I perceive Deism as "We Believe in God, but not necessarily all the trappings of organized religion"
>From Deism.org "Deism (n): Belief in God as revealed by nature and reason combined with a disbelief in scripture, prophets, superstition and church authority. Deism is a free-thought philosophy, much like Agnosticism, Atheism or Pantheism in that it rejects the dogmas and superstitions of religion in favor of individual reason and empirical observation of the universe. Deism differs from these other free-thought philosophies in that it sees an order and architecture to the universe that indicates a Creator. The word "God" is used to describe this creator, not to be confused with the "Biblegod." Deism notes that we as humans are endowed with the power of reason and an indomitable spirit. It follows that we are intended to exercise them. Therefore, skepticism and doubt are not "sins" but rather natural expressions of God's gift of reason. Because skepticism and doubt are not sins, Deists view with extreme suspicion any efforts by other humans to claim divine authority, such as claiming to be a "prophet" or citing "sacred scripture" said to be written by alleged prophets (as in the Bible, the Quran, the Book of Mormon, etc.). Placing faith in scriptures, prophets, priests, churches, "holy" figures, or traditions is surrendering your personal reason to another source. Usually, this other source has far less interest in "the state of your soul" as the accumulation of wealth and political power. With scripture and revelation removed, all that remains to know God is personal reason and observation of the universe. Essentially, this is getting to know the artist by studying the artwork. The only "Word of God" is the universe itself. " Scott A. Stewart ColdFusion Developer GNSI 11820 Parklawn Dr Rockville, MD 20852 (301) 770-9610 -----Original Message----- From: Gruss Gott [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, January 11, 2006 10:26 AM To: CF-Community Subject: Re: Next in line to be labeled Dictator by America > Scott wrote: > Many of the writers of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, > were in fact Atheists, Agnostics and Deists, there were very few > "Christians" and I'd dare say none in the modern "religious right" view. > I agree, and this is knit-picking, but is it fair to say that few were Christians? I agree that many of the framers were famously Deists, including Franklin. BTW - I think of Deism as, "if religion keeps you from violating another's rights, then by all means, be religious." Maybe that's a misunderstanding, but I sort of think of the constitution as inspired that that concept. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:5:191603 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
