Tuesday in class, we discussed a main tenet of Puritanism: "predestination". Basically, this is the concept that God arbitrarily decides who goes to heaven and who goes to h-e-double-hockey-sticks. While good behavior is an indicator that He may have chosen someone, they cannot change God's mind with their behavior. This is reminiscent of another belief system we talked about: college apps. This is how the stereotypical college application procedure goes:
1: I go to the college visit.
2: On the basis of very little information about my character or academic abilities, the people from the college decide if they will let me attend their school.
3: I bow my head and accept my fate. If I have been chosen for a good (or "good" - but I would need another post to discuss that) school, I will naturally act like the perfect person I am.
Phrased like that, it does seem kind of odd, doesn't it? But the logic is nearly identical to that of predestination. The only real change is the substitution of one higher power (the college admissions board) for another (God). Extreme difference? Well, maybe. You would be surprised at how widespread the image is, of college admissions boards as mysterious entities whose minds cannot be swayed by our actions, whose thought processes cannot be understand by mere mortals, and who have total control over our destinies. Call me crazy, but that sounds a lot like the technical definition of a deity to me.
Which raises the question: why do people seem to enjoy thinking this way? Because it takes the burden of responsibility off their shoulders? Because people are naturally pessimistic and mopey? Something else completely unexpected? Comment please! I want to know what you think.
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