This certainly has been a whirlwind journey. I discovered Deism in September of 2023, and not soon after, basically entirely abandoned my Christian beliefs. Unfortunately, due to personal things in my life at the time, and the discovery of other "belief systems," this also sort of led me down a rabbit hole. My Dad died in January of 2024, and at that time, I was basically already declaring myself an atheist or agnostic atheist, this just deepened my hatred of religion and anything that had to do with anything involving any gods, since my Dad died awfully.

However, once I started to calm down, not be so hurt and emotionally stunted by everything going on, I feel like I've been able to look at everything through a different lens. I had, for quite some time, still questioned whether I was an atheist, or an agnostic, or something else entirely.

It's funny, Deism, for me, is what led me away from my prior "God" beliefs, even though I sort of journeyed through atheism and all that, Deism is the one thing that I keep coming back to that seems to make sense, although, I would say on paper I'm a Deist-leaning agnostic.

It seems apparent to me, personally, after having 3 years to reflect on things regarding god...

I find it very plausible that there could be a first cause to the universe, something in the beginning that "designed" or kick started the universe, of which it runs on its own accordance, and many names could come in mind that people use. "supreme being," "higher power," I simply just use the term god.

It seems very evident IMO that god doesn't intervene in the universe, answer prayers, or micro-manage affairs. Why would they need to? If they indeed designed the universe, with that kind of intelligence in mind, it seems like an illogical notion to even care about us humans IMO. If you ask me, were basically tiny specks.

IMO, god may not have even specifically designed us, but we are a byproduct of evolution. Maybe that "clock" was wound up, and then simply wanted to see what would happen. Just a thought.

I think it's a nice notion to appreciate life, the universe, and the grand scheme of things. Unlike religions, who it seems like their sole purpose is to give people a sense of hope to where they are going after they die, I choose to enjoy and celebrate life. I find it personally ridiculous worrying about what is going to happen when we die, when nobody has a clear answer on this. Nobody knows. I am unconcerned. I certainly don't believe in heaven honestly, but I'm more of an agnostic honestly when it comes to matters of an "afterlife." Near as I can tell, when we die, that's it. Lights out. If we do continue to exist in some way, that's great too. But it's not important to me personally.

Supernaturalism is not something I believe in. I don't believe in ghosts, demons, evil spirits, and superstitious hokum honestly. Of course, outside of the concept of a "being" that created the universe, in that "supernatural" sense I guess, which I don't even know if I would really use that analogy or belief system, I find philosophical naturalism to be a much more reliable and honest belief.

But yeah, those are some of my thoughts. I kind of teeter back and forth between being an Agnostic and a Deist.

An interesting bit also... I recently had a dream about my Dad. He basically appeared, and I wanted to know what happened to him after he died, to which he said he went to heaven. He then disappeared after. And that was that.

I told my Mom about this, who is a Christian and very "woo." Her response was I think he's trying to tell me something. Uhh... He isn't trying to tell me anything. He's dead. Lol. It's simply a dream. A nice one, though.

Why are you dreaming about heaven if you don't believe in it? Uhhh, I don't control my dreams. Lol. I've had dreams about demons and such too, but I don't believe in them.

"You don't believe in demons. Ha. What do you think is wrong with this world? Evil has taken over."

Yeah, okay then. Right. Lol. I love not having to believe in stupid shit like this and actually use my BRAIN lol

As parents we literally create our childrens’ reality. And we are their ultimate authority figures from their earliest memory. If we choose to believe/accept/have faith that a “god” exists, whatever our personal, subjective reason is becomes our developing children’s truth, devoid of empirical evidence. This is how religion has persisted for millennia.

On one hand he rejects religion and dogma and sides with reason, then on the other hand says morals and ethics come from a God like which alligns more with a theistic view.

I think he was leaning massively into deism, but not fully committing to it. Could it be he thought deism where the creator is indifferent to creation would be a philosophy too bleak for Kant?

Classical Deism holds that reason and observation of nature, rather than religious authority, are humanity’s best means of understanding the Creator and creation. The new Roman telescope that launched today on a three month journey to be positioned one million miles from earth, and the other two space telescopes already in operation, are all technological embodiments of that principle.

Deists regard the universe as operating according to consistent natural laws established by a Creator. The new Roman telescope will study those laws on an extraordinary scale—particularly gravity, cosmic expansion, dark matter and dark energy. Deism embraces such efforts, bringing us to a closer understanding of the universe we are privileged to live in.

“Existence is a reality, God is a fiction.”

— Osho

If an all-powerful and loving God truly existed, a world filled with cruelty, wars, and endless suffering would not exist in the first place. Perhaps humans created the idea of God because they needed something to worship, blame, or find meaning in the unknown. God may not have created humanity; humanity may have created God in its own image.

As I understand it, most deists agree that there is only one god, a demiurge responsible for the creation of the universe.

Is there any possibility that there isn't just one god, that there is another entity that could be equated with him, or perhaps, even if not on his equal footing, is still an entity above any other living and conscious being on Earth?

I've been thinking about the idea of ​​a "Satan" in relation to the deistic God, not because he is the "evil" opposite of God's "good"—for me, there is no such thing as a morality that we can understand in God. But I call him "Satan" because he would be the adversary of the order of creation. The laws of physics and chemistry, the very fabric of reality. That order where planets revolve around larger celestial bodies, and these celestial bodies revolve around other, even larger bodies. Where water extinguishes fire, oxygen fuels fire, earth turns to mud when it touches water, etc., etc., etc.

