Sunday, April 19, 2009

Deism Is Spiritual, Not Political

I have seen, several times, some people associate Deism with politics, and an assumption that Deists have only a single direction as to their political views. Usually this slant is toward a liberal political party. I have also seen where this behavior of relating Deism to politics pushes people away from Deism.

I believe this is a mistake which we should not make, and certainly we should not repeat. We don't want to lose Deists because of the political views of just a few. Some people are simply more reserved then that, and many do not normally express their political opinions. Even if political views were to be expressed, it would preferably not take place in a spiritual or religious arena. The two are not necessarily related.

But the biggest issue I take with the mix of Deism and politics is this:  As Deists we do not believe in dogma. We don't blindly follow, but use our God given gift of Reason to make our own decisions. Once politics is injected into the equation, suddenly everyone becomes a lemming - Deists are liberals, and liberals are Deists, and there is no in between. If you dissent from the political views of others within the group then you become an outcast, and thus you are scorned and shunned. Suddenly it becomes zealotry, fanaticism and militancy, which is not Deism. Deism is not blind faith in clergy or political leaders, which goes against the very principles of our Deistic beliefs.

I refuse to be a card carrying member of anything except Deism. I will do the research on all matters and reach my own conclusions without the need for political affiliation. I refuse to be a political zombie, mindlessly following  the political crowd.

Let's leave politics out of our spirituality. I believe it makes all of us better Deists.

One Deist Φ

Friday, April 10, 2009

Absolutely Deism

In English grammar there are words called "absolute terms". These are words that cannot be compared or used with a modifier. Words like dead, pregnant, infinite and unique. You don't get a little pregnant, nor is something more infinite. One of the most abused absolute terms is "saturated". You see it all the time in weather reports when the forecaster says "The ground is extremely saturated." No, no, it's either saturated or it's not.

I've felt for some time that Deism should be taken in the same context - as an absolute term. Deism seems so fundamental in nature that we shouldn't add modifiers to the name. We openly have the latitude to apply our own individual beliefs within its broad parameters, but if we apply our own parameters, aren't we changing Deism to our own belief system, requiring a different name?

Let me give you an example - "Christian Deism". This must be the greatest oxymoron in Deism. I have read some descriptions of this school of thought, but am not convinced their nomenclature is proper nor accurate. A Christian is someone who "accepts the divinity of Jesus as Savior and follows his teachings." Most of the Christian Deists say they believe God is active in the world, and they believe in the teachings of Jesus. Deists don't have many tenets, but one of our core beliefs is that God is not active in the Universe; and, generally Deists also reject revelation. So, "Christian Deism" in its very foundation is not Deism at all. (And I dare say, not Christian either.) Obviously they can call it what they like, but it doesn't benefit the cause of Deism in any way whatsoever. It would be nice if folks are going to make up their own religion, that they would make up their own name too.

As a Deist I encourage all of us to use our tremendous gift of Reason to learn from the wisdom of the past. To use our mind is to fully realize God's blessing to humanity. Just because we follow some of the teachings of Buddha does not make us Buddhist Deists. If we are comfortable with a few of the lessons of Zoroaster it doesn't mean we are Zoroastrian Deists. Using Plato as our philosophical compass doesn't make us Platonian Deists. As Deists we should acknowledge the brilliance of great people. We're free, not only to explore all of the sages, but to apply their wisdom to our lives while discarding the outdated notion that they were divine. We are simply being great Deists!

To me, modifying the name of Deism is kind of fatal.

One Deist Φ

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

New Blog and Forum

Website and forum eventually abandoned. There are lots of great ones still around.
I leave this post up merely for posterity.

Although the new web site is still being built, I have have already activated my new blog and community forum.
This blog has been transferred to my own servers, rather then being hosted here at blogger.com. You will need to change your RSS feed with the link available in the blog to receive new entries. Please click on the following link and add to your bookmarks for the new blog site:
blog.deismtoday.net/

The new community forum is set up and ready to go, albeit a bit barren at the moment. I'd like to invite everyone interested in Deism to come on over, register, and join in the discussions. It's going to be a race to see who will be the very first registrants on the new forum! Discussions will generally be limited to Deism and its promotion, plus there is a large area for general discussions as well. Enjoy our community of like-minded people! Please click on the following link to the forum, and bookmark so you can get back:
forum.deismtoday.net

To be continued at the new site. See you there!
One Deist Φ

Living In The Past

As a westerner, I often hear it said that certain countries or regions are living in the past. It's not meant as a put down, but more of an observation, usually describing an area's religion or lack of technology. And it's true ... many religions covering large regions and populations are two or three thousand years old, along with technologies that are on the same par. The commentary usually ends with some remark that the west could bring great technology to those people and make their lives much better. We could enrich their lives with technology for food, water, manufacturing, health care, and so much more.

I realized today that  westerners are the same as all those other people around the world when applied to religion. Almost the entire globe is living in the distant past with faiths that are two or three thousand year old fantasies. Few others but Christianity have even tried - very stubbornly - to reform, attempting to keep up with modernization. Many other faiths proudly boast that their beliefs are unchanged for millennia. Islam, in particular, is stuck with what they have. Their faith dictates that Mohammed was the last prophet and there will be no other; the Koran is the final and literal word of God, and cannot be changed; and anyone who tries to adapt, improve or change this religion in any way, is an "innovator" and will be cursed. Mohammed did very well profoundly imprisoning his followers.

People of revealed religion, ask yourselves,
"Why would God want to repress mankind?!"

Every revealed religion restrains the progress of man to some degree. In what way would God benefit from this? Why would He care? How does it honor God for men and women to not progress and not become the greatest creatures He ever created?!


Deism practically begs mankind to become more tomorrow then we are today. It embraces science and discovery. Deism wants all of us to use our tremendous reasoning skills to advance our lives and the lives of our children. If the whole of mankind would have used these tremendous God given gifts throughout history, I'm certain we would have explored most of the Universe by now. I'm sure our lives would be as rich and fulfilling as the religious dreamers from history had imagined for us in heaven. But there is no scriptural heaven, and what they didn't imagine was that the religion they were creating would actually prevent us from attaining happiness here on earth. Revealed religions stifle us from living up to our full potential, and prevent us from finding peace on earth.


Let's break free of the shackles of revealed religions developed in antiquity, and advance ourselves to levels of humanity that we can't even fathom today. Deism is the perfect religious philosophy in advancing mankind. Deism simply asks that we become everything in our ability to become; that we live up to our absolute full potential.


Let's do amazing things!


One Deist Φ