Life Long Atheist Evolves Into a Deist

Life long atheist and philosopher Antony Flew, pictured at left, has evolved into a Deist! Professor Flew is a man of profound integrity who is more concerned with the truth than he is with orthodoxy of any kind, whether religious or secular.

Professor Flew wanted to be certain that his acceptance of a belief in God was not misunderstood to a belief in the Bible god or any god of the various "revealed" religions. Professor Flew said, "I'm thinking of a God very different from the God of the Christian and far and away from the God of Islam, because both are depicted as omnipotent Oriental despots, . . ."

Like all Deists, Professor Flew believes we should be honest and be concerned with facts, not mythology and hearsay/revelations. And he is not concerned if he is attacked by either the "revealed" religionists or the atheists. He said, "My whole life has been guided by the principle of Plato's Socrates: Follow the evidence, wherever it leads." This idea is key to Deism. Deists are open-minded enough to know the importance of that Socratic standard.

Many people unfamiliar with Deism claim that Mr. Flew has developed a belief in God because he is getting older and fears death. These people who make these statements don't realize that Deists openly state that they don't know what, if anything, happens to us after our body dies. And Mr. Flew is among those Deists who don't believe in an afterlife at all. (Because there are no man-made dogmas in Deism, Deist are free to believe whatever makes most sense to them as individuals regarding things like an afterlife.)

I'd like to welcome Professor Flew into the family of Deists! He's an outstanding man loaded with honesty and integrity and it's a true honor to have him as a self-proclaimed Deist!

The fact that Professor Flew has become a Deist, and the fact that Ray Fontaine, a former Roman Catholic Priest, has become an active Deist, as well as Jayson Post who evolved from a Christian Orthodox Priest, demonstrates the power of Deism to reach across the lines of both atheism and "revealed" religion. Deism can do much, provided we do much to promote Deism!

Here is an audio file of Professor Flew being interviewed by the BBC.

An open letter to the members of the Baha’i Faith

Embracing Deist thought was not so much a matter of me leaving the Baha’i Faith as much as evolving out of it. One of the most important imperatives that I learned as a Baha’i was the independent investigation of the truth. It was always a firm conviction of mine that the search for the truth was not something to be taken lightly, nor did it concern finality. Truth is something that always needs to be sought after. Religious truth has always been a vocation of mine, an innate impulse and desire to know and understand more, no matter what the cost.

I must confess that after leaving the Baha’is, I did try my hand at Christianity, so to speak, but found the narrow mindset, puerile dogma and fatuous doctrines more of the same rhetoric with just a different nomenclature.

I realized upon discovering a copy of the book The Age of Reason by Thomas Paine and reading it, that another piece of the puzzle had yet been unfolded to me. Paine’s logic, argument and reasoning gave me a framework to unshackle my mind and to see the religions for what they were, man-made creations.

The concept or doctrine so often quoted by the Baha’is of “Progressive Revelation” is flawed from several points. If God could not seem to “get it right” the first time with Adam, what makes a believer think that successive “Manifestations” or “Prophets” will fair any better? I used to believe as a Baha’i that the common foundation of all religions was one. (An essential Baha’i teaching), meaning that God authored them all. Now, I have come to understand, with an altered point of view, that yes, they do come from the same source, the hands of men who believed, for whatever reason, that they were chosen by God, the Creator of the Universe, who being so concerned with this tiny rotating speck of dust, to guide the rest of us unfortunate souls and entrusted these “Manifestations” with “His message”.

One only needs to study religious history to understand the convoluted nonsense of these “Holy Books” and the resulting bloody swath that they have cut through the ages of humanity, up to our present day. Read, watch or listen to the daily headlines from your preferred media source, television, newspapers, books or the internet to catch up on the latest religious atrocity, bombing or act of genocide. I must emphasize that humanity has evolved and advanced, not as the Baha’i writings contend, because of religion and progressive revelations, but in spite of it. The Baha’i Faith did not usher in a “New age for mankind”, that began in the 17^th and 18^th centuries with enlightenment thinkers like Voltaire, Locke, Paine, Jefferson and Franklin. These thinking and conscientious men turned their backs on religion and revelation and used God’s gift of the mind, free-will and reason to forge ahead a new and progressive age for humanity, divested of the religious superstitions and institutions that have for centuries imprisoned the minds and souls of men and women.

Baha’i friends, use your minds, investigate the truth and do not settle for a system of religious dogma that relies on “institutional infallibility”. Think for yourself. Free your mind and reason or imprison it. The choice is most certainly yours.

Why Would a Christian Orthodox Priest Become a Deist

All of us have had the experience of heading in one direction and then suddenly realizing that we should go in a completely different direction to accomplish our goal. Perhaps we were rushing to work and realized that we left something important in the house, or perhaps we were heading south on a highway and found out that we had to go north. Those are literal changes in direction, but we sometimes have to make metaphorical changes in direction too. I had to make a major metaphorical change in direction around the turn of the millennium.

Born in 1969, I was raised by a good and devout Eastern Orthodox Christian woman. The Eastern Orthodox Church is the second largest Christian sect after the Roman Catholic Church, and the two denominations are about 99% the same doctrinally. Like many (if not most) religions, Eastern Orthodoxy arrogantly claims that it alone is the one, true faith. I was raised to believe that the closer a religion is to Eastern Orthodoxy, the more true and good it is. The farther, the more false and evil.

To make a long story short, I graduated from Geneseo State College in 1992 with a B.A. in English and went to Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in Brookline, Massachusetts, that fall, with the intent to become an Eastern Orthodox priest. The main reason I wanted to become a priest was to help everyone; and when I say everyone, I mean all life on Earth. My thinking went something like this: Eastern Orthodoxy is how God wants all people to live, so people would be as good as possible if they became Eastern Orthodox. If all people became as good as possible, they would treat everyone properly. If everyone were treated properly, all creatures would be as happy as possible.

At seminary, I met many wonderful people, some questionable people, and one truly evil person. Think Rasputin! I also learned much more about the wider Eastern Orthodox Church and its theology. Some of it I liked, and some of it I did not. In 1995, I graduated with a Masters of Theology and still believed in the teachings of the Eastern Orthodox Church enough to honestly seek ordination. In fact, I was very eager.

About two years later, I found myself as the pastor of a mid-sized parish. I liked most of my congregation, and some were truly saintly. Yet I could not stop thinking that all of us would be better off if we had a more rational religion—one that was better defined, had far fewer distracting traditions, and strongly focused on love for God through love of all of God's creatures, especially human beings. In short, I thought that I could find a better way, at least for myself. That is why I left the ministry.

Now I am a middle school English teacher in a public school. Respecting the separation of Church and State, I do not proselytize my students, but I am convinced that one should not base one's beliefs on an ancient book or some supposedly divine institution. Instead, one should base one's beliefs first and foremost on one's reason.

Although one's reason is imperfect, it is the best way to embrace truth. Embracing truth is ultimately the way to maximize everyone's happiness. We have to purposefully deal with reality to make it better.

The only option to reason is superstition, and superstition generally leads people away from the truth. The biggest difference between most religions and Deism is that the former are based on superstition and the latter is based on reason.

