The Most Sensible Position?

    After reading the assignments for the week I found the most sensible position to be compatibilism.  Which can be summed up best as a combination of free will and one or more of the factors of determinism.  The analogy used in the readings is that of a hand of poker.  You have no choice in the hand that you are dealt, but you do have a choice in how you play that hand.  The most sensible position should be a position that takes all of the positions into account and allows for one to still be religious and believe that God does have a plan for them while still allowing one to make choices that decide which road they take.  To only believe that ones environment growing up, or God is going to make all of the decisions for them in life is severely limiting what that person can achieve. 

     The strength of this position is that it still allows for a large amount of free will, which I still believe is the main writer of the script of life.  Where compatibilism becomes even stronger is that it factors in cosmological, cultural, and theological determinism.  One can still be in control of their choices in life, but also realize that cultural influences such as the environment they were raised can still play a part in how those decisions are made.  compatibilism takes the best of all of the theories and mixes them together.  Allowing for free will is paramount in a civil society.  Otherwise, one cannot technically be held responsible for what they do in life if they are not the one who has at least some say in their decisions.  There would be lawlessness if there were not any free will.  Free will is part of human nature and to believe that you do not have free will is to deny that you are human.

     I suppose one could say that the weakness of this position is the fact that it does not really choose a side but simply incorporates all of the sides.  While I believe this is actually a strength, I understand how some who are of the belief that God has a certain plan for them or that there life path can only take them so far due to their cultural or cosmological determinism may see that as a weakness. 

     I am looking forward to delving into these subjects even deeper and hopefully validating my original feelings on who is writing the script of my life.