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Is Deism a "cop out"?
#21
RE: Is Deism a "cop out"?
I don't see Deism as a cop out. A person will embrace it from some intuitive sense that there's "something" there, because they are persuaded by some mix of philosophical arguments positing a creator/deity, or both.

I don't share that intuitive sense and don't buy their arguments for a deity, but I don't think their embrace of deism necessarily signifies a cop out.
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#22
RE: Is Deism a "cop out"?
ur mums a cop out

fukin rekt scrub
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#23
RE: Is Deism a "cop out"?
(October 16, 2016 at 1:13 pm)Aegon Wrote: I know little about Deism, but it appears to me like it's just a copout, a way to say that God exists and did create our universe without having to accept all the B.S. that traditionally comes with believing in God. It also sounds pointless; obviously if we were able to prove God created the universe and fucked off, it would be a huge deal. But at this point in time, all you're doing is replacing our non-explanation for the universe with God. And that's when it ends. You could say that anything created the universe / caused the Big Bang. What's the point in saying a God did it other than wishful thinking? And, from a religious standpoint, what's the point in believing a God that has no impact on your life? 

Are there any Deists or former Deists here?

well, we shouldn't base answers "had to create the universe".  And we don't always deny observations we thinks it BS.  Observations are observations.  So, unless you are strictly talking about a fundamentalist religious god their line of logic is flawed.  then we get to the "meaningless" part.  "meaning" is a personal opinion. So their opinion is as good as any other opinion at this point. 

anything based on philosophy and theology alone should be toss into the unicorn and rainbow bin.  Philosophy is a ton of BS and an oz of reality.
anti-logical Fallacies of Ambiguity
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#24
RE: Is Deism a "cop out"?
(October 20, 2016 at 5:40 am)comet Wrote: Philosophy is a ton of BS and an oz of reality.

That's a statement made from ignorance. The scientific method, for example, is based on certain philosophical views, particularly with regards to epistemology.
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#25
RE: Is Deism a "cop out"?
(October 20, 2016 at 6:04 am)Irrational Wrote:
(October 20, 2016 at 5:40 am)comet Wrote: Philosophy is a ton of BS and an oz of reality.

That's a statement made from ignorance. The scientific method, for example, is based on certain philosophical views, particularly with regards to epistemology.

no it aint.  

That doesn't mean it doesn't have any useful parts, but when push comes to shove, its mostly BS.  For example: when a dope calls a view based on the standard model a materialistic view, that's flat out stupid.  "epistemology", really? using commonsense, logic, and testing is some great field of philosophy there.  More wordy BS to say "blind faith is stupid." or 'belief without observation is just as stupid.". 

But whatever.  humans are insane, well, as insane as any other great ape.
anti-logical Fallacies of Ambiguity
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#26
RE: Is Deism a "cop out"?
Deism is an illogical and unfounded belief in a supremely powerful supermind without the harmful cartoonization that leads to fundamentalist extremist idiots bombing abortion clinics and flying planes into buildings.
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#27
RE: Is Deism a "cop out"?
I`d say it is a cop out in as far as it placates the Kalam BS, it also serves to obscure if there is anything out there. Such would have to be evident to tribal people for whom question of the origins of the Universeamount to absurdities.
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#28
RE: Is Deism a "cop out"?
(October 20, 2016 at 6:04 pm)comet Wrote:
(October 20, 2016 at 6:04 am)Irrational Wrote: That's a statement made from ignorance.

no it aint.  


That isn't helping your cause.
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#29
RE: Is Deism a "cop out"?
I guess in a sense I can interpret deism as some sort of unintentional cop out. Or in other words I can interpret deism as a so-called cop out... or a cop out in scare quotes... like this: "cop out". Which is just what the OP/thread title posited. So...

Yes.
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#30
RE: Is Deism a "cop out"?
(October 16, 2016 at 1:13 pm)Aegon Wrote: I know little about Deism, but it appears to me like it's just a copout, a way to say that God exists and did create our universe without having to accept all the B.S. that traditionally comes with believing in God. It also sounds pointless; obviously if we were able to prove God created the universe and fucked off, it would be a huge deal. But at this point in time, all you're doing is replacing our non-explanation for the universe with God. And that's when it ends. You could say that anything created the universe / caused the Big Bang. What's the point in saying a God did it other than wishful thinking? And, from a religious standpoint, what's the point in believing a God that has no impact on your life? 

Are there any Deists or former Deists here?

The problem, as usual, is with definitions. What the hell is a "God"? If it's simply a being that creates realities, then by definition, if a being created this one, it is a god. If it's anything more complex than that, it is making yet more unecessary assumptions. (Two have already been made: our reality had a cause, and the cause was the result of an intelligence.)

Some people have gone so far as to say, "God is the cause of our reality, if there is one". So god could be non intelligent, or it could be literally nothing. In this case, it is entirely a copout, putting in a magical sounding word which just rephrases the question.

Deism, in my opinion, stems from an emotional need for an explanation but is cut short of more general theism by some degree of scepticism.

Logically it seems pointless, when you can retain the default position that there may or may not be a cause for our reality; and if there is, it may or may not be intelligent. I have no beliefs either way about this. There's no way to tell, and the ideas aren't so absurd to me that they can be ruled out by probability, as Yahweh et al can. But if you believe in it, you believe, for whatever reason. Being honest about the reason is the hard part.
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