Hi Billy: Very interesting. I am a graduate of Seligman's Authentic Happiness Coaching program. Appreciation of Beauty and Excellence is always at the top of my signature strengths list. Beauty and happiness are interconnected for me.
By secular Goddesses are you referring to the fine women that were referenced in the sexuality study that was circulated here? If so, yes this Deist is very interested in them. Kevin Kevin : Many thanks for the very thoughtful reply. Soon as possible there will be some new religion-centered text from me. But that will need to wait. Getting close to completion on my new project and don't want to set it aside. A few observations for now : I'm impressed at the websites for the various Deist groups now in existence. This does not mean I agree, or more like it, that I agree with Deists generally, but certainly there are some commonalities. Will need to incorporate this "new" Deist movement into my Comparative Religion worldview. Its always been there in terms of history, but not in contemporary terms. One project of mine, part time, when I get inspired to do some digging, is to find out what I can about the Goddess of Reason / Goddess of Liberty. This could be one Goddess, or it could be two, depending on who you consult. Our coinage, until after WWII, often featured a Goddess, and, of course, there is the national Goddess in NY Harbor. There also is the Goddess Columbia on top of the Capitol dome. There are civic Goddesses / goddesses, all over the map. Portlandia in Portland, Pacifica in California, and so forth. The question is whether Deists are interested in "secular Goddesses" like these ? BTW, some years ago, think it was 1989, I lived for a short time in Moscow, Idaho. Met some Unitarians who were "old school." They actually were Christians ( after a fashion ) who had a central place in their church for Jesus. True, even then, by the standards of normative Christians, those Unitarians were far from orthodox, but compared to most Uni-Unis today, they were ultra conservative. Ernie's point about spiritual fulfillment is one that deserves serious consideration. It just may be, however, that there are spiritual "types." That is, that there are psychologies for whom Deism may well be fulfilling even though, clearly, the religious majority just about everywhere is very different. Not just among Christians and religious Jews, but thinking about Hindus and others. In terms of American heritage, the science-mindedness of Deists is attractive to me. Indeed, it is part of my own "theology." But I'm not sure if I get most of this outlook from Deists or from my patron "saint," pun intended, the philosophe, Henri Saint-Simon. He, not incidentally, fought in the American Revolution, at Yorktown, as a captain of French artillery. Later, by common consent, he became considered as the father of Socialism and sociology. NOT Marxist Socialism, Marx criticized S-S strongly as a "utopian." This is to discuss a system which we would more accurately call Socialist - Capitalism, very similar to Kelso's Capitalist Manifesto with its stakeholders, with workers as owners of businesses, etc,. Anyway, S-S was certain that we needed a "New Christianity" based, in part, on science and a new understanding of Jesus which followed from serious scholarly study of his life and views. Like Jefferson, but independently derived, S-S did not recognize miracles, or possibly allowed a very small number of phenomena as unexplainable yet with special spiritual significance. Seems to me that is close to the Deist view. But I have another patron saint, Hannah Adams, kin of "the" Adams family. She is at least the American founder of Comparative Religion, and a few scholars say that she really is the founder globally, although that may be a stretch. But, for that era, early 1800s, she was as interfaith-minded as anyone could get. This came about because, at least as I understand it, Americans, especially New Englanders, were becoming world traders, with the first sustained contacts with East Asia and learning about Buddhists and Hindus and others. This also dovetailed with missionary efforts, then beginning, to evangelize the "heathen" for Christ. To do so, the early missionaries had to know something of substance about the religious traditions of those people. And one thing led to another and Hannah Adams was the first to pull it all together. Anyway, just to mention one factor, I am very much drawn to the aesthetics of many religions, the beauty they can inspire. And this can be profound beauty that reaches the depths of one's spirit, cie vous plait. For me, the creation and recognition of beauty is essential to religion and is part of what validates it. Your comments welcome. Billy -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10/31/2011 [email protected] writes: 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 -- 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 -- 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
