Hi Billy: Yes, there is but it is fractured like everything else in the country these days. There is a World Union of Deists that is very active albeit they are activist and take strong positions against Christianity, Judaism, and Islam which makes some people uncomfortable. I joined for a bit but then backed out when it seemed they were too strident for my taste. Others inside the Deist movement believe this group is Marxist and anti-Semitic (They are certainly anti-Zionist). I receive their information but interpret it accordingly. There are also several other Deistic websites and authors. This is a pretty good one:
http://deistalliance.org/ You may not know but several years ago there was an effort by a small group to pull away from the Unitarian Universalist Church because it had become too liberal and to reclaim the American Unitarian tradition and name. The new group called themselves American Unitarians I think. The UU church sued them and won for co-opting part of the name. Taking the example from Paine's failures I try to speak about Deism in a way that might be palatable to others. When one operates at the level of personal identity, he has a responsibility to be careful. But increasing numbers of folks in the US are describing themselves as "spiritual but not religious" or even "other" when asked about their faith. My sense is that many of them are Deists but have not embraced the particular label. I enjoyed what you wrote. My hope is that as the United States is entering what looks like a new revolutionary era it is also about to rediscover its Deistic heritage too. Yours was a fascinating look at the Deistic era in America, and era that gave us a revolution and our country. I chose to use the label, Deist, in my book because I wanted to deliberately connect readers to our founding heritage. I also believe it creates a pathway to conservative and libertarian beliefs without the religious fundamentalism that many people find objectionable. Great conversation. Kevin I'm curious about the extent of Deism in the here-and-now. Is there an organized or even informal Deist "movement" ? Thanks Billy -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org
