I told you precisely what "carrot and stick" means: Heaven and hell, redemption and damnation, play by God's rules or he shoves the bat... you get the point.
Free will... irrelevant - the consequences of free choices are still imposed, a priori, by God. Remove the consequences, or completely randomize or eliminate the causal link, and "free will" becomes quite a bit freer, no?
I really do not well tolerate attempting discussion with someone who seems hell-bent on missing the obvious.
Well jeepers, King Prout -- what would you say if I said the same exact thing about you?
Obviously, you and I do not have a "shared language," such that we can make ourselves intelligible to each other. So, what do we do next?
As to which of us is "missing the obvious," I'm glad to leave that to others to decide. Surely each of us has a "bias" in favor of our own case. So another judge, outside our dispute, is needed, in the interest of justice.
And meanwhile, I thank you for taking the time and energy to share your thoughts with me.
Funny you should mention that, King -- I feel the same way. But am too polite to complain about it.