I am truly glad that I made the switch from Christianity to Deism, despite the very difficult sacrifices involved. I greatly upset many friends and family members, gave up my career as a priest, and did much agonizing soul-searching. However, I traded intellectual slavery for intellectual freedom and hypocrisy for integrity. I also have taken an important step toward accomplishing my life's goal: to help everyone. I realized that teaching people to base their beliefs on a superstition did more evil than good. So I changed direction, and I now teach people to base their beliefs on reason.

If you are heading in the wrong direction, make a change. And if you are headed in the right direction, keep going. I am talking to myself as much as anyone.

From Christian Orthodox Priest to Active Deist

I'd like to welcome Jayson X to Deism and the World Union of Deists! Jayson is a former Christian Orthodox Priest who, because of his thirst for truth and his honesty, has become a Deist. I look forward to working with Jayson as we spread the word far and wide about Deism! The power of Deism is demonstrated by its winning over of fellow Deist Ray Fontaine who was a Roman Catholic Priest for over 20 years, the winning over of life long Atheist turned Deist Antony Flew and now former Christian Orthodox Priest Jayson X, not to mention thousands of people who weren't in the clergy or leaders in their worldview but who strongly held opposing beliefs. The reason based simplicity and beauty of Deism that points us to Nature's God cannot be stopped! However, living in a society where "revealed" religions have so much power and influence, it is sometimes necessary to do as many of America's Founders did prior to the American Revolution and use a pseudonym as the author of the below article is doing. Bob Johnson, Founder and Director of the World Union of Deists.

Catholic Priest to Deist

An Open Letter to a Roman Catholic Priest
Friend and to all Clergy of Good Will

by Raymond Fontaine, Ph.D.

Dear Eddie,

How are you? I presume you are well or you would have let me know. Before I become incapable of writing any more (I'm now 89 years old) I want to leave you my last thoughts about priests who are in a situation similar to ours. Let me summarize my experience that may comfort you in your unusual position.

As you remember, I left the Church and the priesthood in 1967 after serving as a priest during twenty-two years. After my affair with Claire, I thoroughly reviewed the Church's stand on birth control, divorce and the celibacy of priests. I found out that the Church is wrong - dead wrong. Knowing that the Church will never admit its error and change its policy, I left the Church definitively.

Almost penniless, I quickly grabbed a humble job of repair carpenter. Within months, however, I landed work in Vietnam taking care of refugees, as I worked for the US State Department.

What was my state of mind during those difficult times? I felt alone - no relatives and no friends. My co-workers had their own lives: with their wives and children and their circle of friends. I had no one.

After some months, I met a Vietnamese woman, who had followed in her father's footsteps and become a lapsed Catholic just like me. Her name is Minh. Her entire family and relatives accepted me completely and I never felt alone again.

During all those years, until I published my biography in 2002, I thought about God occasionally - not about God as preached by priests but the God as presupposed by the structures or designs that are observed in nature.

With that notion of God in mind, while surfing the Internet, I came across the website of The World Union of Deists at: www.Deism.com. It is entirely devoted to Nature's God. I read its many pages and soon began to write my own articles centered on Nature's God.

My mind is completely at peace because I have accepted the world as the human mind can grasp it. The supernatural and the spiritual is beyond human ken. Period! I'm not interested in nor concerned about all the spiritual stuff that the Church teaches because I don't believe it at all.

Enough about me. Now you. For many years, you have lived with a very fine woman whom I admire a lot. She has children whom you love as your own.

For many years now, you have worked with the homeless helping them and comforting them the best you can. Good for you and good for them.

I assume that you are still living what some would call a double life. If it does not cause you any mental conflict and uneasiness, just carry on. But if you are bothered by the dualism, you might consider leaving the Church and your religious Order as I did. You might also want to embrace the Creator of the universe. The structures and designs in nature point to a Supreme Intelligence who lets us live our lives as we see fit and as we like while respecting our neighbor's rights. We can forget all the spiritual stuff of the Church and enjoy the life that nature and its Maker provides.

Besides what happened to you and me, there are other priests who are living double lives. They may have tried to straighten out only to fall again and again. They too may be looking for a way out. Replacing the concept of God as preached by the Pope and his priests with God as revealed in the intelligent designs observed in nature is the best way to an honest life. Nowadays the Church will release them of their priestly vows and help them financially while they find a gainful employment. I know several priests who did that successfully.

Finally I come to priests who are still loyal to the Church and who are priests of good will. If not for themselves, then to help a fellow-priest in trouble, they may suggest a way out. The best available is to rely on God as observed in the intelligent structures and designs of Nature. This God suffices for humans as He does for all creatures on earth. IN NATURE'S GOD WE TRUST.

Raymond Fontaine, Ph.D.

Deism: A New Beginning

As a Deist who was raised as a fundamentalist Christian I can attest to the strain and terrible affliction which often accompanies the apostate who has rejected the faith of his fathers and goes off in search of some truer way of thinking and being in the world. But this act of supreme integrity, (in the sense of being true to oneself) though noble, often comes at a high price. If we could talk to Tom Paine he could tell us, perhaps better than anyone else, what it means to pay that price. A man whose life’s work was instrumental in the shaping of our country died in infamy for daring to tell the truth as he found it in nature; wild and free as it ought to be. Revealed religions are ever wont to be the domesticators of truth. They beat it and break it and make it conform to their human will; they place a yoke upon it and call it “faith”. But faith was neither derived nor was it made to serve the will of the Almighty … faith, as it is propagated by the major religions, is, in my opinion, merely truth perverted to serve the superstitious dogmas and doctrines of the revealed religions which are nothing more than the vane creations of men – not God. But what I have come to believe as a Deist is that the truth can never be fully domesticated; it is a child of nature and is only revealed to us though the unbiased observation of nature on her own terms. This gives me the courage to continue my search for truth and a sense of rightfulness in having the courage to do so even when most of the world seems set against it.

When one sets out on the path to find truth (or at least something as close to it as possible) the way is not always clear. The road is often obscured and the terrain treacherous. When I became disenthralled from Christianity as a young man in my teens I began my search by experimenting with various “spiritual paths” and “alternative” religions but, although I was sincere and participated of my own free will, there was still so much that seemed disingenuous to me about such spirituality even within the depths of my own mind. Being a spiritual person by nature it was hard for me to come to terms with the fact that I had to lie to myself to get anything out of the “spiritual” experiences I was having and, after a while, it became obvious that most “alternative” religions and spiritualities are much the same as the monolithic Abrahamic religions; just on a smaller scale: 1) Most all of them have a strict hierarchy (whether it is institutionalized or implied it is almost always there). 2) Most all of them have at their head some charismatic leader who is often supposed to have attained some sort of special divine knowledge or favor. 3) Most all of them require that you “tow the line” doctrinally or face some form of social ostracism or threat of otherworldly punishment. 4) Most all of them claim to be possessed of some special quality that makes their way more right than all others. And, as with some revealed religious congregations, doctrinal squabbles and petty politics often destroy any good that anyone had intended to do before it even had the chance to manifest.

