[Lord of Angmar]

I see what you are saying, Nils, but I still think you are reading my words out of context. I do not believe that Eru is an 'evil dictator'. Far from it. I am saying that since everything is his Creation then he is an influence on EVERY SINGLE THING in the world. It is impossible to create without influencing, just as it is impossible to observe without changing. His creations would inherently be influenced by him.

Why must this be the case? Why can't Melkor choose to rebel against Eru's designs on his own?

Or they could just be their seperate personalities. Their personalities tied into the sub-creative power given to them by Eru.

While they certainly have sub-creative powers, no being really has the ability to CREATE their own personality. The personality is the direct result of the environment. Since they were created and taught by Iluvatar, and since they lived in a world conceived by him, their underlying personalities would reflect his own ideas and his creations. In other words, their personalities would be a reflection of Iluvatar because it was Iluvatar who set the pretense for the creation of their disposition (by creating them, teaching them and giving them a world to inhabit).

Melkor was turned to evil because of the disposition he developed as a Child of Iluvatar. How else could Melkor have risen up in rebellion against Iluvatar's theme? He did not have any previous knowledge of rebellion and did not have any influences outside of the Halls of Iluvatar. Therefore it must have been an affect of Iluvatar on Melkor that he learned how to rebel. A child does not learn how to speak unless they hear others speak, to walk unless others walk, etc. Since Iluvatar was the only teacher the Valar had, their personalities were reflections (distorted or blown up though they may have been) of parts of his own.

So you don't believe in free will and that each of us is totally responsible for what we do.

I am a firm believer in free will. But every will must have a starting point, a background. A baby cannot simply wake up and decide the course it will take. It is influenced, above all else, by its surroundings. The surroundings of an infant and the ideas of that infant's guardians are what mold that child's personality. Children are not born with a certain disposition, nor can they simply create it. IT IS A DIRECT RESULT OF THEIR ENVIRONMENT, to quote myself earlier in this entry.

Only when the background is completely laid and personality moulded can an individual truly assert free will over their lives.