Quote:I have to say you were a bad Deist. I was hardcore and read tons of Deistic literature and had to explain Deism more often than not because people understand it from a REALLY bias point of view. I think DeistPaladin may know some stuff on this as I have seen his videos before.There are various deist orientations. Some deists believe in an afterlife, others do not, some may believe in miracles and supernatural events caused by god, others may not. Deists believe observing natural laws is enough to determine the existence of a creator, but this doesn't mean the creation (us, humans) don't have free will or liberty. As a deist, I believed we have freedom and free will, not immense or unlimited, but moderate liberty, enough to allow us to make daily regular decisions as well as big determinant life decisions. I always believed (and still do) that humans are free but severely limited by biological, social and ethical factors.
My deist conception was more or less like this - I believed in a creator of all matter and existence, who doesn't intervene frequently with the natural world, even if this could happen exceptionally and some metaphysical components could manifest themselves periodically (eg people who report seeing spirits). I also thought god didn't want us to be religious or pray, but to make us productive and rational enlightened beings. As for the afterlife, I really had mixed views, I was skeptical about it but still considered the possibility, and concluded I'd be ok with both possibilities, since I never though the creator would punish me for ridiculous things like being gay or practising premarital sex, or even for not believing in him
A orientation I found amusing is the one who claims that god created the universe and fused himself with it simultaneously, ceasing to exist as an individual entity. Doesn't this doctrine pretty much conclude 'god existed, but no longer does'?
Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you