Am I a Deist? Cosmological Argument seems reasonable to me.

[robvalue]

(These are general thoughts and not aimed in particular at the opening poster.)

I don't see any reason to believe in a cause for this reality, based on evidence or logic. Everything I've ever seen is either logically flawed, or based on wild assumptions that apply to all of reality and can't possibly be verified. I see no reason to move away from the default position, that we have no idea if there is or isn't a cause.

So I conclude that deism probably comes from an emotional need, or intuition, for there to be "an answer". This is reinforced by using the word "god", and generally trying to personify the cause. Afterwards, attempts are made to connect the dots. But they can't be connected without resorting to wild speculation.

I don't see deism as being particularly harmful, though. Certainly absolutely nothing like religion is capable of. I think it's just some faulty assumptions of little consequence. At worst it could infect other modes of thinking.

I'll pop this video here as well, as it covers a lot of these points.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inw1fNItjdU