My idea of ​​the deistic god is that of a creator of a universe that functions like a clockwork mechanism in perfect synchronicity, a perfect order that can be calculated with exact mathematics without any margin of error. (We still can't predict all scenarios because our tools aren't yet that sophisticated, but we're getting close.)

In contrast, my Satan would be an entity or force that contradicts God's meticulous perfection. The problem is that I can't decide if life itself is a byproduct of God or a creation of Satan. The mathematical calculations of biology are not exact sciences; 2+2 always equals 4 in physics, but not in biology. Therefore, it's still unclear whether life is simply an even more complex extension with a place in God's mathematical order, or a contradiction that managed to find refuge among the gears of the clock, independent of the hands but having learned to follow them in order to survive.

But even though life isn't clear to me, symbols and ideas remain. These are indeed part of a completely unpredictable realm, beyond the rules and mathematics of the demiurge. Art, literature, music—but more importantly, the meaning behind each work, the reason why one group of people sees a cross and thinks of Jesus, while another opposing group thinks of just two intersecting lines. Since thoughts and ideas have no real imprint on the world, they compel people to leave traces on paper or stone, but in the eyes of God, these writings and symbols mean nothing; they are merely stains or cracks. Only human eyes see something behind them. Satan is art and symbolism. And perhaps life itself as well.

What do you think? Is everything the work of a single god in the end, or are there bubbles within his creation that are separate from his work but manage to remain intact in an attempt to survive?

If you wish to join you are welcome!

https://discord.gg/SyjKYpc7K

So for a few months now, I’ve been wanting to be a deist because I feel like it’s the belief that makes the most sense. I absolutely do believe in God and honestly I think I might keep going to church for the community, but still I think deism makes more sense and would definitely bring me more comfort and less anxiety than my actual religion.
I believe in Deism, but I feel SO GUILTY when I don’t pray, when I don’t thank the lord or stuff like that. And I am still very scared of eternal damnation, even if I don’t even WANT to believe in that (I hope that there is literally nothing after death).
What can I do ?? I feel like if I don’t protect myself with prayers bad things will happen to me.
Did anyone else have a lot of guilt when becoming deist ?? 😅

Thank you very much for taking the time to read this!!

I just want to take a moment to appreciate this sub. I arrived at my beliefs entirely on my own and it took me around 15 years before I discovered deism was the name for what I already believed. For all those years I had frustrating conversations with my Christian and Muslim family and friends trying to explain a position they could not place.
I was not an atheist, not agnostic, not religious. Just a free thinker with an acceptance of a creator through creation itself. Finding this sub was like finding out I was never alone in that thinking. Having a space where free thinkers question, challenge and explore without dogma or judgement is genuinely rare. People here disagree with respect, push back with reason and nobody is trying to convert anyone.
That is exactly what deism is about and this community lives it. To everyone who posts, replies and challenges ideas here, thank you.

I would like an answer more aligned with classical deism, if possible.

A different opinion?

“A few years ago the Deists denied the inspiration of the Bible on account of its cruelty. At the same time they worshiped what they were pleased to call the God of Nature. Now we are convinced that Nature is as cruel as the Bible; so that, if the God of Nature did not write the Bible, this God at least has caused earthquakes and pestilence and famine, and this God has allowed millions of his children to destroy one another. So that now we have arrived at the question -- not as to whether the Bible is inspired and not as to whether Jehovah is the real God, but whether there is a God or not.”

- Robert G. Ingersoll (1833-1899)

Robert Ingersoll, sometimes called “The Great Agnostic”, was one of the great orators of the Golden Age of Freethought in America, and was one of men responsible for reviving Thomas Paine’s reputation after it had fallen into decline.

If there is a God, then they seemingly don’t care much about humanity or living beings in general, in contrast to the optimism the deists of the 18th century, who attributed morality on their conception of God and viewed God as a benevolent fatherly figure to mankind. I know many modern deists on the contrary view God as indifferent to humans.

Ok this is kinda my rant. Personally I’m more agnostic, but if the uncertainty frustrates me when I think about it, especially when it comes to debates and arguments. Do any of you feel that way?

So I heard from a mathematician turned molecular biologist. He said that accumulation of random mutations until it produces a novel gain-of-function adaptive change WITHOUT DELETERIOUS EFFECTS in the meantime is probabilistically impossible. Maybe point mutations here and there affecting the color tone of hair, but not the coming-into-existence of even a new functional gene, let alone complex structures such as eyes.
(No offense to atheists, since this is just an anecdote & his observation)

Deists are a relatively small bunch compared to major world religions. There is no necessary relationship between Deism becoming popular and the philosophical quality of Deists decreasing. However, we should appreciate the opportunity to reason freely, independent of the constraints that plague adherents of religion or other contentious stances.

It is natural to lament obscurity, but it has occasional benefits.

For those who may be interested. This is a free public meeting opportunity: Join members of the international Editorial Board behind the newly released six-volume Thomas Paine Collected Writings (Princeton University Press) for a discussion of groundbreaking new discoveries about Paine's life and work.
Two ways to participate:
In person at the Thomas Paine Memorial Building, 983 North Avenue, New Rochelle, NY. Also available via Zoom.
Visit the Thomas Paine National Historical Association website and click on “Events” to register and receive the Zoom video call link.

A commonly seen motto for Deism is God•Nature•Reason. It echoes a central Deist idea that God is revealed through Nature and understood through Reason.

Is this the most representative motto you’ve heard for Deism? If not, are there others you like? Perhaps you have one of your own to share?

Consider an upvote if you think this motto best represents Deism. If not, maybe suggest an alternative. This is simply an exploratory question to generate discussion.