benwj wrote:If you believe in fate, or 'will of god' as you call it, then, by definition, you must also accept that it can be predicted. How this is done is anyone's guess.
Those that believe in God tend to also believe that the future is not yet fully written - for otherwise there would be no point in praying (for it is all pre-destined). Muslims, for example, have the example of the people of Jonah in the Quran (he who was swallowed by the 'fish') - in the Quran it says that Jonah told the people that God had informed him that they would be punished for their crimes. The whole town repented and wailed and cried and prayed. God forgave them - and thus the future was changed.
But in another way, you are right - the Bible and Quran etc say that only God knows the future - and that one way of recognising a true Prophet (literally, as well as in the Divine sense) is to see whether their predictions come true (and if they are made in the name of God). This criteria is actually in the OT - Deut 18:20 (IIRC).
So for believers of the Bible and Quran - those claiming to predict the future by 'fortune telling' are charlatans. Indeed it was to test out this claim that I went and did my research into the art form - and it is still a hobby of mine (magic).
As for Lost - I know what you mean! At least the Islamic viewpoint of pre-destiny, fortune telling etc is less confusing than the plot of Lost.
cheers,
Shafique