Deism is not strictly speaking a religion, but since it's about a god, then I thought it should be put here. I should also have put in the Philosophy section, though. Delta, feel free to move it if you think it should be moved.

What is deism? In short, deists are those whose belief in God is not based on tradition, on hope or on "miracles" and revelations, but rather on philosophical thinking. We deists (I happen to be one of them) believe that some sort of consciousness has created the world, but we do not think there has been miracles and such. We do not believe in the Bible. We do not believe in Heaven. We do not believe, either, that God is a being who thinks like us and who has emotions. We do not even necessarily believe that God is good: he could just be neutral. We merely think that the world has not created itself, and there must therefore be something that made it.

Deism is not technically a religion, because there are no ceremonies, no traditions and no morals related to it. But it is a philosophical belief, just like atheism.


Here's what deism is all about:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deism


Are there any other deists out there?

So... Deists are those who believe in a God but not in miracles etc.? Is this God always the same God, or can Deists sort of create their own?

In theory, deists can imagine their god the way they want, but most of them agree on the fact that God is neither good nor bad, that he is an unemotional being (unlike the 'angry gods' or 'loving gods' of other religions) and that he does not think the way humans do. From that point of view, God is not really a consciousness, but rather some kind of 'order' that rules the Universe.

But since deism is not actually a religion, there is no 'convention' about what God really is. There is no deist church or deist clergy or a deist holy book. So you're free to believe in any kind of god you want, as long as you don't believe in miracles.

Its an interesting view. Right now its hard for me to say what I believe in. I'm kind of in search for a concrete belief. Deism is certainly one I'll look into.

Same here actually, sorta looking for a relgion, currently a pleasent mix of atheism and agnosticism.

I've been looking at a couple of African "relgions" that follow sort of in the same vein of Deism, interesting, prehaps I'll post a topic on that as well.

lol, I know this is off topic, but one other I was thinking about is Buddhism. Although that would be weird to be a white Buddhist. It seems like a great religion.

It wouldn't be that werid actually, I know quite a few Buddists that are white, and while its certainly based in Eastern thought, I imagine you'd be surprised in how many westerners have taken it up.

Its also another relgion I have looked into. The trend being (and heres where I tie it back with the orginal topic of the thread) that most people who are looking for a relgion tend to be looking for a much more open relgion than most people who are "mainstream" or who've been brought up with a belief think/are memebrs of. Deism, Tribal Relgions of Africa, Buddism, Unitarian, they all are much more open than a great deal of Christianity, Islam, and Judism (especially the latter) is. While of course there are exceptions, by their very nature, what I see is them not being as open because of the need for them to say "this is the truth."

Deism tends to be more of a one that is open, and that you have to discover for yourself, you can't truely be taught it.

Deism has always interested me greatly as a relgion, though I do find Buddhism worth more of an investigative glance. Deism, I think, is a philosophy that I unwittingly have always sort of followed. The main problem I have with mainstream monotheistic religions and the constant question of "which religion is the right one?" is that we are imperfect beings so how can an almighty, all-knowing being entrust us with such a powerful and weighted decision? The idea that there is a higher being doesn't trouble me in the least, in fact, if anything, it makes the most sense, but the execution of the various faiths is what I find most troubling.

Unitarian Universalism has also sparked some interest, though I'm not quite sure where to classify it on the relgion vs. philosophy scale based on what I've gathered of the various congregations and lenient freedoms given to those congregations by the UUA.

I've also looked partly into that. There is a meeting house (their name for "Church") not far from my house. I really want to get down to it to check it out.

Unfortunately for me, I live in a primarily rural area. There are two congregations in Charlotte, though, which is closest to me, but still a fair drive.

The only religious place I live near is a church... and I'm not religious.

I understand.

Deism seems to be a fine "religion" (I'm just calling it that because I can't think of anything else to call it), because it looks like one that doesn't want to change the world into its beliefs, and it doesn't really demand that followers do this and that and just about everything it's possible to do (and a few things that aren't).

However, I'm still staying firmly in the position of "atheist" for now, and I don't really think that will change... but I'm happy I know about Deism.

You seem to be implying that religion lacks philosophy and that it is only about miracles and tradition.
Hardly.
Religion and philosophy walk a very similar path.
For a religion to truly become great, it must appeal to both the common man and the greatest minds of its time.

To name a few of the greatest religious philosophical minds: St. Augustine, St. Tomas Aquinas, Soren Keirkegaard, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and I'm sure you can think of a few more yourself. Actually, Socrates, Plato and Aristotle were all monotheists and the Judeo-Christian-Islamic tradition owes much to them. (The early Catholic Church even recognized them and gave credit where credit was due)
Religion has very deep roots in philosophy. Both delve deeply into what is and what ought to be, and to say that religion is just tradition and miracles, is, quite frankly, grossly offensive.

I know you meant no harm, but you should wise up to what you say.

Uh, no, I don't think he is saying anything like that at all. He never once claims that relgion has no philosophy, he is saying that there is a difference between philosophy and relgion, and this philosophy has no relgion.

Why not make your very own? You don't really have to follow anyone else's religion, you should make your own. You seem easily intelligent enough to ;) .

I suppose it does, but it also is quite different, in some ways. I would say, though religion and philosophy are based similarly, they have grown away from each other (sticking to the plants B) ).

It's good to have a belief system that isn't so... interfering. Deism isn't particularly intrusive, as opposed to some others. Which is good, I hate it when religions do that <_< .

I make my own philosophy, I don't really see how to/the need to make my own relgion.

So, Deism is basically Atheism with the "Age-Old Creation Question" (as I call it) filled in?

If you don't know, the "Age-Old Creation Question" (which I'll abbreviate AOCQ from now on) is this: No matter what your creationism beliefs are (in the case of most athiests, the Scientific view or the Big Bang), if you go back in time far enough, there was something that was "just there". There's no way to explain that first thing's existence, and there never will be. Deism simply says that something must have existed then, and you get to decide on your own what that "thing" was. Am I correct?

I'm sticking with athiesm for the moment, but if I ever do change my beliefs, I think Deism is my #2 choice.

-IMP ;) :)

I was going to make a separate topic for this, but it's very closely related to Deism so I figured it would be easier to compare them here.

I've been reading up on Theism, it's very interesting.

Allow me to take a quote from wikipedia:

That's basically a good explanation. The main difference is that Deists don't believe the god is around anymore, and Theists do.

Theism Wiki
I got the quote from the Deism wiki

I'm considering hard about becoming a Theist. What are your guy's thoughts?

Deists who think that God no longer intervenes form the majority of deists. Some deists, however, think that God still acts, but through the laws of nature rather than with "miracles" and "revelations", in such a way that it is impossible to Man to know that it was God who did that.

That's an interesting view too.
I've actually taken a big interest in Theism though, more so than any other type of religion I've read about. However I do like the view about God acting through the laws of nature.
The main part is I kind of in a way think that God created the earth and doesn't really care about morals too much, because to be quite honest, if God did exist, and he did have real morals, he probably would have killed us all by now seeing as most of the people on earth commit major sins daily and don't think twice... or even once about them. :P