Is Justice Just a Story? Free Will, God, and the Illusion of Responsibility

 3 min read

“Bhagwan upar se sab dekh raha hai” — we’ve all heard this line. The belief that God sees everything, knows everything, and has already written our destiny is deeply ingrained in human culture. Yet, a paradox emerges: if God wrote the script, why do humans still commit atrocities? Why would any divine hand write a son killing his own mother? If everything is pre-written, then perhaps God is not a “God” but an “Author.”

This blog dives into that paradox — exploring free will vs. determinism, justice as an illusion, and whether humans are truly responsible for their actions.

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The Paradox of Free Will vs. Determinism

If everything is already written, humans are just characters in a script. But if we’re only characters, how can we be responsible for our actions?

This is the same dilemma that thinkers like Augustine and Calvin tried to solve under predestination, and what Dostoevsky wrestled with in Crime and Punishment.

👉 If God is an author, then can a character ever rebel against the script?

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Compatibilism: Freedom Inside a Script

A rare concept in philosophy, Compatibilism says free will and determinism are not enemies. You act based on your desires — but those desires are themselves shaped by genetics, society, and upbringing.

Example: You think you freely decided not to hit your friend. But what actually stopped you?

• Guilt

• Fear of law

• The memory of your mother’s teachings

All of these are pre-existing “scripts” written into your mind. You feel free, but you’re still confined.

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Moral Luck: When Responsibility Isn’t Fair

Philosopher Thomas Nagel introduced the idea of Moral Luck: people are judged not only by their intentions but also by outcomes they don’t fully control.

Example: Two drunk drivers take the same risk. One hits a pedestrian, the other doesn’t. Society calls the first a “killer” and the second merely “reckless,” even though both made the same decision.

👉 Responsibility feels personal, but in reality, it’s deeply tied to chance.

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Justice as a Scripted Illusion

If God wrote everything, then even our justice systems are part of the story. Courtrooms never summon “the author” — they only punish the character.

This brings us to Legal Positivism: the idea that law and justice are not universal truths but human-made constructs.

• In one country, death penalty is “justice.”

• In another, it’s “inhuman.”

The facts didn’t change — only the rules of the story changed.

Justice, then, is not an absolute truth. It’s a narrative tool, created so that humans hold each other accountable and society stays stable.

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So, Who Holds the Pen?

If God is the author, then responsibility lies with Him. Yet inside the story, characters still feel responsible, because without that illusion the narrative collapses.

Maybe justice isn’t about moral truth, but about story management. It keeps society functioning, even if the script itself is already written.

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Conclusion: Living Inside the Script

Perhaps we are not free, but scripted. Perhaps justice is not absolute, but a socially agreed illusion. Yet, within the illusion, our choices still matter — because they shape how the story unfolds for us.

Whether God is an omnipotent judge or just an author, one thing is clear: humans will always struggle to balance destiny and freedom.

And maybe that struggle itself is the real story.

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✅ Opinion
Justice may be less about eternal truth and more about keeping the human narrative stable. Free will might be limited, but within the illusion, we must act as though we are responsible — because that’s the only way the story makes sense.

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👉 Would you like me to expand this into a philosophical series (Part 2: “If God is an Author, Are We Just Characters?”) where we go deeper into Dostoevsky, Hindu karma theory, and modern neuroscience?