After my last experience with organized religion via “alternative spirituality” I had to put on the breaks. Feeling drained from years of searching in vain for “spiritual truth” I felt the need to start anew. I was an agnostic for a while but after researching Deism and carefully weighing the arguments in my mind I came to the conclusion that it was more reasonable to believe that there is a Supreme Being or a “First Cause” than to not or to hold, as I did as an agnostic, that there is not enough evidence either way to support the existence or non-existence of God. I came to this conclusion mainly because it seemed inherently unreasonable for me to believe that the creation of the universe, unlike everything else in it, had no cause and that the order we see pervading our universe, which we as a species are just now beginning to comprehend, is accidental. Further, the idea of a God who is a “first cause” or “impersonal creator” is borne out by what we see happening in our own solar system and throughout the universe which, though it bears the mark of an intelligent designer, by no means exhibits the characteristics of a system which is geometrically perfect and/or constantly and omni potently being corrected. When the German-born astronomer and mathematician Johannes Kepler, a contemporary of Galileo, attempted to determine the orbit of the planets around the Sun in accordance with the five “perfect” solids of Pythagoras and Plato (see illustration below) his calculations would always be amiss. Eventually, after many years of trying and failing to prove his theory of the six planetary spheres being nested within the five perfect solids, which he called the Mysterium Cosmographicum or cosmic mystery, he discovered that the orbits of the planets were elliptical, not at all as geometrically perfect as he and the astronomers who had come before him had imagined them to be. As Kepler himself put it, “The universe is stamped with the adornment of harmonic proportions, but harmonies must accommodate experience.”

Just as we can use our reason to surmise the works of an intelligent designer/creator whose mark is manifest throughout our universe, it may likewise be reasonably deduced that the work of creation (or at least this particular result of creation [i.e. our manifest universe]) was a singular act and that the Creator, if he acts upon the manifest world at all, does so rarely and according to his own purpose (not human whim) and that he is not so much concerned with mathematical perfection as he is with overall significance; that is assuming he is “concerned” at all. That’s not to say, of course, that some people and events are not possibly “acted upon” at times by the Creator. The fact that we know as much as we do about Creation comes as close to being a miracle as anything I can think of without going outside the bounds of reason. After all, if Kepler had never met Tycho Brahe, the man who provided the raw astronomical data which eventually led Kepler to discard his “divinely inspired” cosmic mystery in favor of the correct, though just shy of perfect, theory of elliptical planetary orbits our view of the solar system, and perhaps the world itself, would be very different than it is today. Indeed it seems as though all the great advancements to our knowledge of the universe have happened against the greatest odds and only just barely have those whose works have significantly contributed to our understanding of the universe done so and all too infrequently. Perhaps our Creator wants us to understand his creation and at times intervenes in lives and events to help guide us along that path. Perhaps that is mankind’s ultimate destiny and the reason for the development of human consciousness or, to put it another way, maybe it is our responsibility to use our gift of consciousness to this end and when we do so the Creator takes note of us and helps us in our quest to understand his creation. Is this the true source of divine providence?

After all my spiritual searching and questing in all the wrong places finally came to an end coming to a rational belief in God was easy and natural but the more I thought about it the more I realized that Deism isn’t simply a rational belief in God; it is a realization that we live in a creation of God and that we are not just human beings we are creatures who are as much a part of Creation as the ground we tread upon, the air we breathe and the stars in the sky. All of us, and everything that exists, shares in the oneness of Creation. Not only that - nature, or Creation if you prefer, has its own unique language that can inform us and, when properly understood, can lead us to true self understanding without ever having to make a leap of faith. I once jokingly told a friend that, “Deism made an honest man of me”. What I meant by that was before I became a Deist I often (and most promiscuously) took as a “spiritual” truth anything that hit a chord within me subjectively without ever holding it to the light of pure reason. When I became a Deist, however, I realized what a rare and beautiful thing objective truth is, very much like true love, and just as true love should never be confused with baser human motives, faith should never be masqueraded as objective truth nor should objective truth be conflated with the former. Faith is a highly subjective experience requiring no proof nor benefiting from objective inquiry. Objective truth, on the other hand, can be sought after and determined by one who is fluent in the language of Creation and shared with everyone for the benefit of all mankind.

As a Deist I must allow that there are very many things that are not currently known to us through scientific inquiry and perhaps there is much that will never be known. I hold, however, that one truth honestly earned is worth far more than all the false promises and rewards of the faithful. As a Deist I am very much content to say I just don’t know when it comes to questions such as the existence (or lack thereof) of an afterlife. Like Tom Paine I hope for life after death, and allow for the possibility of such a thing, but I stop short of having faith in life eternal as it cannot be reasonably known through objective experience; but hoping and allowing for the possibility of such a thing is not at all the same thing as having “faith” that my consciousness will continue to exist after my body has died. Perhaps science will someday validate the belief in an afterlife (or at least some form of consciousness which continues after physical death) and perhaps it may someday validate the power of prayer and other spiritual and religious practices. Nothing would please me more and although I personally stop short of faith I believe in keeping an open mind. After all, the universe has only begun to be discovered and what cosmologists are discovering is simultaneously more thrilling and more bewildering than most of us could likely imagine. According to the recent theories in cosmology, something like 73% of our universe is composed of an invisible form of energy called “dark energy” which is now thought to be the reason why the expansion of the universe is actually accelerating rather than slowing down as was at first expected. A further 23% of the composition of the universe is now thought to be a form of non-atomic, invisible matter popularly known as “dark matter” which is thought to pass right through the earth! The existence of this type of matter is thought to account for the fact that stars on the outskirts of galaxies rotate at the same speed as those near the center but are not thrown out into open space - being held in orbit by the gravity of this dark matter. The rest of the universe is thought to be composed of the more conventional kinds of atomic matter that we can perceive with our five senses.

How exciting! It seems that science has discovered that the vast majority of what constitutes our universe is invisible and, as of yet, undetectable by our most sophisticated technology, dark energy and dark matter being perceivable only by observing the effects that they have on the visible universe. It should be mentioned that not every scientist buys into the theories of dark matter and dark energy. Some think that our ideas concerning gravity need to be amended in order to account for the discrepancies in Newton’s laws for which dark matter and dark energy are thought to account. Whatever the case may be, modern science has pushed its boundaries and, taking nothing as an article of faith, has amended itself to conform to the evidence, such as it may be, and quite possibly discovered a universe more mysterious than anything dreamed up by ancient shamans and the prophets of revealed religion. We are living in a time when there is at least the possibility that humanity can come to an understanding of the universe which is “universally meaningful” without ever having to convert by force or convince without reason a single “soul” and, who knows, perhaps even the rediscovery, via science, of unseen forces analogous to the idea of a “spiritual realm”. The possibilities are so exciting and my curiosity so great that the idea of faith, as it is promulgated by the major religions, seems rather disappointing.

In my opinion, if Revealed Religion, or even any of the thousands of indigenous religions which the revealed religions have supplanted and absorbed, have ever contained a penny of spiritual truth it has by now been tarnished almost beyond recognition by hundreds of years of religious bureaucracy, holy wars and cultural vandalism. If we are to reclaim these truths for ourselves, here and now in the modern era, we must start with a clean slate and look within ourselves and into the unknown vastness of Creation with an eye for discovery and re-discovery rather than to the heavens of revealed religions in a spirit of faith. Above all Deism represents for me a new beginning from which I can begin the long task of righting the mistakes of my own past and, hopefully, contribute in some small way to the betterment of mankind. There is a whole universe out there to be rediscovered and many books to be rewritten. For us Deists all the slates are clean … now let us begin anew.

