People say all the time things like, "I have my free agency. I can do what I want." I'm not sure, I guess, how much this is used outside of a religious context, or rather the context of kids rebelling against religion. In my religion, agency is very highly valued. We believe that it is necessary to our ability to grow and progress that we have that ability to make choices, meaning that God or someone else doesn't stand over us and force us to do what He wants us to do. But although agency is important, it is often misquoted as "free agency," which if you think about it is wrong. We have agency. We are not forced to act, think, or believe in any way. But it isn't free agency, as all choices have consequences.

Does that help? Is that concept limited to my religious culture? I thought it was more general, but I'm not sure. Maybe I'm going off on a tangent from the discussion in this thread. That was just the thought that came to me and I decided to share it.

<font color=red>"Striving for excellence motivates you; striving for perfection is demoralizing." -Harriet Braiker</font color=red>