Does the philosophy of Deism work in real life?

Helllo deepbluish:

I see that you are 22 and when I was that age I was close to where you are at. I am 38 now.  I was raised in a similar home to yourself and played along if you will as to not rock the boat. In my case I never found Christianity compelling.  Actually to be honest I found it to be quite contradictory and absurd from the time I could actually use my brain.  And though the thought of an afterlife was appealing. The thought of spending it with the biblical god was not.  The beauty of Atheism/Agnosticism/Deism is that it puts your focus in the present moment and allows you to live life fully in the here and now. To be honest I no more worry about what is going to happen to me after I die, than what is going to happen to me tomorrow. I think what you are saying is that the open minded nonbelief approach does not offer any spiritaul path that is a replacement for Christainity and to that I would have to agree, but if you think about it what does spirituality have to do with belief? My chosen spiritual path has been the path of zen and it has given me a peace and comfort that Christianity never could. Istead of fearing the unknown we need to accept it.  For me the Christain funeral always seem to be so much more painful and diffucult on people. If a "Christian" family looses a loved one and if they are not sure it that loved one "accepted Jesus" or not, then the suffering that puts on the folks that believe that their loved one might be in "hell" is tremendus. Death is no less a part of life than growing older. I think it was Richard Dawkins that said something like. "I am thankful to have the opportunity to die, because if not I would not have the opportunity to live.", not the exact quote, but you get the gist of it. I would recommend a book on the subject though called "No Death, No Fear" by Thich Nhat Hahn. A very enlightening read.

Peace
4Mcclain

Dear Bill,

You ask whether Deism work in real life or not. I would say that entails an answer from each individual who feels some affinity to Deism. And, above all, let us respect each others`ideas, and beliefs. Christians, and the rest of us, have the right to believe what they want to believe. But, let us state clearly that Christianity is a product Made in the World, not in Heaven. I think there are many, many good values in christian people. The same applies for atheists, stoics, deists, agnostics, hindus, buddhists, muslims, and the like.

We ough to respect each other. But, at the same time, must be intelectually honest to admit that ours is not necessarily the "right thing" to believe; it should not be construed as orthodoxy. And there lies the problem: That a vast majority of believers in the so-called revealed religions think that they are the sole possesors of truth. And I, particularly, am not so sure about it.

Endless arguments about God, and the Bible may go on and on. For me, there are mistakes in the Bible. Human-made mistakes. And there are also, some nice ideas in the Bible too. Your position is understandable. Believe what you will, if that makes you happy. But do not forsake reason. It is possible to combine reason with a spiritual inclination. I have done it myself. I had to pass through a painful process of de-conversion, some time ago. I would not describe myself as an atheist. But I am not a christian either. Your father is right. And YOU are right, too. I attend the catholic church for certain reasons. I have been able to manage my relationship with a committed catholic lady. We do not fight because of it. Try to deepen your understanding of things pertaining to the spiritual. No one owns your mind, but you yourself. "Religions" are ideological systems created by men and women throughout history. Being religious is not sinonymus to being ignorant. Religions create a kind of "reality" for certain people. No religion, no philosophy in the whole world has been able to explain or dispute thoroughly the question about God, Creation, Logos, Cosmos, Purpose of Life. There are many approaches, of course; some appeal to our reason more than others. Buth the depth of Reality is, thus far, only partially discovered, or understood by human minds.

We may call ourselves Deists, Christians, Sufis, or Sikhs, it does not matter. We all go through joy and sorrow, laughter and tears, pleasure and pain, happiness and unhappiness, success and failure, learning and unlearning, belief and disbelief. It`s life. And we have to cope with it. Let us not fear being wrong, or mistaken. Let us live, love, and learn. 

Jose N Crespo

Deism works for me to a point. I look at it as a possible starting point. As someone has told me many times, one should not leave their brains at the door!  I too, have left the christian movement. My questions about the trinity started the whole thing.  Like Dawkins, I am opposed to religion, but I am not an atheist.  I have found so much inconsistency and error with the Bible that I do not quote from it anymore.

One time I believed that the Bible had to be "tweaked" to get  things cleared up. Peoples minds will probably never change about the Bible; this state of affairs will probably continue for the rest of my earthly life. Obviously, I think that something may be fatally wrong.  Yet,  I can't save the world, neither do I wish to convince anyone that all that I believe is right.  Let me say this.  Do I think that any man living or dead, knew, or knows all things about the Creator of the Universe?  Absolutely not!  The stage of "spiritual growth" for each one of us is pre-determined.  It is not for me to say exactly how much growth any of us should have preceding our physical death.  Although I am firmly anti-religious, I am not opposed to people who follow religion.  I love people, regardless of what they might believe.

Perhaps all of this confusion, my friend, will one day be over. I do have a degree of faith that the true Creator of the universe can do this.  I look forward to that, whenever it comes. Yes, this outlook is my personal view, and perhaps that makes me an optimist (sort of).

Thank you so much for your post!

Congradulations on breaking free.  I know this must be a difficult time for you.  I've heard that what you're experiencing is unfortunately not unusual.  Christians seem to commonly distance themselves from friends who fall away from the faith.  They want to surround themselves only with people who can validate their faith.

As for your question, yes, deism does have practical application.  Five years ago last winter, both of my parents died, my father soon after my mother.  My business took a serious downturn and I was forced to lay off some of my employees.  My love life was also a mess during that time.

In the midst of all these problems, I didn't pray to God to make everything better.  Instead, I reminded myself that God has already given me all that I need.  Through reason and the indomitable human spirit, I told myself I WILL find a way to cope and turn the situation around.

The situation is much better now.  My business is back on track and I've hired back the employees that I'd layed off.  I've also met a wonderful woman whom I will be marrying this month.  I got clear on what I wanted out of life and found a way to make it happen. 

I compare my situation with a former friend who was a devout Chrisitian.  He's been conditioned to pray for things and look to others to help him when he should be helping himself.  It may be comforting to think that some friendly sky-god is watching over you but ultimately this illusion does more harm than good because it fosters a reactive mindset.

I hope this helps.  The human spirit is stronger than Christians say.  Our inner morality, will and courage don't collapse simply because we abandon fairy-tale notions of how the universe works.  Instead of believing in them, believe in yourself. Good luck.