This One Is Golden

There are lots of rules. It seems that during every waking moment our lives are directed by some rule. And if someone disagrees with something we do, there is sure to be a rule which should have precluded us from doing it in the first place.

With few exceptions, our laws and religions are based on one thing -

The Golden Rule

Also known as the Ethic of Reciprocity, it asks that all of us be fair and just to everyone else, and that everyone else be fair and just to us.

It can be prescribed as a negative:
"Don't do to others what you don't want done to yourself."
or as a positive:
"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

Sometimes these are differentiated as The Silver Rule and The Golden Rule, respectively. There are philosophical grounds for the difference, but for me it's only a matter of the glass being half empty or half full. I like my glass half full.

This primitive and fundamental rule of humanity has been debated on principle. It is argued that I don't know what you would have done to yourself and you don't know what I would have done to myself. Also, it's argued that just because you like something, it doesn't mean I would like that same something too. But I would argue another way - the "glass half full" way.

It isn't the literal interpretation of this idea, but the spirit or intention of The Golden Rule that matters to humanity. It isn't necessarily the specific things in our lives to do, but the fact that we would consider doing; it's the consideration of others that matters in our lives. This is important - to have CONSIDERATION of others. The things for consideration change with location, culture, age, and many other human factors. But the fact that we have consideration is what we need to hold dear.

Empathy is the essence of The Golden Rule. It begs us to put ourselves in the place of another. It's good to receive the consideration of others, and it's imperative that we likewise do the same. The Golden Rule, when properly applied, perpetuates itself.

It may be true that we Deists don't have scripture or dogma, but I for one would suggest The Golden Rule as paramount in our religious philosophy, immediately following our belief in God.

I would do this in consideration of you.

One Deist Φ

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

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

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

Amazing, Truly!

It simply amazes me that we humans have allowed ourselves to be completely duped all this time. So very many people have happily gone along with the fairy tales and lies of the "revealed" religions. How could this have happened in human history? Forget history, it’s happening even today! One day our species will look back on this “Religious Period” and scoff at us! Our descendants will say, “How could they have been so foolish and blind?!”

I can only imagine what might have been, had we not been so consumed on proving that our various religions were the true one. So much of our energy, for so very long, wasted on the fantasies of just a few individuals, then propagated to the masses. Those few may have been charismatic, but certainly not divine.

In the dawn of mankind, and on through ages, we had absolutely no idea about the science of the world around us. Raise your hand if you believe the Bible came from God and is unerring. Don't you think God, creator of the Universe, would know that the Earth is not flat, or that the Universe does not revolve around Earth? These simple facts were unknown when men, who claimed to be inspired and/or communicating directly with God, wrote and assembled the Bible. Because of the “revealed" religions and their abhorrence for anything that even resembles heresy, advancement of human kind has been stifled for literally thousands of years. Shame on us!

The laws of God in "revealed" religions amount to no more then the laws of humanity. The fine folks who revealed the laws, and hence created their religions, may indeed have been wise, especially considering that way back then many of the inhabitants of this planet were very uncivilized and needed some good laws to go by. Using the God-given gift of Reason, it is easy to see that those basic “rules” still apply today. But we do NOT need a Bible to tell us that killing another person is wrong. Lying is wrong. Adultery is wrong. Cheating is wrong. Gluttony, lust, stealing – all wrong. The time of those who once may have been considered inspired and holy for bringing such laws to the people is long past. These principles are now merely common sense.

It is time to move beyond the dark ages of man-made religions.
Please, utilize God's divine gift of Reason.

One Deist Φ

Thomas Paine Day

Happy Birthday Thomas Paine! (January 29, 1737 – June 8, 1809)

You helped shape nations, including our own, and your writings have inspired us for over 200 years.

Today we honor you!

So Now What?

It has been months since my last post to this blog. It's not that I don't want to add more. Nor is it that I don't have any further ideas to share. It's almost as if I kind of "got it out of my system" - like I ran a sprint instead of a marathon. But I don't want to be one of "those" bloggers. You know, they make one or two posts and that's it forever.

This eye opening conversion to Deism still consumes me. Almost every waking moment I draw comparisons to what is now, for me, and what was then. I see the inspirational billboards for a Christian church. I see the old shopping strips where three out of seven stores are actually a "church". (If still a Christian, I could never do the shopping strip store front church thing, by the way. And yes I understand that it's not the building, but the people who make the church. Whatever ... that's not a church to me.) The giant electric billboard-type sign outside another church flashing a well known Aesop quote as if it's biblical. The construction of a new church near an affluent part of town, with the biggest concrete cross in the state, I would think, complete with neon highlights. Jewish leaders running radio ads condemning the trouble in the middle east. The middle east fighting their perpetual wars in the name of Allah. (Seriously, is it so ingrained that you cannot even consider peace?!) The revealed religions continue to march on.