“The truth of nature, which I had rejected and chased away, returned by stealth through the back door, disguising itself to be accepted … Ah, what a foolish bird I have been!” – Johannes Kepler

Kepler’s Mysterium Cosmographicum.

If you enjoy learning about and sharing ideas of deism and other religions with others, consider earning an education degree from an online college. The more Deists secure educations in fields like history and political science and become teachers, the more opportunity they have to enlighten society to the reality of Deism!

The Beauty of Deism

A positive approach to life is always more rewarding and motivating than a negative outlook. People all have an individual choice to embrace either the positive or the negative, regardless of their situation. By choosing and dwelling on the negative, people often paralyze themselves. It seems one depressing and negative thought spawns two or three more. It soon becomes an endless and apparently overwhelming negative cycle. I believe the Christian mind-set that is so eager to accept guilt and original sin, as well as the additional unnatural idea of redemption by proxy, is much to blame for the suffering of millions of people who allow themselves to be victims of negativity.

The insane and unreasonable ideas which abound in Christianity and Judaism are effectively neutralized and eliminated by the reason-friendly openness which permeates Deism. In place of Christianity's vacillating god of the Old and New Testaments, Deism offers an idea of a Creator as unchangeable as the laws of Nature. A Creator incapable of such misery producing acts as the extermination of men, women, children and even of unborn babies by drowning. Deism happily rejects the Passover horror story which depicts God killing the first-born of all the Egyptians, and even the first born of their animals, because Pharaoh did not do what the Bible god allegedly (according to Exodus 11:10) made impossible for him to do (releasing the Jews).

THE DEISTIC IDEA OF GOD

In contrast to the ideas of God endorsed and promoted by the various revealed religions, ranging anywhere from killing babies in the Old Testament to suggesting the practice of "turning the other cheek" in the New Testament, Deism offers a very simple non-dogmatic concept of God: an eternal entity whose power is equal to his/her will.

With the quality of being eternal, the entity of God obviously would have no beginning or end. Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity predicted places in the universe void of time, so the idea of eternalness is not unreasonable. As humanity learns more about science and the universe, our concepts of the Creator will correspondingly grow. This is the only way we can learn more about God: through the honest study of the Creator's creation, not through contradictory books written by men but claiming inspiration and revelation from God.

The antiquated practice of forming an idea of God based on purely past material experience, such as referring to God as "King", is also rejected by Deism. The extremely limited picture of God as the jealous and paranoid king of kings sitting on his throne upset that his subjects were going to reach "heaven" by building a brick tower is due to the limited vision which the Bible writers had of both the Creator and of the universe. This fear the Bible god had of the Tower of Babel is based on fear of humanities acquisition of knowledge. The Creator the Deist venerates invites all of us to learn as much as possible about absolutely everything, for this is the best way to learn about God.

Another problem with the idea of God as promoted by the revealed religions of Christianity, Judaism and Islam is its depiction of God as a man. By limiting God to the status of a man, women are consciously and subconsciously relegated to a lesser standing in society. After all, if God is characterized as a man, then men are closer to God then women. Perhaps this accounts for the multiple instances of women bashing found throughout the various "holy books." By limiting the advancement of women through their subjugation to men, revealed religion has limited the advancement and progress of all of society. And a very sad element of this anti-progress mind-set, advanced by revealed religion, is that it claims God as its author.

DEISM REJECTS VIOLENCE

All religions claim they reject violence. History, of course, proves them wrong. From the grotesque horror stories of slaughter and rape at the alleged command of God found throughout the Old Testament, to the claimed words of Jesus regarding bringing not peace but a sword, to the blood soaked Inquisition through religiously approved contemporary wars, revealed religion goes happily hand in hand with violence and war.

Deism's rejection of divine revelation excludes it from falling into the same violence promoting business that the revealed religions are in. There are no written words from the Almighty that can be twisted to sanctify one human being killing another. This makes Deism less useful to the ambitions of the power-elites. Could this be why very few people are aware of Deism and of the Deistic influence of the Enlightenment and the American Revolution?

Nuclear realities have made the waging of war an unacceptable proposition. War was never justifiable, it only exposed man's mental limitations at being able to formulate a workable solution to a problem. However, in the nuclear age humanitie's ignorance can lead to the extermination of civilization and life itself on our planet. The shallow chauvinism of the various revealed religions take us all one step closer to that irreversible catastrophe. Deism, by its reliance on reason and rejection of violence, serves as a block to the apocalyptic nightmare that is so central to the major revealed religions.

DEISM'S APPRECIATION OF LIFE AND BEAUTY

One of the best roads to happiness is to greatly appreciate the positive things in life. In spite of many obstacles that everyone has in their lives that need to be overcome, the fact remains there is much to be thankful for. To quote Thomas Paine:

"But if objects for gratitude and admiration are our desire, do they not present themselves every hour to our eyes? Do we not see a fair creation prepared to receive us the instant we are born - a world furnished to our hands, that cost us nothing? Is it we that light up the sun, that pour down the rain, and fill the earth with abundance? Whether we sleep or wake, the vast machinery of the universe still goes on."

From personal experience I know if my problems seem overwhelming, all I need to do is force myself to only think of the positive things in life and my spirits are soon picked up and fortified. I not only feel better, but my mind is cleared and solutions to the problems flow much smoother. And the more often I use this method the easier it becomes.

Many people express anger at God for disease, natural disasters and war. Yet it is within humanities power to eliminate and/or neutralize all of these. By studying the principles of Nature we have already eradicated many diseases and protected ourselves from much of Nature's fury. If we didn't let our egos, selfishness and fear get in the way, just think of how far we could be by now. Every invention and discovery we have today, could have been in effect 2,000 to 5,000 years ago. For the fact is, the principles those inventions and discoveries are based on were in effect from before the evolution of mankind. We could be enjoying a virtually disease free, peaceful progressive society extending well beyond our planet Earth. It still isn't too late. As we generate a peaceful worldwide religious revolution through Deism and the World Union of Deists we will bring about the emancipation of the individual's mind and spirit. The soul of society will then be lifted to a new level, never before thought possible. A level of progress and international cooperation that will make warfare just an archaic oddity of the dark, superstitious past.

WHAT BEING A DEIST DEMANDS

Being a Deist demands that we truly believe, to the depths of our souls, that the spiritual philosophy of Deism will definitely make our own lives better and that it will make the world a better place. Once we realize this, it becomes obvious that the old outdated religious views of revealed religion must be overcome by peaceful means. This entails a lot of work, sacrifice and giving on the individual's part. The revealed religions are so entrenched in society it will take a prolonged herculean effort on our part to pry their fingers from the throat and pockets of society. Once we do this by educating their rank and file, as well as by bringing in the millions of people who believe in God but don't endorse any particular religion, the power the revealed religions now yield will wither and society will get stronger. This requires each and everyone of us to make special efforts and sacrifices in both time and money. It's only logical that we must do and give more than those on the side of revealed religion are doing and giving to their cause.

