Hi! I am new to the concept of deism and It seems very appealing. I would be curious to know why you believe in deism over atheism. This ( wonderful) website mentions the evidence for design, why don't you believe Evolution can account for that? Thank you in advance
I particularly agree with Bob Johnson that intelligence, our intelligence and that elsewhere in the universe, is derived from the Supreme Intelligence, or what we call "God". Human intelligence includes our reasoning ability and our moral sense, and our sense of right and wrong, and really our critical facilities.
I very strongly believe in God, or a Higher/Supreme Intelligence, based on applying my reasoning ability. However I realize my reasoning ability is not infallible, so I accept uncertainty regarding God. I don't think I can tell a hard-nosed atheist or materialist that I know for certain that that person is wrong in not believing in God. I consider myself to be at 3 on Richard Dawkins' scale of belief, where 1 = strong theist, and 7 = strong atheist.
Actually an important matter for me is the matter of possible life after this present life, and particularly justice in a future life. I personally have a very hard time accepting that there might be no life after this present life, and particularly no justice in a future life. As a Deist I am free to believe that there might very well be a life after this present life, but also to accept uncertainty. I believe Deism is a true philosophy, and I support Bob Johnson's efforts to promote Deism; however I do not at all share his lack of concern about the matter of life after this present life.
I discuss these matters in my write-up in Why Deism:
I discuss at length the matter of life after this present life in Appendix 2 to my write-up, which is linked to as a PDF file. I have a section in my appendix dealing with my personal feelings about the matter, and a section showing and discussing links to possible evidence.
I've personally been an atheist for a few years, but I can't believe the universe came out of nowhere. Regarding evolution, as a deist I absolutely believe in the theory of evolution. Religiously speaking, I believe in the concept of "deistic evolution".
Hi Alessandro. Thanks for your post and interest in Deism and welcome to the Deism Forum.
The reason I, as well as Deists I know, believe in Deism over Atheism is because Deism makes more sense. Many Deists, perhaps all Deists, see evolution as one of the Designer's designs. Deists also recognize that there is intelligence in the Universe. We believe the intelligence in the working code of DNA and RNA, as well as the intelligence in people and other life forms is derived from The Supreme Intelligence/God. To Deists, this makes more sense than it just randomly coming into existence.