This is why I like Christianity. It’s empowering. So much of my fate is up to me. As a Christian I can choose right or wrong. In nearly every decision I make I can either choose God or not. I can choose to move towards God or move away. I can choose to do right or wrong. It’s my call.

I’m thinking of this because I just read something ridiculous. And if you’re reading this, you will too. The co-host of the “Cosmic Sutra” on KarmaSolRadio.com penned a lengthy piece at California Psychic on how Mother Teresa’s destiny was written in the stars. Just want to give you some examples of the lunacy:

Mother Theresa is an outstanding role model for fulfilling the destiny of one’s Sun sign. She was born in Macedonia on August 26, 1910, under the sign of Virgo, which rules service…On the one hand, the Sun-Mars-Mercury trio in Virgo gave her the will and humility to serve. It prompted her to leave the convent and live among the destitute in India…
On the other hand, such a life was completely at odds with her Moon in Taurus. Above all other Moon placements, Taurus craves physical and emotional comfort. Familiar surroundings are usually a necessity. As she reported in her diary, the initial difficulties and loneliness of her work made her long for the comfort of her former order. She saw this longing as a temptation. In an intriguing twist of fate, and helping to squelch this temptation, she also had Saturn in Taurus. Saturn is the planet of duty, karma and deprivation. It gave her the discipline to forgo creature comforts and material belongings so she could get on with her faith-based work.

First off, isn’t it a little easy pickins to do the chart of someone who’s already dead. I mean, it takes a little of the variable out of it, doesn’t it? The whole thing would be kind of silly if so many people weren’t into this garbage.

I sort of understand the attractiveness, though. A little. It’s the appeal of saying ‘it’s not my fault.’ It’s the Moon in Taurus’ fault.

In fact, this kind of garbage is really a precursor to the very 21st century view of humanity exhibited by scientific know-it-alls who refuse to believe in free will. You didn’t do something wrong, you’re sick. You didn’t sin, you were genetically predisposed. So many people nowadays preclude free will by giving science or New Age ideas dominance over man’s decision making ability. Their theories seem to ignore the drama of being human.

These people either believe our consciousness floats at the mercy of genes and chemicals and we are powerless or they believe we are at the mercy of the tides of planets and moons and we are powerless. This is why, Christianity, far from being the oppressive and heavy ideology it is accused of being is, in fact, light and empowering. While it puts responsibility on the individual, it also gives them the power to choose. We have the ability to choose darkness or light. It’s up to us. It’s not in the stars. It’s not our genes. It’s us. As the great Catholic writer William Shakespeare wrote, “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, But in ourselves.”