interest. If you give people the option to make their own personal morality than they will mold it to their self interest. You need an absolute authority. I would find by saying religious morals are still followed by people can still be followed by people out of self-interest and require moral subjectivity. Countless contradictions in religious texts have been found and are being reinterpreted. This isn’t objective morality, it’s still subjective. Ben Shapiro claims the behavior rituals and community brought by religion is incredible. It’s apparently much harder to motivate yourself not to do drugs, or to follow good, or whatever if you aren’t religious. I would like to see empirical evidence for this. While religion has traditionally provided community, moral guidance, and personal growth, there are many powerful secular alternatives that offer similar benefits. People can find meaning and connection through volunteer work, activism, and community organizations that unite around shared values. Personal development through philosophy, meditation, and goal-setting can provide moral frameworks and spiritual growth without supernatural beliefs. The arts, science, and nature offer sources of awe, transcendence, and purpose, while book clubs and discussion groups facilitate deep conversations about meaning. Secular humanism and evidence-based ethics can guide moral decisions, and intentionally building habits around chosen values creates structure similar to religious practice. The key is actively seeking out or creating communities and practices that align with your personal values, recognizing that the psychological and social benefits traditionally associated with religion can be achieved through secular means. Religious individuals might argue that secular alternatives, while valuable, cannot fully replicate the depth and completeness of religious faith and community. They would likely contend that religion provides unique elements that secular institutions cannot match: a divine purpose that transcends human understanding, an absolute moral framework grounded in eternal truth rather than changing cultural values, and a profound sense of cosmic meaning that connects daily life to a greater spiritual reality. Religious leaders like Ben Shapiro might argue that while secular communities can create temporary bonds, religious communities offer something more permanent - a multi-generational tradition that has withstood thousands of years of human history, tested by time and strengthened by shared divine conviction. Learned this from https://youtu.be/yspPYcJHI3k?si=xb1dKFxm6-XrYulX