If you’re a complex machine whose action could be perfectly predicted (with full knowledge of everything you ever experienced) it’s still reasonable to punish you for breaking rules - the risk of punishment goes into your programming as part of the (deterministic) calculation of what action to take

I reckon we are so incredibly complex, are integrating so much information that from inside it’s hard to see if you’re deciding or selecting by rule your preferred path given what you know

You can call the complexity free will, we’re all so different having had different parents, different childhood experiences, different education, different opportunities so each has their own solution that rises to the top in any situation

But also brain scans have demonstrated that for minor stuff (like raising your hand) action precedes “deciding” to take the action.

I don’t think believing in fate (or a plan) is strongly correlated with atheism

That doesn’t work. People with crap lives often can’t meet the standards of goodness that many forms of Christianity need for you to be qualified for heaven

Depends on the flavour of Christianity

At one end unforgiven sins condemn you to the ancient Greek underworld, slightly modified

At the other end you land in limbo if you haven’t been perfect for a time that fits, thence to heaven for the rest of forever

Beyond that end, their god is infinitely forgiving so everyone goes straight to heaven.

Don’t worry, they don’t read the Bible, and especially don’t read the old testament.

They believe they have god given freedom of action