Greetings.
Another Sunday another newsletter. Today’s essay is on the need to exercise your rights through responsibility — I wrote it as one of my essays for the Ship 30for30 daily essay challenge. I’ve also got some great links this week, including an amazing Hugh Jackman interview, a Warren Buffett advice gold mine, and a 🔥 book recommendation.
Enjoy!
✏️ Rights = Responsibilities
Every right has its responsibilities. Like the right itself, these responsibilities stem from no man-made law, but from the very nature of man and society. The security, progress and welfare of one group is measured finally in the security, progress and welfare of all mankind.
~ Lewis Schwellenbach
We live in a world hyper-focused on rights and liberties.
Our ancestors fought, both on the streets and on the battlefields, to secure us the rights we so blindly enjoy. Yet, what has been forgotten is an obligation to convert those rights into responsibility.
Responsibility is the reward of liberty. With the right to vote, you have the responsibility to vote your conscience in political elections. With your right to free speech, you have the responsibility to utilize that freedom to speak your mind, even if it rubs against the societal norm. You become a mature adult and a good citizen by taking full responsibility for your rights, liberties, and actions. Compassion, understanding, and connection can be found in acknowledging that you are on an equal playing field with every other man and woman, by honouring your responsibility to respect and uphold your neighbour's rights and liberties.
The current zeitgeist of cancel culture and mass media narratives is not a new phenomenon: it has simply been taken to new levels with modern technology and the growing communications radius of the average human. It can therefore seem difficult, even overwhelming, to hold an opinion or belief contrary to the societal norm, let alone broadcast it.
That, however, is your responsibility. Without doing so, our rights lose meaning.
📸 Photo of the Week
📖 Book of the Week — Martin Luther by Eric Metaxas
Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures or by clear reason (for I do not trust either in the pope or in councils alone, since it is well known that they have often erred and contradicted themselves), I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted and my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and will not recant anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. May God help me. Amen.
~ Martin Luther at the Diet of Worms (1521)
Martin Luther is one of the most influential individuals of the Middle Ages. His actions and teachings, which directly challenged papal and church authority, were pivotal in starting the Protestant Reformation which created shockwaves across Europe. Its effects are still felt to this very day — Protestantism is the 2nd largest Christian denomination, behind Catholicism, with over 900 million members across its various communions. Born just after the invention of the printing press, his ideas and work spread infectiously and were more impactful because of the widened reach facilitated by printed works and growing literacy rates. His life is a fascinating story of a man wholly dedicated to God, whose life was changed forever due to the unforeseen effects of technological advances.
💭 Quote of the Week
Moral excellence comes about as a result of habit. We become just by doing just acts, temperate by doing temperate acts, brave by doing brave acts.
~ Aristotle
🔭 Sunday Best
Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G Major BWV 1048
Hugh Jackman on nature of God, Non-Duality, Bhagavad Gita, Death, Buddha, Krishna, Zen
Buffett FAQ - A Compendium of Q&A Sessions with Warren Buffett
That’s all for today!
Cheers,
AT