Individual Deists can also make a big difference by telling their friends and family about Deism and the World Union of Deists. This is often the most effective type of advertising and does much to make Deism a household word.

DEISM AND DEATH

Revealed religions all teach different opinions on death. Even the different denominations of the same umbrella religion preach different dogmas. A good example is Christianity. Some of the Christian denominations say an essential qualification to get into heaven (of course they all agree dying is a key requirement) is that you have to be baptized "by submersion," while others say just a "sprinkling" is fine. Which is it? Sprinkling or submersion??

The fear of death is a big motivator for many people to support a particular religion. We all know, without the possibility of doubt, that a day will come for absolutely all of us when we will die. This realization brings fear to many people. It also brings money to religious charlatans who aren't ashamed to prey on this fear. In fact, it can be truthfully said that the revealed religions of the world all use the fear of death to put cash in their own pockets.

Contrary to this self-serving attitude of the revealed religions, Deism teaches that no one knows for certain what happens after death, if anything at all. It teaches that, based on the creation we are all a part of, we shouldn't worry about it. That instead, we should be concerned for the present and future of planet Earth and humanity. That we should work hard to improve life and also enjoy it here and now. Why should we worry about death when we have so much to do in life? And do we think so little of Nature's God that we don't trust Him with our future? Ethan Allen, a Deist from America's Revolutionary War era, wrote, "Ungrateful and foolish it must be for rational beings in the possession of existence, and surrounded with a kind and almighty Providence, to distrust the author thereof concerning their futurity, because they cannot comprehend the mode or manner of their succeeding and progressive existence."

Another Deist that had interesting thoughts on death was Benjamin Franklin. One quote of Franklin's was, "Take courage mortal, death cannot banish you from the universe."

Ben Franklin's epitaph on himself provides a look at his belief that our life on earth is not the beginning and end of a personality. He, like Ethan Allen above, seems to have believed that the state of our spirits or souls is of an evolutionary nature. Franklin's epitaph reads, "The body of Benjamin Franklin, printer, like the cover of an old book, its contents torn out and stripped of its lettering and gilding, lies here, food for worms. But the work shall not be lost; for it will, as he believed, appear once more in a new and more elegant edition, revised and corrected by the Author."

In Thomas Paine's The Age Of Reason, we read on pages 177 and 178 the following: "But all other arguments apart, the consciousness of existence is the only conceivable idea we have of another life, and the continuance of that consciousness is immortality. The consciousness of existence, of the knowing that we exist, is not necessarily confined to the same form, nor to the same matter, even in this life.

"We have not in all cases the same form, nor in any case the same matter that composed our bodies twenty or thirty years ago; and yet we are conscious of being the same persons. . .

"That the consciousness of existence is not dependent on the same form or the same matter is demonstrated to our senses in the works of the creation, as far as our senses are capable of receiving that demonstration. A very numerous part of the animal creation preaches to us, far better than Paul, the belief of a life hereafter. Their little life resembles an Earth and a heaven - a present and a future state, and comprises, if it may be so expressed, immortality in miniature.

"The most beautiful parts of the creation to our eye are the winged insects, and they are not so originally. They acquire that form and that inimitable brilliancy by progressive changes. The slow and creeping caterpillar-worm of today passes in a few days to a torpid figure and a state resembling death; and in the next change comes forth in all the miniature magnificence of life, a splendid butterfly."

In an essay Mr. Paine wrote the following short and to the point passage:

"I consider myself in the hands of my Creator, and that he will dispose of me after this life consistently with His justice and goodness. I leave all these matters to Him, as my Creator and friend, and I hold it to be presumption in man to make an article of faith as to what the Creator will do with us hereafter."

DEISM VS. ATHEISM

In George H. Smith's book ATHEISM - THE CASE AGAINST GOD, it is stated that rationality will not lead to God. That instead, God can only be brought about by rationalization. The book describes rationality as first finding evidence, then arriving at the idea, like Newton seeing the apple fall to the ground and then discovering the law of gravity. It then describes rationalization as first accepting an idea and then searching for evidence to support it, like someone inventing the idea of God and then saying God created the universe. Deism says it is rationality and reason that leads to God. To the Deist, the evidence is the creation and the idea of what brought about the evidence is the Creator. There is absolutely nothing known to man that created itself. For example, if someone shows us a computer, and tells us that all the individual parts that make up the computer just came about by chance, that they somehow just formed into a perfectly working computer system all by themselves, we would be foolish to believe that person. Reason, if we use it, won't let us believe a statement like that. Likewise, if someone tells us the ever growing creation and its perfect order "happened" by pure chance, we are under no obligation to believe them. From our own experience we know everything created has a creator. Why then should the creation itself be different? There is, however, one quality the creation has that makes leaving its existence to chance even more remote. That quality is motion.

Turning again to Thomas Paine we find the following pertinent observation he made regarding atheism in a speech to the Society of Theophilanthropists in Paris, France, shortly after the French Revolution:

"In the first place, admitting matter to have properties, as we see it has, the question still remains, how came matter by those properties? To this they will answer, that matter possessed those properties eternally. This is not solution, but assertion; and to deny it is as impossible of proof as to assert it.

"It is then necessary to go further; and therefore I say - if there exist a circumstance that is not a property of matter, and without which the universe, or to speak in a limited degree, the solar system composed of planets and a sun, could not exist a moment, all the arguments of atheism, drawn from properties of matter, and applied to account for the universe, will be overthrown, and the existence of a superior cause, or that which man calls God, becomes discoverable, as is before said, by natural philosophy.

"I go now to show that such a circumstance exists, and what it is.

"The universe is composed of matter, and, as a system, is sustained by motion. Motion is not a property of matter, and without this motion, the solar system could not exist. Were motion a property of matter, that undiscovered and undiscoverable thing called perpetual motion would establish itself.

"It is because motion is not a property of matter, that perpetual motion is an impossibility in the hand of every being but that of the Creator of motion. When the pretenders to atheism can produce perpetual motion, and not till then, they may expect to be credited.

"The natural state of matter, as to place, is a state of rest. Motion, or change of place, is the effect of an external cause acting upon matter. As to that faculty of matter that is called gravitation, it is the influence which two or more bodies have reciprocally on each other to unite and be at rest. Everything which has hitherto been discovered, with respect to the motion of the planets in the system, relates only to the laws by which motion acts, and not to the cause of motion.

"Gravitation, so far from being the cause of motion to the planets that compose the solar system, would be the destruction of the solar system, were revolutionary motion to cease; for as the action of spinning upholds a top, the revolutionary motion upholds the planets in their orbits, and prevents them from gravitating and forming one mass with the sun. In one sense of the word, philosophy knows, and atheism says, that matter is in perpetual motion.

"But the motion here meant refers to the state of matter, and that only on the surface of the Earth. It is either decomposition, which is continually destroying the form of bodies of matter, or recomposition, which renews that matter in the same or another form, as the decomposition of animal or vegetable substances enters into the composition of other bodies.

"But the motion that upholds the solar system, is of an entirely different kind, and is not a property of matter. It operates also to an entirely different effect. It operates to perpetual preservation, and to prevent any change in the state of the system.

