By the way, what my father says in his comments to my last post is true: Anglicans, like many other Protestants, officially believe in predestination.
Anglicans, supposedly located halfway between Geneva (Calvinism) and Rome (Catholicism) took on predestination when it was finding its feet as a protestant religion. However, in practice Anglicans haven't moved far from their Catholic roots, and the concept of predestination just doesn't sit well with us. Actually, I've read the articles of faith on this, and paraphrasing it, it sounds to me like: "Officially, we believe in it, but we don't want to talk about it. Let's ignore it and pretend it doesn't exist." Reading between the lines, I sense we treat predestination on the same level as Purgatory (the article of faith on that is paraphrased "nice idea. No basis for it").
Religion isn't the only philosophy that struggles with the concept of free will. Humanist scientists also have their theories, and it's the central theme of several science fiction novels, including Phillip K. Dick's Minority Report, which envisions a future where criminals get caught before they commit their crimes.
Predestination, to my mind, is a dangerous philosophy, for the reasons I've raised below. Was it Thomas Aquinas who said "even if we don't have free will, it is necessary to pretend that we do"?