Amoral Inaction

[DeistPaladin]

On a macro level it can give the appearance of design

On the micro as well.

but can you describe what would a disordered universe would look like? Something that would cause you to doubt the existence of an ordering, creative force when you look through the telescope or microscope?

I probably wouldn't be around to see it, or if I was, unable to rationally evaluate it.

Wasn't Mr Spock an atheist?

Was his philosophy ever determined in any episode? I ask because I don't know. I'm not as much an expert on Star Trek as other nerds might be.

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I did see it, dear, and it is interesting - again I have only the most superficial of understandings of a deist's position, though I've been meaning to stalk you a bit and learn more.

Any time dear, though I don't know I can offer much. Even my sense of wonder of the natural universe is something most atheists would share (notable examples, Sagan, Dawkins and even the curmudgeonly Hitchens). One atheist once asked me if I could offer any reasons why she should "convert". I answered that I won't tell her or anyone else that they should be a deist. How you make sense of life and the universe is up to you, whether you think it's absurd or a machine (wink to Rev J).

Believe it or not, a few years ago I actually wondered why I couldn't be a "normal atheist". This phase lasted about two weeks where I seriously wondered what was "wrong with me". The skeptical side (agnostic side) of my brain is well aware that I can't prove the existence of God to anyone else's satisfaction. I'm not even sure what might constitute solid evidence for the claim. And yet I can't honestly adopt the label "atheist" because I'm so instinctively convinced. Ever seen the end of the movie "Contact"?

I eventually came to a resolution that it simply is my nature. I can't seem to get God out of my mind but at least It doesn't seem to weigh me down much.

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Afterthought for Scarlet:

One thing I do expect to see, if the deist model of the universe is correct, is abundant examples of life on other worlds. In fact, not just life but intelligent life and other civilizations.

Neither this nor the lack thereof will decisively prove it one way or the other, but if it is just us, it lends a lot more weight to the idea that we did hit the cosmic lottery.