"Giving then to matter all the properties which philosophy knows it has, or all that atheism ascribes to it, and can prove, and even supposing matter to be eternal, it will not account for the system of the universe, or of the solar system, because it will not account for motion, and it is motion that preserves it.

"When, therefore, we discover a circumstance of such immense importance, that without it the universe could not exist, and for which neither matter, nor any nor all the properties can account, we are by necessity forced into the rational conformable belief of the existence of a cause superior to matter, and that cause man calls GOD.

"As to that which is called nature, it is no other than the laws by which motion and action of every kind, with respect to unintelligible matter, are regulated. And when we speak of looking through nature up to nature's God, we speak philosophically the same rational language as when we speak of looking through human laws up to the power that ordained them.

"God is the power of first cause, nature is the law, and matter is the subject acted upon."

In addition to motion acting as a perpetual preserver, it also acts as a continual source for the universe's constant expansion. Every second the universe is expanding at the speed of light (186,282 miles per second). According to Astronomy Magazine, 2/14/92, page 49, "Astronomers presently believe there isn't enough mass in the universe, even with dark matter, to stop its expansion." This exciting realization should fill everyone with unlimited appreciation when we realize we are a part of this amazing and spectacular universe! The Creator is immeasurably generous!

In ATHEISM - THE CASE AGAINST GOD, the author writes, " . . .when I claim not to believe in a god, I mean that I do not believe in anything "above" or "beyond" the natural, knowable universe." Deism teaches that the Creator is knowable and discoverable through the creation itself. It is very understandable how people could be turned off by man-made religions and superstitions with their bombings and financial beg-a-thons, and confuse artificial or revealed religion with God. However, the atheist attitude of accepting things simply as not knowable is dangerous to the progress of humanity. Many things were not knowable in the past that are knowable today. At one time Europeans believed it was impossible to know what was on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean: but they were wrong. As we learn more about the sciences, we are learning more about the Power that put those principles in place. An eternal Being, as Thomas Paine said, "whose power is equal to His will."

Deism vs. Atheism and Christianity

Deism vs. Atheism and Christianity

by Robert L. Johnson

DEISM VS. REVEALED RELIGION

Revelation, or revealed religion, is defined in Webster's New World Dictionary as: "God's disclosure to man of Himself." This should read, "God's alleged disclosure to man of himself." For unless God reveals to each of us individually that a particular religion is truly His disclosure to us of Himself, then, by believing that religion, we are not taking His word for it, but we are instead putting our belief in the person or institution telling us it is so. This is what we are doing when we believe in any revealed religion, and that's all Christianity is. It's a revealed religion like many others such as Islam and Judaism. Revealed religion gets dangerous however, when it crosses over the line into politics. This is the admitted goal of the Christian Coalition. God allegedly revealed to Pat Robertson and his Coalition, that He wants them to take over America and eventually the world with "His Word," so the laws of the nations will mirror the laws in the Bible, which, if you know what's in the Bible, is terrifying. This, too, is what the Ayatollah's goal was, only his "revealed word of God" was the Koran, an other revelation. Are we to believe Pat when he says the Bible is revelation of God's Word?

As THINK! has already offered several examples in the above article, YANKING THE TEETH FROM THE RELIGIOUS RIGHT (this article is in the subscribers' section. If you're not currently a subscriber, please click here.), taken directly from the Bible itself to prove itself false and NOT the Word of God, reason alone will now be used to demonstrate Christianity is NOT revelation from God.

Thomas Paine, the man who elucidated Deism for the masses and who is the primary personal impetus for THINKonline!, Deistic Thought & Action! and the World Union of Deists, wrote:

"The Calvinist, who damns children of a span long to hell to burn forever for the glory of God (and this is called Christianity), and the Universalist who preaches that all shall be saved and none shall be damned (and this also is called Christianity), boasts alike of their holy [reveled] religion and their Christian faith.

"Something more therefore is necessary than mere cry and wholesale assertion, and that something is TRUTH; and as inquiry is the road to truth, he that is opposed to inquiry is not a friend to truth. "The God of truth is not the God of fable; when, therefore, any book is introduced into the world as the Word of God, and made a groundwork for religion, it ought to be scrutinized more than other books to see if it bear evidence of being what it is called. Our reverence to God demands that we do this, lest we ascribe to God what is not His, and our duty to ourselves demands it lest we take fable for fact, and rest our hope of salvation on a false foundation.

"It is not our calling a book holy that makes it so, any more than our calling a religion holy that entitles it to the name. Inquiry therefore is necessary in order to arrive at truth. But inquiry must have some principle to proceed on, some standard to judge by, superior to human authority.

"When we survey the works of creation, the revolutions of the planetary system, and the whole economy of what is called nature, which is no other than the laws the Creator has prescribed to matter, we see unerring order and universal harmony reigning throughout the whole. No one part contradicts another. The sun does not run against the moon, nor the moon against the sun, nor the planets against each other. Everything keeps its appointed time and place.

"This harmony in the works of God is so obvious, that the farmer of the field, though he cannot calculate eclipses, is as sensible of it as the philosophical astronomer. He sees the God of order in every part of the visible universe."

"Here, then, is the standard to which everything must be brought that pretends to be the work or Word of God, and by this standard it must be judged, independently of anything and everything that man can say or do. His opinion is like a feather in the scale compared with the standard that God Himself has set up."

Since we know we did not create the creation or ourselves, yet we and the creation do exist, it is logical to believe that God, or an Eternal Cause or Creator created us. This belief has absolutely nothing to do with revealed religion. In fact, all the absurdities of revealed religion are responsible for many sincere thinking people to reject and close their minds to natural religion/Deism. The priests, ministers, and rabbis need to suppress, or at least complicate, the pure and simple belief and realization of Deism for their own job security. And the power elites have no use for Deism because they can't use Deism to "inspire" mankind to wage war against itself for the elitists' own selfish purposes. In fact, Deism, by focusing on the first creed of all religions, belief in God, could frustrate the war/money machine permanently.

The following quote from Thomas Jefferson points us in a direction free of the confusion of priest-craft and revealed religion:

"I hold (without appeal to revelation) that when we take a view of the universe, in its parts, general or particular, it is impossible for the human mind not to perceive and feel a conviction of design, consummate skill, and indefinite power in every atom of its composition. The movements of the heavenly bodies, so exactly held in their course by the balance of centrifugal and centripetal forces; the structure of the Earth itself, with its distribution of lands, waters and atmosphere; animal and vegetable bodies, examined in all their minutest particles; insects, mere atoms of life, yet as perfectly organized as man or mammoth; the mineral substances, their generation and uses, it is impossible, I say, for the human mind not to believe, that there is in all this, design, cause and effect, up to an ultimate cause, a Fabricator of all things from matter and motion, their Preserver and Regulator, while permitted to exist in their present forms, and their regeneration into new and other forms. We see, too, evident proofs of the necessity of a superintending power, to maintain the universe in its course and order."

Because Deism is based on nature, the laws of nature, and the creation, it is a natural religion as opposed to revealed or man-made artificial religion.