So now what for Deism? No question we need to share our story - we have so much to offer humanity. We have wisdom, we have peace, we have inspiration and hope and love. But how do we share these aspects with the world? This challenge is made more difficult because of a couple of our fundamental precepts - no dogma and no revealed texts. For instance I feel more wise and totally at peace with my belief in Deism. I feel more inspiration and hope and love then at any other point in my life. Not because of the untruths from man made religions of old, but because of the truths I have discovered thanks to Deism, science, books and the internet; and the likes of Paine, Jefferson and Johnson.

Perhaps what we should do in Deism is simply march on as well. Let's share our principles and history every chance we get.

One Deist Φ

Letter To My Mother

Dear Mom,
First, I want you to know how much I love you and Dad. In fact, my love for you has grown tremendously over the years. I'm in my forties now, but because I've always lived so far away since becoming an adult, I miss you more then ever.

I admire you, Mom. You have taught me more then you will ever know. You brought me up in a strong Christian home, even though this faith was rejected by much of the extended family. Your belief in Christianity and its principles surely gave us a foundation that others only wished they had. Your intense belief in the Bible motivated you to do decades of research into it, even to the point of publishing a book on your findings and beliefs. All of this while battling personal obstacles that might have crushed anyone else. You, Mom, are an amazing woman.

I must tell you, Mom, that one of the most powerful things you taught me, whether it was intentional or not, was to think on my own - to question things and come to my own conclusions. This, I feel, was your greatest lesson for me.

It probably won't come as a tremendous shock to you, but may disappoint you - I no longer consider myself a Christian. I too have done a lot of research, and believe that all of the revealed religions, such as Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and the like, are no more then man made belief systems made up of fantasies, superstitions, folk lore, myths and fables. I also believe that these religions were created, at best, as guides for human existence, but more probably to control or favor different groups of people. I believe these faiths have been both a tremendous blessing, and terrible curse to humanity.

I want to point out that I absolutely, positively, unequivocally believe in God, the single supreme creator of the Universe. I believe this through the observance of Nature and the divine gift of Reason. I want to tell you, Mom, that I'm a Deist.

Please know that just because I've given up the dogma of Christianity, it in no way means that I relinquish its values. In fact, as a Deist I hold myself to an even higher standard. Through the God given gift of Reason I now understand that it benefits all of us to live a good life, to obey the laws of humanity (such as the Golden Rule; be honest and don't lie, cheat or steal; freedom, dignity and equality for everyone; etc.) and to give back and support others in these endeavors.

Mom, I'm trying to think of what you may be thinking. That I'm a heretic? Well, as a Christian I was heretical to many other faiths. Maybe that I'll miss the rapture, won't go to heaven, or will go to hell? If these concepts were real, I'd be concerned too - but they are a man made fabrication. Maybe that I'll now lead a sinful life or that the whole world will fall into chaos and anarchy if they were to convert to Deism? No way! The whole idea of Deism is to believe in God based on Nature and Reason, and to live a good life based on the laws of humanity. If everyone believed these principles, the world would certainly be a better place.

I give thanks to God every day, Mom - for you and Dad and our family; for my wife, child and grandchildren; for the challenges and the blessings that befall me; and especially for this life that I live, as humble as it may be. God did good in creating our Universe, and I'm happy to be a tiny little part of it.

I love you Mom.
Your son,
One Deist Φ

Jerome Bixby's "The Man From Earth"

So what if this movie was not at the top of the box office charts; and maybe it is a low-budget snoozer. You simply must see this movie!

From the producers:

On a cold night in a remote cabin Professor John Oldman gathers his most trusted colleagues for an extraordinary announcement: He is an immortal who has migrated through 140 centuries of evolution and must now move on. Is Oldman truly Cro-Magnon or simply insane? Now one man will force these scientists and scholars to confront their own notions of history religion and humanity all leading to a final revelation that may shatter their world forever.

It is a very well written and wonderfully acted story that may as well have been written by a team of ... us! Now let's see; if 100 Deists got together to create a movie, what would they want to tell the world? Jerome Bixby did us all a huge favor in writing this. His final work, by the way, finished by dictation from his deathbed.

One Deist Φ