My Bandana of Green will lead the way to a rant... maybe... -_-;; Fate vs. Cause and Effect I don't believe in fate, just to get that out of the way first... I do however believe in cause and effect. Cause and effect is basically every action has a reaction... fate however has it that every action and reaction is predetermined... but to a greater extent. Fate is the total control of everything, a totalitarian force imposed against our will and forcing us to submit to it's desire. all things that are good and bad are there because fate dictates it to be... people have no ability to do anything, they're just there for the ride, seeing through the eyes of a being that supposedly is them. Fate has it that from the person who stubbed there toe somewhere in Iowa to the girl that was brutally raped and killed was predestined. The actions taken and received were supposed to happen and that the people involved were supposed to stub there toe, and that girl was supposed to be raped and killed. It was fate. Now take fate as an actual tangible force... even though I don't believe fate exists, other people do and use the word... so let's forsee the scenario that would occur if fate was tangible and able to be used as a defense in all actions in the world, because to admit fate exists is to admit that it is a force of a higher power. The rapist is up for murder and rape charges, the plea is innocent, the defense is "fate"... Now we've agreed to believe that fate is something tangible, that it exists and that people accept it... knowing this factor, we can see clearly that the rapist/murderer is innocent, because he was not in control of his actions, he was supposed to kill and rape that girl, it was fate, it was destiny... Now in turn it could be argued that the law would say that fate had it that even though the girl was raped and murdered that it was fate that he would be sent to jail and then executed... however this is false, because the law has seen that fate is a "force majeure" or "act of god" Since it was fate or an act of god, we can say that fate is directly linked with god, and if god himself willed that this person rape and murder someone, can the court themselves decide the outcome? or does fate step in and decide the correct course of action... would god really condemn a man for doing as god told him? With this in place the government itself would take a dramatic turn for the worst. Anarchy would reign supreme as no one would be held accountable for there actions and everything would have to be accepted as fate and therefore an act of god, total absolution would be given and society would start to decay into hedomism and sado-masochism... now I realize that sado-masochism and hedonism are almost opposite, but with fate at the reigns, they would work side by side in dictating a new world order where everything that happens was supposed to be that way. Fate would destroy the world. Cause and effect is how the world actually works however... laws are passed by cause and effect, everything in the world works out smoothly because of it, and it is indeed a tangible force, where force majeure doesn't work unless it actually is an "act of god". Cause and effect shows that the murderer/rapist will be executed, why is he executed?(effect) because he murdered and raped a girl(cause)... Cause and effect is the force behind "Responsibility". Responsibility is what makes us accept the truths about things we've done... no one can exempt themselves from responsibility by using "fate"... People are responsible for there own actions, whether a rapist or a person stubbing there toe... it would seem insane to say that a person stubbed there toe because of some random pedestrian, that's just stupid... yet people will buy into blaming that pedestrian as long as that name is "fate" The person who stubbed there toe was careless, could they have prevented the stubbing?... yes, if they looked before walking or rather overstepping into the leg of a desk they could have stopped it from happening and been fine... they were in control of there actions, they chose to step quickly or they choose to step cautiously... it isn't fate that dictates that, it's a persons' own ability to choose for themselves... not being forced into there actions. Cause and effect keeps the laws working and the world stable... without cause and effect pandamonium would rip through the streets and cause pure havoc... cause and effect places blame where it belongs, it keeps honest people honest and condemns those that are dishonest... it explains why if you stub your toe it hurts, it explains why people are convicted of there crimes, it fills in all the illogical pieces that "fate" couldn't. I don't believe in fate, I would hope others don't believe in fate either, I am a person who is responsible for my own actions, the idea that I am not in control of my actions, that my life is predetermined from the day I was born, that even my conception was part of "fate" is a depressing thought, to know that I'm merely sharing my conciousness to see what it is this body does while it runs it's course and claim I'm a person is insane, I wouldn't be a person then, I'd be an empty shell, a husk of what I could be if I just own up to my responsibility and accept that I am in control, I am not a puppet, I am a human being and I make my own decisions, whether they are good or bad, I am the one making them, I am not being pulled by my strings, I am responsible. I am cause and effect. - Tiki Man