Opinions of Deists

[Sophus]

I've always held them as being much more reasonable folk than theists, but was taken aback to find that one would abash me for my beliefs (or lack of) just as much as a theist. She was bent on persuading me and shared all of the stereotyping views on atheists as theists. Have you ever observed this behavior in any deists?

[curiosityandthecat]

Nope. Never experienced any sort of anything regarding deists, as I don't know any. Most of the people I know are either Buddhist, atheist, vaguely Christian, hardcore Christian or a sort of wishy-washy "I believe in the cosmic energy, man" sorta people. Only deists I have any real knowledge of are those old "founding" dudes.

[Wechtlein Uns]

How in hell did you get that smilie on there? I want to do that!

Alas, I too, have never met a deist. oh well.

[curiosityandthecat]

How in hell did you get that smilie on there? I want to do that!

Alas, I too, have never met a deist. oh well.

http://images42.fotki.com/v1372/photos/8/892548/6116196/smiley_emoticons_joint-vi.gif

 

[Zarathustra]

I've always held them as being much more reasonable folk than theists, but was taken aback to find that one would abash me for my beliefs (or lack of) just as much as a theist. She was bent on persuading me and shared all of the stereotyping views on atheists as theists. Have you ever observed this behavior in any deists?

I agree that deists appear to be a lot more savvy than most theists. But I have tried it a few times. At a wedding a got seated next to a woman, who was exactly like that! Just to keep the peace (it was a pretty formal dinner), I suggested that we let the subject rest. But she just raised her voice, and began with the good old "Atheists=no-God=it's-OK-to-be-a-massmurderer=Hitler"-rant... A selfproclaimed deist! Now that was a tough dinner to sit out!

Most of the people I know are either Buddhist, atheist, vaguely Christian, hardcore Christian or a sort of wishy-washy "I believe in the cosmic energy, man" sorta people.

Oh? You don't know any jews or muslims? I do. The rest applies to me as well. And thanks for the smilie!  

[curiosityandthecat]

Oh? You don't know any jews or muslims? I do. The rest applies to me as well. And thanks for the smilie!  

[oldschooldoc]

Interesting. I met a few deist in college, but never one that held such a harsh view of my world view.

Although, listening to them sometimes made me need a  

[Tanker]

Usually deists tend to be more open minded then their more tradisionally minded fellows. My personal view is they understand the universe but can't quite shake that stranglehold religion has on them. I don't know of any famous Deists except many of the American founding fathers, regardless of what the Christians would have you believe they were almost all Deists and Atheists. Man I think they would be ashamed of the way our country is now.

[Zarathustra]

Usually deists tend to be more open minded then their more tradisionally minded fellows. My personal view is they understand the universe but can't quite shake that stranglehold religion has on them. I don't know of any famous Deists except many of the American founding fathers, regardless of what the Christians would have you believe they were almost all Deists and Atheists. Man I think they would be ashamed of the way our country is now.

So instead of the normal distinktion or transgression: Atheist<>Agnostic<>Theist/Deist - It sounds like you are saying (and I don't disagree if that is correct):
Atheist<>Agnostic<>Deist<>Theist ... or am I wrong?

[DennisK]

I would think if you dug a little deeper, you might find that people like this may harbor some theistic beliefs.  Or maybe they have permanent indoctrination scars (Curiosity, any good image for this?) that cause them to attack.

[oldschooldoc]

I would think if you dug a little deeper, you might find that people like this may harbor some theistic beliefs.  Or maybe they have permanent indoctrination scars (Curiosity, any good image for this?) that cause them to attack.

Definitely. They haven't been able to get loose from the stranglehold religion has. To them, the topic is not up for discussion yet...hands off.

[Sophus]

Definitely. They haven't been able to get loose from the stranglehold religion has. To them, the topic is not up for discussion yet...hands off.

Although in history we have seen deists who were extremely critical of all religion (Samuel Clemens, Voltaire etc.) and if we didn't know better would think them to be atheists. Perhaps there are two types of deists as far as views of the religious/nonreligious are concerned.

[Tanker]

So instead of the normal distinktion or transgression: Atheist<>Agnostic<>Theist/Deist - It sounds like you are saying (and I don't disagree if that is correct):
Atheist<>Agnostic<>Deist<>Theist ... or am I wrong?

As I understand it Deists belive a higher power created the universe but thats about as far as their religious views go. Since deists don't really follow the dogma of any religion they tend to be a bit more open minded, and often have the sme negative outlook of religion that atheists do.

[Steve Reason]

So long as their deism is the "unknown force" type, I don't have any problem with them. But if they think there is some anthropomorphic god that created everything and then stepped aside, then I have a very low opinion of them because that's a ridiculously stupid belief that is normally held to account for the misery and randomness in life or because they're just intellectually lazy.

[Sophus]

What on earth kept you from making your name Steven Reason? I think that sounds much catchier.