Fate and Destiny: Jesse Ventura's Secular Superstition

Among an increasingly secular culture, I've noticed a curious thing. It is quite common to hear talk of fate, destiny, or what was "meant to be." It is an often-visited theme in movies (for instance, Serendipity and Sliding Doors) and can be heard in candid interviews with celebrities. Now, this may make sense under certain spiritual worldviews, but I take this as a meaningless sentiment from those who are opposed to religion in general.

The most recent example of this, in my experience, has come from the mouth of former Minnesota Governor, Jesse Ventura. One of the alleged charms of Mr. Ventura is that he is a tell-it-like-it-is kind of guy. Unfortunately, one of the ways that he believes it is like involves the idea that "organized religion is a sham and a crutch for weak-minded people who need strength in numbers." Given his anti-religious orientation, it struck me as very odd when I recently heard him say that he's always been a big believer in "fate and destiny." With that in mind, he entrusted his final decision regarding a bid for the Senate to the flip of a coin.

Of course, I understand that there is a difference between fatalism and fate in a broader, metaphysical sense. I understand that when some use the term "fate" they are simply speaking of what chance deals out. That's not what I have in mind, nor is it how others, like Jesse Ventura, speak of it. Jesse was not just indecisive about his political aspirations and lazily allowed a coin flip to put the issue to bed; he expected that the coin flip would be a portal to the right decision, the path that he was meant to follow.

I doubt very much that someone like Jesse Ventura would like to be thought of as superstitious, but how could one reconcile his idea that (some or all) things are meant to be with his inclination toward a secular worldview? Perhaps one might say that fate is what we would observe if we could take a time machine and travel into the future. That is, fate is what does and will happen. But you don't flip a coin to get on board with that fate, because you are always making that fate no matter what you do. And it is most certainly not an intended, or morally good, destiny; it is simply an amoral byproduct of random events and human choices.

In order for anything to be fated, there must be a fater. In order for anything to be destined, there must be a designer. In order for anything to be meant, there must be something that can grant meaning. In order for anything to happen for a reason, there must be something which can reason.

I contend that Ventura's substantive view of fate requires a theistic perspective — a God. And not just any God: a God who is involved in the course of history and even individual human lives. It requires a personal God who can plan and purpose. It requires a powerful God who can take the helm in history. It requires a "meddling" God who can influence human agents and even tamper with nature. All these things are required if Mr. Ventura's coin flip is insured to land according to plan — according to a good and meaningful plan — just as it was fated to do.

Unfortunately, this is the very type of God that might intervene in human history in even more profound ways than the subtleties of coin flips and serendipitous events. This is the very type of God explicitly affirmed and revered by those poor, "weak-minded" followers of organized religion. But it would appear that someone like Jesse Ventura much prefers disorganized religion.