Deism

November 11th, 2014 at 1:38:56 PM permalink
Nareed
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 346
Posts: 12545
There is much more to Deism than what I wish to discuss. I know that.

So, one salient Deist belief is that there is a god who created the universe. But this god made a universe in such a way that it can run without his help, therefore this deity doesn't interfere with the universe or the people living in it.

Now, clearly this would not be the Biblical God, as that deity meddles in human affairs all the time. See Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Samuel, Daniel, etc. Nor would such a god, one presumes, get even more intimately involved by incarnating himself as his son (??) and then having his self/son killed in a gruesome fashion for reasons of his own.

Nor would this Deist god be any of the other known deities in the Western tradition. The Greek gods were famous meddlers, too (see the Iliad, Arachne, Sisyphus and others). The Roman gods (modeled on the Greek pantheon) didn't get as much press, but every Roman, and I dare say most non-Romans, were convinced their gods greatly favored the Roman people (see the Roman Empire). This last belief was shared by many, regarding their own gods and less favorable favors, throughout the ancient world (even, I dare say, by the staunchly monotheistic Israelites of the time).

As far as I know there is no organized religion or cult based on this Deistic idea. This is not surprising. Who'd pray to a god that is unwilling to do anything in return?

However, of all the ideas of religion, including how a deity is portrayed, this one makes the most sense when seen against our current knowledge of the universe. It's not a coincidence it arose shortly after Newton, Galileo and others shattered many preconceptions and dogmas held by Christianity for ages. The more we learned about the universe, the more we failed to find god's fingerprints anywhere.

But even though it makes the most sense, it is still plagued by one very obvious flaw: What evidence for any kind of god at all?

As the good Father and I have been discussing in another thread, there is no quantifiable, physical evidence at all, but a deity or creator of some sort can be reasonably deduced(*). In fact one claim of Deism is that the existence of god can be so deduced by using one's reason. I think that claim comes from old time Deists realizing how scant the evidence of a creator is, and feeling uncomfortable not believing in one anyway.

(*) I do see how one could reasonably deduce a creator from the available evidence, using reason and logic. But even philosophical deductions need to be tested against the universe, or against reality if you prefer. I can see, too, why altruism, a most eminently philosophical position with a long history, seems reasonable and could be arrived at by observation and reason. But it doesn't measure up when set against the real world.
Donald Trump is a one-term LOSER
November 11th, 2014 at 1:58:23 PM permalink
Evenbob
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 146
Posts: 25010
Quote: Nareed
But even though it makes the most sense, it is still plagued by one very obvious flaw: What evidence for any kind of god at all?
.


I was watching Survivorman and he was in New
Guinea with one of the few tribes in the world
that has almost no contact with the outside
world. They believe that every living thing is
equal to all living things, and before they kill
any animal or plant or insect, they first ask
it's permission. They don't have the ridiculous
notion that all this was created by some god
just for the egocentric man. That all other
living things are irrelevant and we alone matter.

When left to their own devices, something like
this is what people come up with. It's only when
the intellectual theists get on board that it all
gets screwed up.
If you take a risk, you may lose. If you never take a risk, you will always lose.