Paul -
There are so many eisms around, I don't know. I'm not that familiar with deism. I'm not even sure if I worship the universe. I suppose if worshipping means acknowledging, then yes, I acknowledge that everything is one. If that's worshipping then fair enough. But I'm very casual about it, I don't look up at the sky and start crying or praising or thanking or anything like that. To be honest it's not even something that I think about an awful lot, only when I feel that it's relevant or if I find myself philosophising. But I still don't see how panentheism is similar to atheism, the only similarity is that we both don't believe in traditional gods. However, if I hear a christian or muslim mention god, I usually equate it with what I believe in. When it gets into specific scriptural stuff, I usually don't go with it, but I the basics are the same : A creator (or as I'd say, manifestor, as I don't believe in never-having-existed-ness, which is what creating implies, although casually, I'm happy to use that word). Also, because I don't believe that the universe just happened by itself (at least without consciousness), I can't be an atheist. At least I don't think so.
There are so many eisms around, I don't know. I'm not that familiar with deism. I'm not even sure if I worship the universe. I suppose if worshipping means acknowledging, then yes, I acknowledge that everything is one. If that's worshipping then fair enough. But I'm very casual about it, I don't look up at the sky and start crying or praising or thanking or anything like that. To be honest it's not even something that I think about an awful lot, only when I feel that it's relevant or if I find myself philosophising. But I still don't see how panentheism is similar to atheism, the only similarity is that we both don't believe in traditional gods. However, if I hear a christian or muslim mention god, I usually equate it with what I believe in. When it gets into specific scriptural stuff, I usually don't go with it, but I the basics are the same : A creator (or as I'd say, manifestor, as I don't believe in never-having-existed-ness, which is what creating implies, although casually, I'm happy to use that word). Also, because I don't believe that the universe just happened by itself (at least without consciousness), I can't be an atheist. At least I don't think so.
