In Robert Solomon's "On Fate and Fatalism" the idea of fatalism is discussed in a modern context. Fatalism is a concept of necessity that holds what has happened, had to happen. The notion of karma, the Greek concept of moira, and the Chinese idea of ming demonstrate that many cultures have fatalistic viewpoints. Any tragedy or disaster could be explained this way with cosmic significance. Many local and national issues today have brought into the political spectrum people's definitions of theological concepts and their religious beliefs.
One such issue that is of local concern but with a national reach was the repeal of Proposition 8. In California, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints heavily financed a campaign against gay marriage. This issue is important to discuss, aside from a human rights perspective, because it sheds light on how money influences politics. The California constitutional amendment was enacted in November 2008 and stated that "only a marriage between a man and woman is valid or recognized" (McKinley and Johnson 1). Proposition 8 overturned the California Supreme Court decision that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry.
After the proposition was passed, many were disturbed by the fact that California had taken rights away from people by changing the constitution, including San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom (Holden 1). According to McKinley and Johnson of The New York Times, the grandson of a former president of the Mormon Church gave more than $1 million, and the campaign raised more than %5 million dollars in a matter of days. Mormon volunteers working under the group Protect Marriage walked door-to-door in election precincts to canvas and explain that if the voter believed God created marriage, they explained that Proposition 8 would restore the definition of marriage that God had intended.
Their involvement was concealed under a coalition with Roman Catholics and ev...