Deism in Practice

by Chuck Clendenen

There is a gap between what we believe and what we can prove, and we bridge that gap with reasoned faith. I believe that there is plenty of room for both the sacred and the spiritual in a world governed by scientific principles. That is reasoned spirituality…

Deism in Practice

Science and spirituality do not have to be at war with one another. Deism offers reasoned spirituality. Deism provides a foundation and a framework that allows you to decide what beliefs to build into your worldview. What you construct will be uniquely yours. What does a Deist practice? This is the responsibility of each individual Deist. Deism has no required

 practices. No one has made all the decisions for you.

 What does it mean to be a Deist? What do I as a Deist do with my religious philosophy? How does Deism influence my daily life? Deism satisfies my spiritual needs because I am a questioning soul; Deism has some answers, and those answers make sense. What is it like to look at life through Deist eyes? I find myself looking at life through three lenses: reason, nature, and experience. Come experience with me life as seen through a Deist’s eyes.

As a Deist, I accept only what is reasonable. I reject the senseless, the contradictory, and the absurd. I don’t expect perfection. Perfection exists only in concepts, almost never in the real world. I also find it reasonable to acknowledge my other human characteristics – intuition, inference, passion and imagination – but I still put everything to the test of reason. My world has to make sense.

 Einstein said, “Science without religion is lame; religion without science is blind”. A Deist named David Pyle, now a Unitarian Universalist minister, paraphrased this as, “Without faith, reason is cold, but without reason faith is blind”. I believe that both Einstein and Pyle are correct. There is a gap between what we believe and what we can prove, and we bridge that gap with reasoned faith. I believe that there is plenty of room for both the sacred and the spiritual in a

 world governed by scientific principles. That is reasoned spirituality.

 How does looking through the lens of nature affect my beliefs and how I act? I am a student of life and of nature. I have thousands of years of science and philosophy at my fingertips, and nature still inspires me everywhere I look. When I look at the fine-tuned nature of the universe, I find it difficult to accept the notion that it is all the product of randomness. I see too much design and complexity. The universe makes more sense to me if there is a designer. There is more hope if life has a purpose, if the creation has a Creator.

Above all, I am an observer of human nature. We are social animals, but after all these millennia we are still learning how to live together in societies. It is in our nature to live together with other people, but it is also natural for us to want to be free. We can voluntarily restrict our actions in a society in order to achieve harmony, but when others place restrictions on our freedom, it is in our nature to resist if we disagree with their reasons for constraining us.

 It is entirely natural that I did not choose my religion as a child. My parents chose for me as their parents did for them, and I did not question their choice. It is human nature to trust our parents, and I accepted their religion on faith. But as I grew more independent and started examining my given beliefs critically, I had to make my own decisions. I could not choose unquestioning faith over reason.

I believe spirituality is innate in our human nature. We need to connect to our essential inner self and to something greater than self. We all feel connected to nature. We are influenced by nature’s cycles and rhythms. We stand in awe of nature’s power and beauty. Connecting with other human beings is spiritual. Being a part of a team or a choir or a community can be profound and uplifting. And I am sure that I do not have to tell you what a moving experience it is to connect physically and emotionally in an intimate, loving and committed relationship.

It is in our nature to learn and to try to make life better, even when we must take two steps forward and one step back. We experience life, and we pass along what we learn. We will never live long enough to experience everything, so we learn and benefit from the experience of others. But we must be careful. It is in the nature of some people to control others, so we must examine the evidence to see whether or not we should trust what others claim to have experienced.

When I came to look at the world through Deist eyes I began to comprehend that reason is the best way to make sense of life, and I came to many realizations. I began to understand that no one has a monopoly on truth. I saw that those who believe that they possess the only real truth inevitably think I should believe what they believe. As a Deist I prefer to think for myself and decide for myself what is true. When I look at life through Deist eyes I realize that nature is speaking to me, but not with words. My observations of nature tell me that my choices are really up to me that I should stand on my own two feet and take responsibility for my own life.

The most spiritual people I know attain a serenity that is evidence to me that they have moved past religious strife and conflict. The most spiritual people I know, irrespective of their faith, do not get hung up on literal interpretations of any religious texts. They lead by example, and I am inspired to follow them because I know they have glimpsed the real truth. When I look at the world through Deist eyes I pick out a few messages that ring true, those that are backed up by the evidence, that do not contradict the laws of nature and that are grounded in common sense. This is reasoned spirituality. Because what works for me may not work for you, take what you find of value here, and follow your own path. 

Read More

Why Deism is Free of Mystery

 What it all means? Some would define deism as if it were Anosticism, Atheism, Theism, "Christianity", they don't honest seek any discourse on the issues and we are at odds with those who have stood to silence us and to still our views since they feel it reflects badly on them. It is a shame that some people can say they believe in free speech discourse, and though, but who use abusive and dictatorial tactics to muzzle views of others they disagree with and can't control.

