World Literature: Deism and our Founding Fathers

Diesm is the belief in the existence of God on the evidence of reason and nature only , with rejection of supernatural revelation ; belief in God who created the world but has since remained indifferent to it. Deists believe in the existence of God , on purely rational grounds , without any reliance on revealed religion or religious authority or holy text. Because of this , Deism is quite different from religions like Judaism , Christianity and Islam. The latter are based on revelations from God to prophet(s) who then taught it to humans. We like to call natural religions by the title " buttom-up " faiths and revealed religions as " top- down". Deists don't accept the belief of most religions that God revealed himself through the writings of the Bible, the Qur'an or other religious texts. Deists disagree with strong atheists who assert that there is no evidence of the existence of God. Many Deists reason that since everything that exists has had a creator , then the universe itself must have been created by God: Thomas Paine concluded a speech shortly after the French Revolution with : " God is the power of first cause , nature is the law , and matter is the subject acted upon." In his book " The Age of Reason ," Thomas Paine wrote that " everything we behold carries in itself the internal evidence that it did not make itself." This includes trees , plants , humans , and other animals. This conclusion carries us on".... to the belief of a first cause eternally existing.... the first cause , man calls God." Deism has the potential to connect with every human being because every human being possesses God-given reason. Because of this fact , Deism clicks with the vast majority of people who are made aware of it. This God-given reason , which is so dear and key to Deism , is the natural state of humanity. The superstitions of the man-made " revealed " religions are not the natural state of humanity. The cause of their God-given reason being overrun with these man-made myths and superstitions is very simple. Active people promoted these falsehoods. Some of these active people were motivated by self gain while others were acting on ignorance. Since the problem was brought about by active people , it can be corrected by active people. As the number of active Deists grows , their actions and energies will cause Deism to eclipse the "revealed" religions of the world of Deism will eventually , through lots of hard teamwork and altruism , replace the "revealed" religions. Humanity and the individuals who made up humanity will then be able to reach their full progressive potential.