Deism! (Buddhism, hell, church, agnostic)

[JerZ]

All deists line up here!

(wind whistling) (tumbleweed flies across the screen)

Oh, what is deism? I'm so glad you asked. Here's a link with a FAQ: http://www.godvsthebible.com/faq.htm (broken link)

I know I'm nutty but this really really struck a chord with me. I never know what to call myself here because I'm really not agnostic (I believe in God), I'm not Christian, not Jewish, not Muslim, very bad at Buddhism though I've tried, bad at believing in multiple gods so that's not "it" either...but this made SO much sense to me.

Anyone have any thoughts or opinions? Anyone ever heard of this, prior to this particular post?

[pladecalvo]

Originally Posted by JerZ

All deists line up here!

(wind whistling) (tumbleweed flies across the screen)

Oh, what is deism? I'm so glad you asked. Here's a link with a FAQ: http://www.godvsthebible.com/faq.htm (broken link)

I know I'm nutty but this really really struck a chord with me. I never know what to call myself here because I'm really not agnostic (I believe in God), I'm not Christian, not Jewish, not Muslim, very bad at Buddhism though I've tried, bad at believing in multiple gods so that's not "it" either...but this made SO much sense to me.

Anyone have any thoughts or opinions? Anyone ever heard of this, prior to this particular post?

Ummm!! Let me get in before one or two others do.

HEATHEN!!!!!!!!! You're gonna' burn in hell girl!

[TakeAhike]

Originally Posted by JerZ

All deists line up here!

(wind whistling) (tumbleweed flies across the screen)

Oh, what is deism? I'm so glad you asked. Here's a link with a FAQ: http://www.godvsthebible.com/faq.htm (broken link)

I know I'm nutty but this really really struck a chord with me. I never know what to call myself here because I'm really not agnostic (I believe in God), I'm not Christian, not Jewish, not Muslim, very bad at Buddhism though I've tried, bad at believing in multiple gods so that's not "it" either...but this made SO much sense to me.

Anyone have any thoughts or opinions? Anyone ever heard of this, prior to this particular post?

I know of one political forum that must now have at least 100 1,000 page threads on this topic.

'Was Thomas Jefferson a Deist?', 'Separation of Church and State' , Freemasons...'One Nation Under God'

>>>http://www.adherents.com/people/pj/Thomas_Jefferson.html>>>

A critical review of the Founding Fathers and their beliefs was invigorating.

Worth contemplation.

sls

[maniac]

I think it is rather interesting. But I really like being able to talk to my God whenever I want to

[Mark S.]

Originally Posted by JerZ

Oh, what is deism?

In short: Deists believe in God, but they don't believe that God has any direct involvement in our lives. They believe that there is a Supreme Being, but once He made everything, He basically wound it up like a clock and is content to watch it tick.

Many of the Founding Fathers (like Jefferson) were deists.

I don't buy deism myself, but it is an interesting study.

[JerZ]

Thanks, bhs!

Originally Posted by Mark S.

In short: Deists believe in God, but they don't believe that God has any direct involvement in our lives. They believe that there is a Supreme Being, but once He made everything, He basically wound it up like a clock and is content to watch it tick.

Well, some do. That's actually kind of the Wikipedia short version. One hallmark of deism, apparently, is its flexibility of belief. The belief in God is definitely there (hence...the name) but people vary on how they view the extent of His involvement. God is seen to not perform miracles or deliberately single people out and therefore it would seem logical that all deists believe God has NO involvement, but that doesn't seem to be the case with everyone.

I mean I'm obviously not the expert, being new to all this myself, but I've been doing as much reading as I can scare up on the subject.

[dncngrl1964]

Originally Posted by JerZ

Thanks, bhs!



Well, some do. That's actually kind of the Wikipedia short version. One hallmark of deism, apparently, is its flexibility of belief. The belief in God is definitely there (hence...the name) but people vary on how they view the extent of His involvement. God is seen to not perform miracles or deliberately single people out and therefore it would seem logical that all deists believe God has NO involvement, but that doesn't seem to be the case with everyone.

