general Deism Discussion Thread

[SunsetBaconDrive 169]

I wanted to make a thread for fellow deists to come and explain the following.

 

What lead you to deism?

 

Has your life quality improved with acknowledging a Creator without illogical faith based religions?

 

Are you a former theist or atheist?

 

Atheists... Do you get along with or respect deists?

 

I am a deist and the great thing about it is that I just know all life before us isn't an accident. But I don't make it a dogma to harass others into my mind set. I hold some beliefs about a creator.. Some I will conceal for my own personal reasons.. But I think an anthropomorphic god is not only absurd and egotistical of humanity... It is also laughable that we view ourselves as that important compared to every other being on the planet. 

 

 

 

[Envy 6,030]

Original response was out of line, I apologize.

 

I'm an atheist. Like The Dragon Returned below, I don't base getting along with others based on their beliefs in regards to religion/deities. Although, as an atheist, I'd probably be more comfortable with a deist as a friend or lover not because of my personal feelings toward their belief, but because deists probably wouldn't believe that I'll go to hell unless they save me. I tend to avoid having the conversation of my nonbelief with religious people because I worry that they'll go crazy trying to get me to believe because they care and don't want me to go to hell. But that's for another topic.

Edited November 16, 2016 by Envy

[Untitled Goose Q 5,136]

Athiest here, so I'll respond to the question aimed my way.

I do not get along or respect people based on their beliefs, be they religious or other.

 

What matters is the person themselves. A sure way to get me to not respect you is to try and force your beliefs on me. Avoid that, and I'll generally get along with you.

[SunsetBaconDrive 169]

Athiest here, so I'll respond to the question aimed my way.

 

I do not get along or respect people based on their beliefs, be they religious or other.

 

What matters is the person themselves. A sure way to get me to not respect you is to try and force your beliefs on me. Avoid that, and I'll generally get along with you.

That's great and all and I do know its a person's character and not their beliefs. A problem we have in modern society is that people  think you're attacking them when you attack their beliefs and that's false. I was an atheist  in my highschool years... I just changed my thinking process and decided that just because religions were created as tools for early social engineering(still work today... I tell you people thousands of years ago were ahead of their time). I just think that it is highly likely were created by a being that is beyond our comprehension so its meaningless to place value on ourselves and make god into something that reflects how we physically look.

[Varrack 1,080]

 

 

What lead you to deism?

 

The realization that religion was inculcating me and preventing me from thinking freely. It told me how to live me life, and what choices to make. I decided that that wasn't how I wanted to live, and from then on contemplated what I believed. I settled on deism after realizing that I did believe in a higher power.

 

 

 

Has your life quality improved with acknowledging a Creator without illogical faith based religions?

 

 

I think one can be heavily religious and have a high quality of life. What makes a high quality life is how satisfied you are with it. This was me when I was younger and more religious, but it wasn't till recently that I decided I didn't want any more of it. So I can't say I wasn't happy back then.

 

 

 

Are you a former theist or atheist?

 

Theist. I am still one technically, depending on how you define the word.

[Whtttheflip 123]

I was a christian (just because my grandma told me god exists) until one day I found a youtuber who made some videos disproving the existence of a god and some other videos about random stuff too. When I finished watching his videos I realized now I didn't believe in a god anymore and I suddenly felt so free because I could think with total freedom about anything without fear of a nigh omnipotent being listening to my thoughts. That was one of the best feelings I've ever had and it made him my second favourite youtuber without a doubt.

[Lil Pip 775]

I guess I am an atheist in regards to theism, and an agnostic in regards to deism.

Also deism could be one deity, multiple deities, one non-deity 'higher' being, multiple non-deity 'higher' beings, or a simulation, or each variation and permutation of this sort of trend. That type of technical agnosticism.

In regards to why I am an atheist for theism. Its as simple as there is nothing to see that we would expect if a deity, multiple deities, etc ad infinitum, were true. 

And even then I am massively skeptical were a deity/etc to exist, because it might just seem like one, and not be one, and not be 'higher'. It might just be an alien with better technology for instance. But even so, we do not see it, unless its like, made of dark matter or something. [add more variations to the technicality(s) til it covers all bases, here]

[zerox 1,050]

Am I an agnostic deist.

I don't know if god exists or not. I tend to think it's more possible that a higher power exists than not. I also don't know if god or a higher power cares about people or it doesn't

[Dowlphin 459]

I've never had any strong conviction in either direction. Spirituality eventually became a natural next step in my curious inquiry about the world. I began leaning towards Daoism. After some psychedelic experiences where I was confronted with some mindblowing and hard-to-deny things, I now consider myself somewhat of a pantheist.

 

Has my life quality improved? Wouldn't say that, but you cannot know what would have happened if you had made different choices, so all you can do is make your peace with your choices.

 

As for my interaction with people: I tend to sum up all my experiences like this:

The worst of theists show an appalling degree of naivete.

The worst of atheists show an appalling degree of arrogance.

Not without some surprise, in talking with people on the internet, I eventually found myself getting along quite well with theists and getting really pissed when talking to various atheists. Because the naivete is so non-offensive, but the arrogance is vicious.

 

Atheism can turn into a hubris practice; a glorification of the egoic mind as the highest thing there is, and such followers very open to ego-boosting and thus being controlled by people-manipulators.

A reason not to consider the egoic mind as the highest power is a reality that stares us in the face 24/7 and that we only managed to shove aside out of habit: The incomprehensible nature of infinity. When your mind is running circles and getting nowhere, you eventually have to give up and open yourself to the mystical magic of that endlessness, acknowledge that there might be things we are by design unable to comprehend. And that is a humbling experience, and humility is needed to counter the hubris of the egoic mind, which is a profoundly fear-based tool designed to protect our physical bodies from outside harm. The opposite of fear - love - cannot be "created" by the mind and that can infuriate it. Love is created when that fear-based process allows itself to take a step back, to give way to it. In that way you could say love is yin in nature. You cannot "make" it, only allow it to happen, be open to it. It is an experience that drives action, not an action that creates experience.

 

Basically (as I said - pantheist) my personal insight was that everything is God and thus everything is happening exactly as intended. And if that frustrates you, that, too, is part of it. God has limitless power, including the power to deny its own existence. But God is the consciousness that's observing all the time. A person might search for God their whole life and the cosmic joke is that God is that which has gone on that journey and witnessed every moment of it.

Introspection would have helped, haha. The realization only comes once the point of total exhaustion has been reached and the mind surrenders.

Because this can be like death to the mind by weakening its own grasp on reality, I like to quote a line from the movie "The Fountain":

"Death is the road to awe."

(BTW check it out, it's an awesome and touching spiritual movie that gave me some unsettling flashbacks.)

 

I was once offered to wield the infinite powers of the universe. But I was told for that I had to die first.

What a downer, haha. There's always a catch, isn't there?

Infinite power without dying first - is that really too much to ask?! xD

 

 

I once expressed these things in more creative-poetical form, so if you'd enjoy digging into this perspective, give these a try:

 

http://dowlphin.deviantart.com/art/Unconditional-Love-589500034

http://dowlphin.deviantart.com/art/The-Everything-You-Need-To-Know-530740773

http://dowlphin.deviantart.com/art/The-Dao-Is-Not-Like-A-Black-Hole-572566625

http://dowlphin.deviantart.com/art/Surprise-Owns-You-591626559

Edited November 17, 2016 by Dowlphin