Do you believe in fate or self-determination?
I don’t believe in Fate. It implies a lack of power and choice, an inevitability that cannot be stopped, slowed or redirected. If fate is real, why do we even try? What’s the point of thinking and analyzing, of taking any steps at all? Fate will place you where you are predestined to be no matter what you do. Why even work for a civilized society, offering justice and punishment, if the criminal is only a victim of fate, predetermined to play his part in the way destiny unfolds?
I know this is an extreme vision of fate. Yet doesn’t the very definition promote this scenario?
Fate
[feyt], noun
1. something that unavoidably befalls a person; fortune; lot: It is always his fate to be left behind.
2. the universal principle or ultimate agency by which the order of things is presumably prescribed; the decreed cause of events; time: Fate decreed that they would never meet again.
3. that which is inevitably predetermined; destiny: Death is our ineluctable fate.
4. a prophetic declaration of what must be: The oracle pronounced their fate.
5. death, destruction, or ruin.
Fate means never having to say you’re sorry. Whatever happens, “it’s just my lot”; whatever I do or don’t do, destiny will fulfill itself.
It’s similar to the religious ideology of the sovereignty of God, which is the teaching that everything is under His direct control, and nothing happens without his direction or permission. The idea appears simple: God is God, of course He’s in control. Yet, it goes against the fundamental teaching surrounding the character of God and His overall purpose of creation. He gave man (and woman) the right to choose because only within that freedom could an authentic love relationship be possible. After the fall, He provided guidelines, tools, knowledge and experiences that would help man draw back into His grace, that would allow man to walk in His power and the purity of His love. But it still involves choice. God is only sovereign if you allow him to be sovereign in your life, and even then people, circumstances and events that have not submitted to that sovereignty can have a negative impact on your experience.
The extreme sovereignty of God ideology assumes God not only has the power and right to govern all things, but that He does so, always and without exception. Within this doctrine a person should accept that murder, rape, molestation and other horrid crimes must be from God if you are walking in His will. But if God is love, and His character does not abide or tolerate any such sin, how can those acts be of God? How can sickness and crime be His will? To accept the truth of God’s character (the greatness, goodness, holiness, justice, light and love outlined throughout the old and new testaments) in conjunction with our experience here on earth, we must also accept that his sovereignity is limited by our own decisions, not just personally or independently, but as a people.
The Fate ideology is in complete opposition to self-determination.
Self-de·ter·mi·na·tion
[self-di-tur-muh-ney-shuhn, self-], noun
1. determination by oneself or itself, without outside influence.
2. freedom to live as one chooses, or to act or decide without consulting another or others.
3. the determining by the people of the form their government shall have, without reference to the wishes of any other nation, especially by people of a territory or former colony.
The self-determination ideology assumes we are the masters of our fate; we are the gods of our destiny. Whatever challenges we face, whatever comes our way, we are in control of the final outcome.
Ironically, the original idea of self-determination was more about the right of a people more than an individual creed. It was about independence, colonization and government. It was later used to expound the virtue of the human spirit, the unconquerable soul, the inevitability of the human experience to rise above defeat as a phoenix from the ashes. But, somewhere along the way, a single refrain from Invictus evolved into an ideology of hope and strength for the individual. In adopting a personalized definition, the limitations that would govern the principle were removed. Now the idea of self-determination brings with it an illusion of control, and yet one embraced by many.
It’s a bit farfetched to think we possess the control to overcome all restrictions to our freedom. I mean, we obviously cannot do anything we are physically incapable of doing. Obviously we cannot change the past, of breathe underwater without any supplemental support, or any number of things we aren’t physically designed and capable of doing. We can’t break laws of nature by our free will alone. There are forces that demand our submission in the natural world and in our physiological make-up.
I think there’s more of a middle road here. I believe it’s called “soft-determinism.”
I believe there are natural laws of the universe and powers at play that can easily be perceived as fate. There’s no way around them, and as hard as we try, they cannot be ignored. We are bound to live within the boundaries and confines of these universal laws and powers.
I also believe there is both good and evil present in the world. Although divinely separate, they do touch and intermingle, providing lights and shadows to every circumstance. This is why you can actually make all the right moves and make all the right decisions and still end up in the wrong place. It explains why people who make poor decisions seem to still obtain so many rewards, and why bad things happen to good people. It sounds like a simplified, catch-all proposition to answer all of the unknowns, and yet the evidence supports this basic premise.
What’s more, I believe we not only have free will, but we have a certain amount of dominion within the boundaries of natural law. There are moral and ethical codes at play within society that will unconsciously restrict, conform or direct some of our decisions, but in the end we do have the right and responsibility of choice. In fact, the act of not making a choice is a choice in itself. Does that mean we have control of our destinies? I don’t think so. We can control our responses to what is not within our control. We can develop and nurture our knowledge and skills to be able to make better choices. And we can be accountable for the consequences of our choices. We cannot however, control the outliers that will inevitably cross the path of choice.
A destiny that is impacted by choice, and a choice that is limited by destiny, results in a middle ground philosophy. Perhaps not a popular opinion, but it is mine. We do what we know to do, and when we know better we do better. We prepare and try to understand our universe; we submit to the natural and God laws, and we do our best to discern good from evil. Our fate won’t be guaranteed anymore than our self-determination will be confirmed, but we will have a good chance at building a life we can respect.
In the end, I am only the master of my choice.
by G. Anne Bassett 