On the absence of compulsions as a blessing

Image via Wikipedia

BoingBoing reports that "When asked why he strangled his little brother to death, 17-year old Andrew Conley of Rising Sun, Indiana said: 'Like, I had to. It's like when people have something like when they're hungry and there's a hamburger sitting there and they knew they had to have it.'"

Although of course the boy's answer is horrifying, I don't doubt that it might yet be true. Surely some of what we all do (lose our tempers, enjoy reading novels, eat too much, like The Beatles, drink a cup of water...) is due to forces acting on and inside us that we are not aware of and that we therefore cannot begin to comprehend.

To the extent that we are free of (or can consciously counter-act) forces that make us do things we regret or that harm others, we should feel blessed.