I mean I'm obviously not the expert, being new to all this myself, but I've been doing as much reading as I can scare up on the subject.

Jerz
Ya know you're my girl and all but honey "flexibility of belief"?????
Either you believe or ya don't there is no flexiblitly to someone who is constant

God is constant ....God is unchanging

he doesn't do yoga he isn't flexible

Gumby is flexible

[JerZ]

Originally Posted by dncngrl1964

Jerz
Ya know you're my girl and all but honey "flexibility of belief"?????
Either you believe or ya don't there is no flexiblitly to someone who is constant

God is constant ....God is unchanging

he doesn't do yoga he isn't flexible

Gumby is flexible

LOL!!! "All hail lord Gumby!"

It isn't the belief in God that's changeable/flexible. The name itself states that the belief in God is the main thing. It's the central thing. The core belief. And it isn't God Himself who's viewed as changeable, either.

What's flexible is people's understanding of how much or how little God may be directly involved in their lives. People differ on how they feel about this one. But that's true of many religions--with some people thinking He sees every sparrow fall or what-have-you, and others who think it's more general than that...you know what I mean.

Anyway, the thing that is making sense to me with Deism is that the reason it's acceptable and actually expected that one's beliefs may change or refine over time, is that it's the thought processes that are supposed to get us closer and closer to God. Reasoning, questioning, etc. As far as I can tell, Deists don't think God actually changes. They think we're at all different stages and have all different experiences and different research and therefore there's no way *we could actually understand* God in exactly the same way. But that doesn't mean God *himself* is changing over time. It means our understanding of Him is.

This makes such perfect sense to me because take, for example, a little child. A little child will visualize God as a man in a white robe with a long beard, and the devil as a horned creature hiding in their closet or under the bed, just waiting to poke her with a pitchfork. That's because that's a child's capability of understanding...to have to visualize and "name" and picture everything. Over time these visuals will probably change. They'll change in all different ways for different people. But they will change. Right? I know a lot of children who, when asked to describe God, would immediately point out the beard and the robe, but no adults (thank goodness...I'd be worried) who would do the same.

Same thing when you're on any spiritual journey. The way you understand things changes over time. That doesn't mean the truth changes. The truth has to be constant, by definition...or it wouldn't be truth. But our understanding of the truth, or our grasp of a certain amount of the truth, will probably change over time.

It's like that parable of the blind men and the elephant. I can't remember where this came from--some philosopher--but the idea is that a group of blind men all go up to an elephant and touch it. One man touches the tail and announces that an elephant is something long and skinny. Another touches the elephant's trunk and argues that, no, although an elephant is long it isn't skinny at all; it's thick. Another touches the leg and notes that an elephant is something very very broad and wrinkly. Another grasps the tusk and laughs at his compadres, saying they're all idiots--an elephant is pointy and smooth. They're *all right*...yet *none of them is completely right*. I guess the idea is that, given time, if they explore *all of the animal* bit by bit, eventually they will all have a full understanding and the apparent conflicting information will finally make sense.

[GenesisNemesis]

Originally Posted by maniac

I think it is rather interesting. But I really like being able to talk to my God whenever I want to

Does He answer with words? How do you know?

[CelticLady1]

Hey JerZ! I like this thread. Deism is one of those beliefs that I have also been looking into, for the last few years. I don't know if it's because of my Christian(Baptist) background, but I have a hard time with the concept of God not being involved in people's lives, but at the same time, Deism does make sense, on some level. As you said, maybe it's kind of like the elephant and the blind men! Of course, there does seem to be varying degrees of acceptance as to just how much God is involved. There is even a Christian Deism, though not overly popular or accepted, (it does seem to be contradictory). Actually, the website that you gave is one that I don't think I've seen before, (or at least, I don't remember it), so I will be looking closer at it. I have read a number of other sites. I don't accept the whole concept, obviously, but it is interesting to read about. Just another thing to put into my mental bread basket. Perhaps, in searching, this is one of those situations where, it's not the journey's end that's important, so much as the journey itself.