Fatalism or Relying on God

Archduke Ferdinand was aware of the passionate hostility by Bosnian Serbs toward Habsburg rule. In 1910 the Habsburg monarch Franz Joseph had visited Bosnia’s capital, Sarajevo, but with a double row of soldiers between him and Bosnian onlookers. For Archduke Ferdinand, heir to the Habsburg throne, no such security was planned. A devoutly religious man, he responded to the danger of his visit with the remark that all was in the hands of God. His fatalism reduced precaution, and his assassination sparked World War I.

Pakistan's courageous Benazir Bhutto was another figure who placed her fate in the hands of God. If she had been just a little more cautious, enough to stay inside her bullet proof vehicle when leaving her last public appearance, she might have survived beyond December 27, 2007.