As Deists on the subject matter of the issues related to Deism we walk a fine line between the extremes, which itself is perhaps and extreme, but of which we are not afraid.

We reflect the most revolutionary and progressive of advances in modern progressive thinking while at once we embrace the best of the traditional we are not confined by the contradictions that embroiled past religious schools in controversy. As Newton, Gallileo, and Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543 changed the face of tradition religion in the west we wish to remain attuned to the developments in modern science which would have corresponding application elsewhere for example unified field theory which deals which systemic concepts, quantum physics dealing with particles, and black hole theory which incorporates components from both which we balance as follows:

Firstly We as Deists say:

"Everything in reality is not a matter of opinion, but that the opinion that everything is a matter of opinion is itself only an opinion" and unfitting as a rationale as insufficient by means of reason to do anything but trivialize what is sought found and argued.

Everything can not be abstract - for then there is no basis for even defining the abstract ... Though there may be basis to some things considered supernatural, there is nothing supernatural, nor above the laws of nature, or any basis to what is commonly referred to as esoteric, metaphysical or sophist which society and individuals alone can not decipher."

There often is no distinction between Theist and Atheists, nor for that matter Humanist, and Agnostic, Satanist or "Christian" in all that which greatly varies and most often suffices as folly as we can see it as such.

Ready We ask "What is the nature of god if god is not nature and all that means minus mankind's speculations?"

We are not Theists, nor Agnostics nor Atheists
 As Deists we are for all intents and purposes of many religious backgrounds as we are of one mind in the stages of creation and development as presumably the first Deist group of our kind. None has a monoploy on the principles of Deism unfortunately as many other "Deist" groups (there are many) have incorporated foreign non-Deist elements into their essence of belief, we are obligated to regard them as Deist in name only as they have adopted the ways of their captors (Stockholm Syndrome) whom surround us.

Deists can be considered the for-bearers of what may be considered as "Intelligent Design", but which we distinguish in that we view "Intelligent design" as a reactionary rhetorical device of the "religious right" who hypocritically foists it on the public in attempts to appear hip and reinvent itself so as to gain political leverage. We are not "Scientologists", nor members of the "Unification Church" which we have strongly oppose/d and argued against when ever possible as opportunism, nor do we wish to be their pawns.

We strongly believe in the separation of church and state, and we are totally against teaching religious curriculum's in the public education school in any shape manner or form, as we "do unto others" as we would have them do unto us without impositions placed upon us. We are also most strongly against separate parochial education systems as we feel the education system for the most part should be publicly based, strong supporters of civil rights, we are most probably closest to Unitarians, Re-constructionists, Ethical Culturists, Unstructured Quakers, some forms of Buddhism and progressives of all denominations though there are some issues that separate us.

As a Deist religious school of thought without saying we have been strongly influenced by immortal Thomas Paine, as well as many others in many varied fields including Einstein in physics, Bertrand Russell, Alfred J. Ayers, Gandhi, and George Novak, et al relating to the fields of materialism, empiricism, psycho-linguistics without whose intelligent discussion can not be done without.

Like Pantheists we find what is commonly referred to as god in all that which is Nature, without human hands and words to pollute it, as well as those interested in Tao, music, and physics also in the lack of substance manifested by the rests between the notes, spaces between the electrons, and the yin as well as yang all too often disregarded and ignored.

If you interested in these forms of discipline in study, and are unimpressed by the hallow sound of rhetoric, and hypocrisy commonly heard in religious circles in these most recent days as often they have serve political masters join us.

If you as a Deist, or merely interested in Deism as a writer, artist, or merely lay persons interested in Deism, we encourage you to contact us:

Regarding any content if you would wish to assist in your own understanding as well as ours you may for we are open to a diversity in discussion as long as that discussion maintain a sufficient level of study and forethought.
We are very interested in social issues, human rights, ethics, news, history, art, aesthetics, and much more.

On a simple inquiry to the United State Internal Revenue Service we have had it conformed repeatedly (by them) that we as a Religious based organization and ministry we are considered tax-deductible by the US Internal Revenue Service that we exercise as any not for profit organization may and invite you to assist us if you wish.

Soon for the advancement of that cause we will be constructing forums, and formal programs of study for discussion that will be based not only on our writings, but those of related authors in comparative religious study and Deism. We will offer comprehensive instructional courses in cross study for those interested in the totality of rational natural existence including empiricism, theology, psychology, linguistics, historical materialism, physics, cosmology, culture, language, science, and all that which is living, true, and good, but not mysterious supernatural mystical or metaphysical, nor esoteric, agnostic and theist. We do not believe in magic/majik, voodoo nor most established schools of thought.

Reviewed by Dr. Ben Johnson, Doctor of Divinity-Original author unknown.

Read More