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Hi reader!
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Welcome to the March newsletter! A special welcome to new subscribers. I know your time is valuable and I deeply appreciate you investing these moments with me.
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Reach out at Betsy@BetsyDeVille.com
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Last month, I wrote about pleasure and touched briefly on how sometimes, religion can make us feel we don't deserve pleasure. This idea of what we deserve and how much power we have over our own choices has stayed on my mind.
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Agency—our ability to choose and act—is often forced into the backseat when religion takes the driver's seat. Many religious teachings suggest we don't actually have control. A higher power has predestined our future or will decide what we deserve. With this mindset, we may not take responsibility for the outcomes of our choices and actions.
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I think sometimes people might feel relief when relinquishing agency and assigning outside causes for their mistakes and failures. One example that comes to mind is astrology: the idea that the position of stars millions of light-years away, visible from one particular planet in one galaxy, somehow determines immutable personality traits. I can't think of anything more absurd—especially when combined with our arbitrary numbering system to define traits like impulsiveness or inability to consider consequences.
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Feeling like we don't have control can be frightening. Wanting to believe that we—or something—has control can bring comfort. Interestingly, amid the extraordinary political situation in the United States last year, the Bible was one of the best-selling books. There's a pattern in human behavior: when opinions become polarized and uncertainty increases, people often turn to non-scientific sources seeking answers that aren't otherwise available.
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Are you observing this in your own community? Is this something the secular community should address in messaging? If so, how?
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"why would you make out of words a cage for your own bird?"
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Necklace features the word imagine on the silver sleeve and inside, no religion is engraved on the gold bar.
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$30.00
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I want to share a little sketch I have been working on with these Hozier lyrics. When the sketch is done, will have 20 printed as temporary tattoos. I intend some flexibility in the design and grouping- it can work on a forearm, a torso, the back, as well as down the spine.
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If you want one for yourself or a friend, please email me at Betsy@BetsyDeville.com with your mailing address, US only please.
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Do you know someone who would enjoy this newsletter? Sharing is caring!
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