Frequently Asked Questions about Deism

What is the basis of Deism? Reason and nature. We see the design found throughout the known universe and this realization brings us to a sound belief in a Designer or God.

Is Deism a form of atheism? No. Atheism teaches that there is no God. Deism teaches there is a God. Deism rejects the "revelations" of the "revealed" religions but does not reject God.

If Deism teaches a belief in God, then what is the difference between Deism and the other religions like Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, etc.? Deism is, as stated above, based on nature and reason, not "revelation." All the other religions (with the possible exception of Taoism, although superstition does play a role in both Buddhism and Taoism) make claim to special divine revelation or they have requisite "holy" books. Deism has neither. In Deism there is no need for a preacher, priest or rabbi. All one needs in Deism is their own common sense and the creation to contemplate.

Also, "revealed" religions, especially Christianity and Islam, use greed and fear to catch and hold converts. The greed is belonging to their "revealed" religion so you can get rewards such as eternal life, and in Christianity, anything you ask for. In combination with greed they use fear of death. Deism does neither. Deism teaches that we should do what is right simply because it's the right thing to do. And Deism doesn't pretend we know what, if anything, happens to us after our bodies die. We love and trust God enough not to worry about it. As Thomas Paine wrote, "I consider myself in the hands of my Creator, and that He will dispose of me after this life consistently with His justice and goodness. I leave all these matter to Him, as my Creator and friend, and I hold it to be presumption in man to make an article of faith as to what the Creator will do with us hereafter."

Do Deists believe that God created the creation and the world and then just stepped back from it? Some Deists do and some believe God may intervene in human affairs. For example, when George Washington was faced with either a very risky evacuation of the American troops from Long Island or surrendering them, he chose the more risky evacuation. When questioned about the possibility of having them annihilated he said it was the best he could do and the rest was up to Providence.

Do Deists pray? Only prayers of thanks and appreciation. We don't dictate to God.

How do Deists view God? We view God as an eternal entity whose power is equal to his/her will. The following quote from Albert Einstein also offers a good Deistic description of God: "My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble minds. That deeply emotional conviction of the presence of a superior reasoning power, which is revealed in the incomprehensible universe, forms my idea of God."

Is Deism a cult? It's impossible for Deism to be a cult because Deism teaches self-reliance and encourages people to constantly use their reason. Deism teaches to "question authority" no matter what the cost.

Unlike the revealed religions, Deism makes no unreasonable claims. The revealed religions encourage people to give up, or at least to suspend, their God-given reason. They like to call it faith. For example, how logical is it to believe that Moses parted the Red Sea, or that Jesus walked on water, or that Mohammed received the Koran from an angel? Suspending your reason enough to believe these tales only sets a precedent that leads to believing a Jim Jones or David Koresh.

What's Deism's answer to all the evil in the world? Much of the evil in the world could be overcome or removed if humanity had embraced our God-given reason from our earliest evolutionary stages. After all, all the laws of nature that we've discovered and learned to use to our advantage that make everything from computers to medicine to space travel realities, have existed eternally. But we've decided we'd rather live in superstition and fear instead of learning and gaining knowledge. It's much more soothing to believe we're not responsible for our own actions than to actually do the hard work required for success.

Deism doesn't claim to have all the answers to everything, we just claim to be on the right path to those answers.

Please bookmark this site as it is frequently updated.

Deist Glossary

Deist Glossary
Compiled by the World Union of Deists

I'd like to thank everyone who contributed their ideas to this new Deist Glossary! Your help is much appreciated! The editor.

Cult: In Deism, a cult is an embracing of unreasonable beliefs by a group of people. Based on this definition, Judaism, Christianity and Islam are all cults because their members suspend their God-given reason in order to believe or accept the unreasonable dogmatic teachings and superstitions such as God giving real estate as a gift to the Jews, the resurrection and ascension of Jesus, faith-healing (as just one example of faith-healing being a superstition, if faith-healing was REAL there would not be anyone suffering from mesothelioma and corporations would not be required by law to pay out millions of dollars per case in REAL damages) and Mohammed's ascension to heaven, among many more false and unreasonable claims. Because Deism always promotes free and independent thought and reason, it is impossible for Deism to become a cult.

Deism: Deism is the recognition of a universal creative force greater than that demonstrated by mankind, supported by personal observation of laws and designs in nature and the universe, perpetuated and validated by the innate ability of human reason coupled with the rejection of claims made by individuals and organized religions of having received special divine revelation.

Faith: This word has been so terribly abused by "revealed" religions that it has come to really mean the suspension of an individual’s God-given reason in order to accept, or at least to tolerate, an unreasonable claim made by a "revealed" religion. It is the only way "revealed" religions can get people to accept such insane and unreasonable claims and ideas as original sin, walking on water, healing the sick without medical care, splitting the Red Sea, etc. Deists prefer to use the word "trust" instead of faith due to the twisted meaning the word "faith" has acquired after centuries of abuse from the "revealed" religions.

One key difference between Deism and the "revealed" religions is that Deists don't believe faith is required to believe in God. This quote from Voltaire sums it up, "What is faith? Is it to believe that which is evident? No. It is perfectly evident to my mind that there exists a necessary, eternal, supreme, and intelligent being. This is no matter of faith, but of reason."

God: The universal creative force which is the source of the laws and designs found throughout Nature.

Intelligent Design: Intelligent Design refers to the structures in Nature, such as that of DNA, which can be observed and the complexity of which required an intelligent Designer. In this context "structure" means something arranged in a definite pattern of organization. In Deism, Intelligent Design has absolutely nothing to do with the unreasonable Biblical myth of creation.

Natural Religion: Belief in God based on the application of reason on the laws/designs of Nature as opposed to revealed religion which is based on alleged revelations.

Philosophy: The study of the truths and principles of being, knowledge, or conduct.

Reason: The mental powers used with forming conclusions or inferences based on facts. Deists look at reason as the second greatest gift from Nature's God to humanity, second only to life itself.

Religion: A set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature and purpose of the universe.

Revelation: The act of revealing or of making known. In the religious sense, revelation usually means divine revelation. This is meaningless, since revelation can only be revelation in the first instance. For example, if God revealed something to me, that would be a divine revelation to me. If I then told someone else what God told me it would be mere hearsay to the person I tell. If that person believed what I said, they would not be putting their trust in God, but in me, believing what I told them was actually true.

Revealed Religion: An organized system of belief in and worship of God based on the belief that God communicated/communicates with certain individual founders/members of the particular revealed religion. As mentioned above, by believing in any of the revealed religions a believer is not putting their trust in God, but in the person/people making the claim of receiving the divine revelation.

Trust: Trust is confidence in a person or thing based on reason and experience.

Welcome to Deism!

Deism has a lot to offer you! It also has a lot to offer society! Deism is belief in God based on the application of our reason on the designs/laws found throughout Nature. The designs presuppose a Designer. Deism is therefore a natural religion and is not a "revealed" religion. The natural religion/philosophy of Deism frees those who embrace it from the inconsistencies of superstition and the negativity of fear that are so strongly represented in all of the "revealed" religions such as Judaism, Christianity and Islam. (These religions are called revealed religions because they all make claim to having received a special revelation from God which they pretend, and many of their sincere followers actually believe, their various and conflicting holy books are based on.) When enough people become Deists, reason will be elevated over fear and myth and its positive qualities will become a part of society as a whole. Then, instead of having billions of people chasing after the nonsensical violence promoting myths of the "revealed" religions, people will be centered on their God-given reason which will lead to limitless personal and societal progress!

