Free will vs Destiny

The question of free will vs destiny is a common theme of western philosophy. There are big debates as to which one actually guides us. It is important from the western view point since they believe in heaven and hell. If you do not act out of your free will, then you cannot be held responsible for your actions. Consequently you must not suffer in hell for eternity for actions not of your own. Similarly you must not enjoy in heaven for actions not of your own. Hence the concept of heaven and hell require that you be responsible for your own actions.

Then there is the concept of destiny which says that you are not responsible for anything. You do what you have to do on the orders of a higher force and situations determine what kind of a person you are. Everything is pre-determined since you are a product of history and the historical path you have taken in life determines what you do in the future.

There are arguments for each of the points and the debate is quite an interesting one. I was a strong believer in free will once upon a time. I thought you determined what you wanted to be. But now I have changed my mind. It is only destiny. There is no such thing as free will. Whatever you think is a result of your past history. If you were born in a poor family, then you will a certain way of thinking. If you are born in a rich family and pampered you will have a different way of thinking. Based on the resources you had in the beginning, you would probably go to a good school or a govt school. Irrespective of how intelligent and how resourceful you are, background plays a very big role especially in a country like India. You will have access to information which others won't have. For example I did not know about the existence of IITs till I reached I PUC. Not that I regret not going to IITs. I still feel NITK is better than going to IITs.But the fact is that people do not have guidance in their lives and exposure to many things. The way you think and the value systems you have are mainly determined by the path you take and the experiences you have in life. The way you think determined what happens to you in the future assuming of course that you act on the basis of your thoughts.
So all in all, it is all destiny and there is nothing you can do about it. The only thing is that it is very hard to predict. Free will is just bullshit, meant to make ourselves feel good about ourselves.
Indian philosophy which recognizes the role of destiny is much more mature than the arcane western philosophy and is actually applicable to life

PS: Philosophers may say that the debate is only between free will compatible with determinism or not or sophistry of such sort