(September 18, 2019 at 5:47 pm)Cecelia Wrote: I imagine deism used to be popular because when asked "Do you believe in God?" if you answered "No", you were stoned or hung.
"Do you believe in god?"
"Of course!"
"Which one?"
"Well, it's just an impersonal god, really. I'm a Deist. Please don't murder me."
I suppose it's the same way that plenty of people use the term 'agnostic' now. While the consequences are now socioeconomic and not, in the vast majority of cases, physically fatal, and the stakes are much lower, I suspect plenty of people still hold the same attitude.
They hope to avoid conflict or damage to their reputation by identifying themselves agnostics rather than atheists, even if they do technically fit the definition of atheist. If you subscribe to agnostic atheist versus gnostic atheist paradigm, then technically, everyone on Earth is an agnostic. However, language in common usage often differs from technical definitions, and people commonly use the term agnostic to describe a sort of 'less severe' form of atheism, so to speak.
Fence-sitting has its benefits, I suppose.
If you're frightened of dying, and you're holding on, you'll see devils tearing your life away. But if you've made your peace, then the devils are really angels, freeing you from the Earth.
