Is the problem of Autonomy a burden secular people shoulder more acutely? Many people around me attribute their decisions to being led by the holy spirit. I know, obviously, that these are decisions that they made by themselves through their own reasoning but in their eyes you can see the sweet certitude of being told what to do by a master much more powerful than you. Why must I be always be my own lamb AND shepherd? Oh well, time to go and freely choose to continue doom-scrolling and not arranging my room. Hopefully the holy spirit will coerce me to clean.
Another one out of the park Salomé, I'll be thinking about this for a while.
Hahah, "Why must I always be my own lamb AND shepherd?"--that's great! You bring up a great point though.
I'm reading Haidt's The Righteous Mind and he talks about different flavors of morality, if you will. Certainly, people place more emphasis on certain moral values, such as respect, autonomy, or purity, among others. Secular westerners tend to value autonomy as the highest moral guide, while the more religious westerners gravitate towards purity and other moral values.
Being guided more by autonomy versus divinity could even come down to cultural preference by this argument...though I'm inclined to believe centering autonomy ultimately yields the kind of society that individuals and progress values flourish best in!
"Even for the most trivial choices, the ability to make that choice is the common denominator of happiness in our lives."
Love this, Salomé. This essay brought to mind the most simple yet profound Anne Frank line: “How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.”
So glad you enjoyed this one! I love that quote from Anne Frank; so simple and truthful.
And thank you so much for linking this video! I saw it a long time ago and completely forgot it existed, but it's a perfect addition to this newsletter! I smiled more and more as the video went on haha. It's one of those rare sights that makes you love humans, even if just for a few minutes!
Is the problem of Autonomy a burden secular people shoulder more acutely? Many people around me attribute their decisions to being led by the holy spirit. I know, obviously, that these are decisions that they made by themselves through their own reasoning but in their eyes you can see the sweet certitude of being told what to do by a master much more powerful than you. Why must I be always be my own lamb AND shepherd? Oh well, time to go and freely choose to continue doom-scrolling and not arranging my room. Hopefully the holy spirit will coerce me to clean.
Another one out of the park Salomé, I'll be thinking about this for a while.
Hahah, "Why must I always be my own lamb AND shepherd?"--that's great! You bring up a great point though.
I'm reading Haidt's The Righteous Mind and he talks about different flavors of morality, if you will. Certainly, people place more emphasis on certain moral values, such as respect, autonomy, or purity, among others. Secular westerners tend to value autonomy as the highest moral guide, while the more religious westerners gravitate towards purity and other moral values.
Being guided more by autonomy versus divinity could even come down to cultural preference by this argument...though I'm inclined to believe centering autonomy ultimately yields the kind of society that individuals and progress values flourish best in!
Thoroughly enjoyed reading this. Thank you!
Thrilled you read this one and even more thrilled you enjoyed it!
"Even for the most trivial choices, the ability to make that choice is the common denominator of happiness in our lives."
Love this, Salomé. This essay brought to mind the most simple yet profound Anne Frank line: “How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.”
Also...HAVE YOU SEEN THIS:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GA8z7f7a2Pk
So glad you enjoyed this one! I love that quote from Anne Frank; so simple and truthful.
And thank you so much for linking this video! I saw it a long time ago and completely forgot it existed, but it's a perfect addition to this newsletter! I smiled more and more as the video went on haha. It's one of those rare sights that makes you love humans, even if just for a few minutes!