I was thinking about Christianity today (shocking, right?). Specifically, I was thinking about several parts of Christianity that Deists object to: Original Sin, God the Planner, Faith Healing, Satan. I think I have realized the common thread that unites them all: Christianity is about not taking responsibility for your actions.
Original Sin teaches that because Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, humans are inherently sinful. This shifts the burden of responsibility to Adam and Eve for our wrongful actions. Christians like to say God has a plan for us. This removes the need for any of them to try to achieve anything meaningful, because if it is in God's plan, it will happen no matter what. If it isn't, then it never could happen, and thus isn't worth trying to achieve anything. This is similar to faith healing. If you rely on God to heal people, then it isn't your responsibility if they live or die. Satan and demons tend to go around possessing people and tempting them to do wrong things. This removes all wrong-doing from the person who was 'possessed.'
Deism is the opposite. God won't do everything for us. We have to actually DO something. Nothing can be blamed on God or Satan. We take responsibility for our actions. This, I think, is one of the things that distinguishes Deists from Christians. We can preach self-reliance without hypocrisy. Indeed, I would say self-reliance is a core value of Deism. We rely on our own mind to guide us to Deism. We rely on our reason to know right from wrong. We do not rely on others to tell us how we should live, we decide for ourselves. This is one of the things that makes Deism great.
This can be a curse, though. While I view our diversity of opinion as a wonderful thing, it can look to outsiders like Deism is about arguing about the nature of God and the universe. Many new Deists can be daunted by the task of creating their entire belief system. I say to them: have no fear. Deism can be as simple or complex as you what. All we ask is that you take responsibility for your actions and your thoughts. Do not rely on others to tell you what to think.
Original Sin teaches that because Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, humans are inherently sinful. This shifts the burden of responsibility to Adam and Eve for our wrongful actions. Christians like to say God has a plan for us. This removes the need for any of them to try to achieve anything meaningful, because if it is in God's plan, it will happen no matter what. If it isn't, then it never could happen, and thus isn't worth trying to achieve anything. This is similar to faith healing. If you rely on God to heal people, then it isn't your responsibility if they live or die. Satan and demons tend to go around possessing people and tempting them to do wrong things. This removes all wrong-doing from the person who was 'possessed.'
Deism is the opposite. God won't do everything for us. We have to actually DO something. Nothing can be blamed on God or Satan. We take responsibility for our actions. This, I think, is one of the things that distinguishes Deists from Christians. We can preach self-reliance without hypocrisy. Indeed, I would say self-reliance is a core value of Deism. We rely on our own mind to guide us to Deism. We rely on our reason to know right from wrong. We do not rely on others to tell us how we should live, we decide for ourselves. This is one of the things that makes Deism great.
This can be a curse, though. While I view our diversity of opinion as a wonderful thing, it can look to outsiders like Deism is about arguing about the nature of God and the universe. Many new Deists can be daunted by the task of creating their entire belief system. I say to them: have no fear. Deism can be as simple or complex as you what. All we ask is that you take responsibility for your actions and your thoughts. Do not rely on others to tell you what to think.
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