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Deist Primer
by: Steve Zinn
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A primer for those wishing to learn about a growing religious movement.
Maybe you have heard or read the word Deism, and wondered what it meant. Deism, is a word that comes from the Latin word “Deus” that means God. So, Deism means a belief in God. Deism has come to mean a religion or classification of believing in God, through reason and nature. Because the people who follow Deism, Deists, believe that they can best understand God through reason and nature. They refuse to accept what are called revealed religions. They also believe in the equality of all humans.
Let’s think about what this all means. A Deist is someone who believes in God, because they have reasoned by studying nature that there is a God. But, Deists do not believe that the revealed religions truly teach us about God. So, what does this all mean?
The word “reason” to a Deist, means to think about things objectively. That means to recognize how your emotions are causing you to think about things. So, that you are not letting your prejudices cause errors in the way you are thinking. A Deist also recognizes that just because we like the person telling us something, what they are telling us might still be a mistake. These are some of the things that are needed for what is called objective thinking. Most Deist will also try to use good logic when thinking. For something to be logical, it must be able to be proved like two plus two equals four. And it has to have an order to it, like the alphabet having “B” follow “A”. Thinking this way can be a difficult thing to do. But, many find it to be challenging and fun. It also helps us to better understand ourselves.
What Deists mean by studying “nature” as a way to understand God, is that they can learn about how natural things work. This way they can see how God makes things work. This helps the Deist to understand God, by understanding how God does things. By the word “nature,” Deist mean everything in the universe. Not just animals and plants, but the planets, stars, and even the atoms. Science is often called the study of nature. So, Deists generally do not agree with ideas that conflict with what science has shown us. This does not mean that Deists worship nature. Deists just use nature to better understand God. “Revealed religions” are religions that are based on other peoples’ revelations. A religious “revelation” is when God sends an angel, talks or shows someone directly, what God wants humans to do. People who follow a revealed religion, believe that someone else has gotten a revelation from God, so they follow that person’s words in the belief that they are doing as God would want them to do. So a “revealed religion” is a religion based on someone else’s “revelation.” Deists believe that someone cannot share a revelation with anyone else, without it getting all messed up. This is because words have a nasty habit of meaning different things to different people and all too often are rearranged to mean other things too. Because Deism doesn’t rely on others’ revelations, it is called a “natural religion.”
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Deists also believe that to God, all people are equal. Because of this belief, Deists don’t think that there are special people who know God’s will better than any of the rest of us. What Deists do believe, is that all of us can learn about God through God’s work, otherwise known as “nature.” And since we all have the ability to learn about nature, and thus God, then no one person is more special than another to God. This means that Deists respect other peoples’ opinions. We may not agree with the other person’s opinions, but Deist do believe in being tolerant of them. Of course, this tolerance does not extend to people who would harm others, so that their ideas will be accepted. Deists will often even seek out differing opinions, so that they may learn new ways of thinking about things. Deists will think for themselves, rather an idea has merit or not.
Some people ask, “If Deists don’t get anything special from God, why be a Deist?” The usual reason that people become Deists, is that they have used their own reasoning to decide that Deism is the religion that best describes their own ideas. Many Deists find other things that make the religion attractive as well. For instance, there is no one telling a Deist how to think. Fellow Deists just tell other Deists to learn to think for themselves. Many Deists also find that Deism helps them to get rid of silly feelings of guilt about things that they had nothing to do with. That also makes them feel better about themselves. And a Deist can worship God in their own way, without fear of persecution from other Deists.
People also ask, “Do Deists have a moral code?” The answer is yes and no. Deism teaches that because of all of the wonderful things that God has given us, we should try to help others. As God helps us, we should help others and not harm them. But, Deism doesn’t have a bunch of rules to follow. Deism teaches us to use our own reasoning and ability to use logic to decide for ourselves if something is right or wrong.
People also ask, “How do Deists practice their religion?” One thing all practicing Deists do is think for themselves. That is, a Deist will think about everything. Even if there is a God or not. Most practicing Deists will also give prayers of thanks to God. Although, individual Deists will do this in different ways. Deists don’t believe in begging God for things, as they know that God knows what they need. Deists also know that it is up to us humans to make the world a better place to live. So, they try to make the world better by helping others.
Some ask, “If Deists have no great person or authority to look up to, how can Deism be a religion?” Those who follow a revealed religion sometimes have a hard time accepting that people can learn about God without a special book or someone telling them what to think. But, Deists think for themselves and decide for themselves what God wants of them. After all everyone is different, so why would God expect us to be the same in all things? Most Deists will try to read and listen to what other Deists think about God and other things as well. But, the individual Deist knows that they must think for themselves.
Many may ask, “Is Deism a cult?” No, of course not. A cult is defined as a religion that is extremist or false, with its’ followers under the guidance of an authoritarian, charismatic leader. Authoritarian, by the way, means following a person considered an “authority” in an unquestioning way. Charismatic means, someone who is able to get people to follow them using their personal charm. Since Deists try to use reason, and believe all people are equal, they won’t follow others no matter how charming they are and will question any leader on just about everything. Because all Deists are expected to think for themselves, they won’t follow an authoritarian, charismatic leader. Therefore, Deism is almost by definition, cult proof.
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