TheMadFool : "Rules and free-will can't coexist. Either one precludes/negates the other"

Surely they can. Just because you are following rules doesn't mean you do not have free will. You are using your free will to follow the rules. Otherwise how are you following the rules?

These rules and regulations are in place to enable people to use their free will to do God's will. You have the free will to ignore them, of course. Can't help thinking that all this free will will result in the same conclusion as it would were we all to follow the rules and regulations , it will just take longer and be more painful. The end has already been set and all the actions, reactions etc will see the same consequential conclusion, eventually.

Max Planck said: “there is a metaphysical reality behind everything that human experience shows to be real.”
Doesn't ontology free you from the shackles of just being? Or am I ontologically challenged?