This is not a utopian pipedream. Deism has the potential to connect with every human being because every human being possesses God-given reason. Because of this fact, Deism clicks with the vast majority of people who are made aware of it. This God-given reason, which is so dear and key to Deism, is the natural state of humanity. The superstitions of the man-made "revealed" religions are NOT the natural state of humanity. The cause of our God-given reason being overrun with these man-made myths and superstitions is very simple. ACTIVE people promoted these falsehoods. Some of these active people were motivated by self gain while others were acting on ignorance. Since the problem was brought about by ACTIVE people, it can be corrected by ACTIVE people. As the number of ACTIVE Deists grows, our actions and energies will cause Deism to eclipse the "revealed" religions of the world and Deism will eventually, through lots of hard teamwork and altruism, replace the "revealed" religions. Humanity and the individuals who make up humanity will then be able to reach their full progressive potential!

Please familiarize yourself with Deism by reading the many articles the links to the left take you to. By using this site you will learn such things as God and religion are two distinct things, that one of the many benefits Deism offers you and your family and friends is solid protection from cults, that America's Declaration of Independence is a Deistic document, that the Bible and Koran paint a very evil and insane picture of God, that the Designer of Nature is as real as the designs in Nature, plus much, much more!

We hope the following statement by the man who did more than any other person to bring Deism to everyone, Thomas Paine, will ring true in your heart and mind after you learn what Deism really is: "There is a happiness in Deism, when rightly understood, that is not to be found in any other system of religion. All other systems have something in them that either shock our reason, or are repugnant to it, and man, if he thinks at all, must stifle his reason in order to force himself to believe them.

"But in Deism our reason and our belief become happily united. The wonderful structure of the universe, and everything we behold in the system of the creation, prove to us, far better than books can do, the existence of a God, and at the same time proclaim His attributes."

Anarşizm

Anarşizm, toplumsal otoritenin, tahakkümün, erkin ve hiyerarşinin tüm biçimlerini bertaraf etmeyi savunan çeşitli politik felsefeleri ve toplumsal hareketleri tanımlayan sosyal bir terimdir. Anarşi, her koşulda her türlü otoriteyi reddetmektir.

Bu hareketler, merkezi politik yapılar, üretim araçlarının özel mülkiyeti ve ekonomik kurumlar yerine toplumsal ilişkilere dayanan gönüllü etkileşim ve özyönetimi savunur, özgürlük ve otonomi ile karakterize edilen bir toplumu arzular. Bu felsefeler, anarşi terimiyle özgür bireylerin gönüllü etkileşimine dayanan bir toplumu, bireylerin ve toplulukların alınan kararlardan etkilendikleri ölçüde söz sahibi olması düşüncesini ifade eder.

Zorlayıcı kurumlara ve toplumsal bazlı hiyerarşilere karşı olmak anarşizmin asli ilkelerindendir ve ayrıca anarşizm gönüllülüğe dayanan bir toplumun nasıl işleyeceği konusunda olumlu bir görüşü ifade eder. Anarşist felsefeler arasında hatrı sayılır bir çeşitlilik vardır. Şiddetin anarşizmdeki yeri, ne tür bir ekonomik sistemin olması gerektiği, çevre ve endüstriyalizm hakkında sorular ve diğer hareketlerde anarşistlerin rolleri gibi farklı alanlarda çeşitli görüşler bulunmaktadır. Anarşist akımlar bu nedenlerle birbirlerinden çok farklı ve hatta karşı olabilirler. Örneğin anarşist komünizmin yanı sıra Hıristiyan anarşizmi gibi anarşist akımlar da mevcuttur.

"Anarşi" ve "anarşizm" kelimeleri Yunanca an ("-sız", olumsuzluk eki) archos ("yönetici")kelimesinden türemiştir. Bu yüzden anarşizm en genel anlamı ile yönetimin gereksiz olduğu ve ortadan kaldırılması gerektiği yönündeki inanç ve düşüncedir. "Anarşi" kelimesi, pek çok anarşistin kullandığı biçimiyle kaos veya anomi anlamına gelmez, gönüllü toplumsal ilişkilere dayanan bir toplumu ifade eder.

Anarşizm, geleneksel siyasete karşıdır; devletsizlik ve şiddetsizlik temel ilkeleridir. Klasik anarşizmde parlamento sahte bir kurumdur, halkın iktidarı değildir,bu yüzden oy vermemek gerekir. Devlet, doğası gereği kötüdür, kötü olduğu için değil. Partiler, düzenin elemanlarıdır.

Anarşizm değil anarşizmler vardır. Ortak özellikleri bütünsellikten yoksunluk, antidogmatizm, devrimcilik, çelişki ve tutarsızlığı tutarlı kabullenme, birey özgürlüğüdür. Zerzan, kültür ve teknolojiyi ortadan kaldırıp neandertalizme gitmeyi önermiştir. İspanya İç Savaşında anarşistler de yer almış, yenilmişler ve marjinalize olmuşlardır. Birinci Enternasyonal'de güçlü bir anarşist akım vardır. Anarkokomünistler, bireysel terörcüler, Malatestacılar, liberterler, genel grevciler ortaya çıkmıştır. Proudhon, mülkiyet hırsızlıktır demiştir. Antipolitik politika üretenler, nonapolitik olanlar, devletsiz liberalizmi savunanlarıyla çeşitli kollarda Stirner, Proudhon, Bakunin, Kropotkin, Godwin, Sorel, Goldman, Nozick anarşist teoriye katkılarda bulunmuştur.

Elitist bireyci anarşizmde devlet yoktur, vergi yoktur, askerlik yoktur, polis yoktur, kanun yoktur, bütün kolektiviteler yoktur ve sonunda toplum yoktur. Bu kavramları Warren, Spooner, Tucker'de belirgindir. Rand, Rothbard, Friedman suç yok ama ceza vardır der. Nozick ise devleti kabul eder. Anarşistler bolşevik devrimine karşıdır. Devletin yok olmasını kabul eder, düzenin sağlanmasını doğal hale bırakır. Kendi kendine işleyen bir ahlak düzeni, yasasız ve devletsiz işleyebilir. Yerel cemaatler doğrudan dayanışma ile devlet, sermaye, kiliseye karşı özgürlükleri savunabilir. Bu toplumsallıkta sınır tanımama ana ilkedir.

Bir anarşist kol ise şiddeti savunur. Eylem ile propagandayı itici güç olarak görür. Buna savunmacı şiddet diyen ve suikastlerle düzeni sarsmayı öngören devrimci Malatesta, Neçayev, Bakunin ortaya çıkmıştır. Kropotkin evrimci, Tolstoy pasifist, Gandhi boykotçu, Proudhon kooperatifçidir. Devletin emilmesini savunanlara göre halk bankaları kurulmalıdır. Postyapısalcı anarşistler ise merkezsizliği öne çıkarırlar.