Can an atheist believe in free will?

[hewlett]

Hey just look at what allegedly happened when your so called god gave you free will!

Murder, War, Bigotry, Slavery, Xenophobia, Racism........and on and on.

No thanks I am surely glad I do not believe in fairy tales.

[banys]

Turns out free will doesn't even exist as a valid concept, let alone in reality.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCofmZlC72g

[webb]

They already have it, not regarding God in their lives...

[jerard]

My mind is not for rent,

to any god or government.

That is what I believe.

[shen86]

I don't think that has anything to do with atheism.

[andor25]

That is what atheism is all about.
You don't get it.

[drystan]

We make our own limitations but blame them on God even if we deny God exists.

[broehain61]

We make our own limitations but blame them on God even if we deny God exists.

nope. we can only think inside the box and obey stupid rules....no wait, im thinking of something else

[spengler]

Yes, depending on your definition of 'free will'.

I don't believe in predetermination.

I can't bring myself to believe in predetermination for the simple fact that it alludes to some greater mystical purpose in the universe, and I certainly cannot bring myself to believe that a dog getting diarrhea and crapping all over his owner's house house is an important and predetermined moment in the history of the cosmos.

You choose your actions (unless under the influence of something) and thus you are partly responsible for the outcomes of your life. You could have chosen not to steal. It's as bone-headed simple as that. You didn't. That doesn't mean that event was going to end that way before the earth was even formed. Even if that were true, what difference does it make? In the end, your thoughts are what led to the thievery. Your natural thoughts, not some foreign thoughts put in your head by some other force.

[achimelech51]

Theoretically, ultimately probably not (the macroscopic world of atoms and above seems to ignore the quantum randomness at the subatomic level)

In practice, the complexity makes determinism unworkable as a guideline for societies so we have to stick to simpler mechanisms that assume "free will".