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Reply With QuoteBecause christianity has deep roots as does many other religions. Newer religions also have the problem of getting over the image of a cult as any numerically inferior religion must.
I normally don't like to discuss anyone's particular beliefs or religion, but it is a topic that has been clashing with me a lot lately on a personal level. A friend of mine, who's christian, asked me if I died today did I think I'd go to heaven? And based off the mainstream principles of Christianity today that say only through Jesus can you be saved, I said quite quickly and confidently, no. And I think he was a little surprised and taken back by my blunt honesty and asked if I was okay with that to which I replied it doesn't bother me too much. Then a week ago he invited me to church and I decided I'd give it another try, see if I could enjoy his church. Long story short, I didn't.
Then I have another friend, a former catholic, who claims he's an atheist. His main beef I think is with organized religion however, as is mine, because he speaks of all the bullcrap organized religion has caused and the ridiculousness/paradoxes/contradictions in the bible and other religious works. And to this end I must say I agree wholeheartedly with him because I too find the bible and organized religion to be quite corrupt or simply ridiculous and superstitious.
I also realized however that I disagree with my atheist friend on one respect: the existence of God. Because when it comes to the creation of the universe, sure we have scientific theories but none of them lend a theory(or at least a confident, definitive theory) as to how it even happened in the first place. It is at the creation of the universe I am a firm believer in the existence of a higher deity which we have come to call God, at least in the christian culture that Americans live in.
Now I say I believe in God, but I do not however, believe that he is a God that mingles in human affairs. I believe God created the universe and the laws governing it, then through those laws gave the possibility of life that would evolve and eventually have reason; and through that reason discover the origin of their own existence. Case in point, the existence of humankind.
What I discovered quite recently is that this unique view of God and the universe has a name: Deism. If you look it up online you'll see that it embodies nearly everything that I've believed in for quite some time. I've always felt in my heart that I was not alone in my beliefs, but this "revelation" has comforted me greatly to know that this viewpoint does have a name and a lot of other people that 'follow' it. I use the term 'follow' loosely, because while some classify this viewpoint as 'religion', as it technically is, I for one find it to be more of a philosophy by which to live. I say that because religion these days becomes nearly synonymous with organized religion, which I feel is too easily corrupted, while an idea is pure.
So now I come before with the discussion question: why hasn't deism caught on in mainstream society? Or has it? With all the problems caused by religion today, do you think that Deism could be the future of religion? I can't wait to hear both theists and atheists feelings about this, but please keep it civil.
Because christianity has deep roots as does many other religions. Newer religions also have the problem of getting over the image of a cult as any numerically inferior religion must.
As for why Deism hasn't caught on, fear seems to make the most sense. Nobody ever cares about being a good person to be a good person: they want something out of it. They're afraid to stray from their religion at all, because that would be 'bad', and they might be 'punished' for it. In my opinion, if the deity in your religion scares you more than anything else, something isn't right and you might need to go religion-shopping. XD
As far as deism being our future religion, I don't really think so. I'm sure it will grow quite a bit, especially in the science community (since it coincides so nicely with well-excepted scientific principles). However, there are way too many religions and ideas for one to become the mainstream religion/idea (Christianity won't die very easily).
Yeah that whole fear your God thing is one of my many qualms with Christianity.
See to me Deism would be a nice stepping stone to atheism for some, because the only real difference, at least to me, between deism and atheism is that deists don't throw the concept of a creator God out the window, which is one of my problems with straight atheism.
One of the biggest questions, or maybe THE biggest question, on the creation of the universe is what caused it. And to me a supernatural force or being is no more an unreasonable theory than an embarrassing "I don't know/we can't know". The point of theory is that, a theory, an idea. Strict appeals to logic shouldn't prevent us from imagining how we think it might've happened, even if those ideas are way off, we need to guess. That's the only way we can progress.
Deism though is impractical for the matter of the state. Fear of God makes people behave. That is why religions that advocate such thinking always end up receiving some kind of monetary privilege from the state, usually tax immunity.
would new age be considered Diesm? becasue i know a couple people who have pretty much as basic as u could go in beliefs .. they say new age but it doesnt seem like it
The main reason as to why it doesn't catch on is because of the "god doesn't intervene" part. Which makes praying, blaming, hoping and asking for various things people like to ask utterly useless.
Basically, it doesn't affect us in any way. So at the end of the day, believing in a superior/supreme being that created the universe but doesn't intervene directly in its creation gives you the same results as not believing in a god at all.
If religion is supposed to be the opium of the masses in that regard you are quit right Hassun. It does fail.Originally Posted by Hassun
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