person was damned, and had been marked by the devil even before he or she was born.

Based on those religious tenets, Calvinists did not need to do good works or be compassionate to the sick or poor, as the teaching of Jesus taught in the bible. These so-called "good works" were superfluous. One could engage in charitable works of not; it made no difference to whether that person went to hell or heaven. Of course, a chosen person was more like to exhibit a charitable nature, according to Calvinist Theology, but that did not mean that a man who blamed the poor for their poverty or turned a blind eye to the sick was not a man of God. This theology of Predestination has had a profound affect on American culture, because the predominant religion of many New England colonists was Puritanism. The doctrine of Predestination gave license to those shaping American culture to revere the rich and powerful, and kick the poor and sick to the curb. Indeed, the Salem Witch Trials, in which many innocent, often poor or sick women and elder people were put to death for Witchcraft, was a direct manifestation of Calvinist Theology. Victims of poverty and illness were simply viewed as the Devil's Children, and they got what they deserved.

Even though the Framer's were not very religious, they had been raised in a culture dominated by the notion that wealth and power was a sign of goodness, and poverty a sign of evil. It is therefore not surprising that in this country, most people worship wealth and often blame the poor for their poverty. These beliefs are the sad legacy of the Doctrine of Predestination.

The idea of predestination is the religious belief that champions the idea that fate has been preordained to have good results for some and unfortunate results for others, especially when it comes to salvation and entrance into Heaven. Predestination was part of doctrine in Christian theology, and St. Augustus of Hippo and John Calvin were two of its most premiere adherents.

Christian predestination can be thought of as part of the original covenant among God and the faithful as part of the deity's absolute power and control over human lives. This helps to reconcile what can perceived as unfairness in the doctrine, akin to if everything is decided already, why bother struggling to improve oneself through life? Fatalism can be a slippery slope in an improper understanding of predestination, so you must be assiduous when considering the concept. Determinism, or the understanding that specific outcomes are inevitable, is often contrasted with various forms of religious concepts, as in scientific inquiry.

Judaism has an altogether different view of the concept, with Judaic scholars arguing that the concept of an omnipotent god was not part of the Abrahamic concepts and was in fact, influenced by Aristotle and other philosophers. Ancient religions such as Zoroastrianism reject predestination entirely, believing that people are responsible for all actions and situations they find themselves in.

Predestination is a religious concept that is most closely associated with the Calvinists in the aftermath of the Protestant Reformation.

In the early 16th century, Martin Luther campaigned against the Catholic Church by exposing corrupt practices.  This culminated with his famous 95 theses, nailed to the door of a Catholic Church in Wittenberg, Germany. As a result of the religious upheaval in Northern Europe, many different branches of Christianity fractured from Catholicism. One of those followed John Calvin and his ideas on predestination.

Predestination is the idea that God decides whether a person is destined for heaven or hell. This is contrary to other groups at the time, like Protestants (who believe that through faith alone one can get into heaven) or Catholics (who believe faith and good works can get a person into heaven). Calvinists believe that their place after death has been decided—faith or good works could not change your course. Being a "good Christian" could, however, affect your time on earth and the community in which you lived, so despite believing that they could not change their final destination, Calvinists still obeyed the Commandments and Biblical teachings.