Free will & mental disorders

[Source]

Ok something mentioned in another thread got me thinking.

Do we really have free will? If so, then why is it that people with OCD for example, can't simply go about their day like a normal person would?

I'm sure they really don't want to be doing the same thing more than once, before they can continue on to the next thing. So if they're stuck repeating themselves over and over again against their will, how can we has humans, truly have free will?

Which then raises further questions. Like, if we were all created equally, then why are some people born with mental illnesses and not others?

Plus how can a mentally ill person, be punished for sining? when some are so out of it, they simple can't understand what they might have done is wrong.

The more I think about this kind of thing, the further my belief in Atheism deepens.

[This message has been edited by Source (edited 09-18-2006).]

So an allergic reaction takes away free will as well? Is that what you think? Reflexes do too? It's all the same thing as OCD. It's out of your control. But in other areas, you have free will and choice; you're not running a program.

[King_Cotton]

I've been told by a strong Catholic that mental disorders are essentially possessions by the devil. He was standing in front of a priest who just kind of chuckled and walked away.

I lol'd.

[ArmsMerchant]

To answer a few of your questions, we were not all "created equally." Obviously, some of us are taller, shorter, stronger, whatever than others. The point I have been trying to make is that God loves us all equally, regardless of our physical attributes or actions.

Sin? No such thing.

Divine punishment or retribution? No such thing. It is humans who judge, condemn, and punish, not God.