Deism and True Hope

We all need to have hope. Without hope, it's easy to fall into depression. Hope is defined as, "the feeling of desire, expectation, and confidence that a positive outcome will occur or that a desired event will happen."

As Deists, we are grounded in God-given reason and reality. This thankfully empowers us to recognize and reject false hopes, whether it’s expecting weight loss without diet and exercise or believing the claim at John 14:12-14 that if we believe in Jesus we will be able to do all the miracles the anonymous authors of the Gospels claimed Jesus did. Belief in such irrational biblical promises and false hopes have real world harmful consequences as seen in the case of the Amish mother who believed she and her family could walk on water like Jesus allegedly did - her 4-year-old son and her husband drowned. This type of religious nonsense has no place in Deism. In reason-based Deism, Deists make full use of their reason and reject foolish and harmful religious promises while we recognize real world goals are attainable only through dedicated work and effort. If Steven Tyler ever became a Deist, he might rename Aerosmith’s song Dream On to Dream and Work On. 

Many people see hope as just an emotion. Psychologist Charles Richard Snyder developed Snyder's Hope Theory, which is a foundational framework that treats hope as a cognitive-motivational process rather than a simple emotion. His theory states: 

Goals (the foundation)

Clear, meaningful, and valued objectives that give direction. Goals can be short-term or long-term, big or small, but they must feel attainable yet challenging. Without goals, there is no target for hope. High-hope individuals set more difficult but realistic goals and remain committed to them.

Pathways Thinking (also called “Waypower” or planning)

The cognitive ability to generate multiple plausible routes or strategies to reach a goal, especially when obstacles arise. It involves mental flexibility: “If one path is blocked, what’s another way?” High-hope people are good at brainstorming alternatives and anticipating barriers.

Agency Thinking (also called “Willpower” or motivation)

The motivational energy and determination to initiate action and sustain effort along those pathways. It’s the “I can do this” belief—the self-talk that fuels perseverance (“I have the willpower to keep going”). Agency provides the emotional drive, but it is rooted in cognition. 

Deism's emphasis on the reality that achieving goals, no matter how small or large they are, requires sustained work and effort helps individual Deists to meaningfully engage—as the Declaration of Independence states—in their "pursuit of happiness."  

On a larger scale, promoting Deism to a large enough number of people to bring about Thomas Paine's idea of a Deism Revolution in Religion, requires the same qualities of hard work and perseverance. We need to take to heart this profound and important observation by the Deist Ben Franklin, 

“Energy and persistence conquer all things.” 

The truth of Ben Franklin’s statement is both motivating and empowering. Our innate God-given reason confirms that it is true, so there is no need for what the clergy call faith — or what Thomas Jefferson, a fellow Deist, called gullibility. This understanding gives us the drive to achieve our goals no matter what obstacles we face.  

The purpose and goal of the World Union of Deists is to reach as many people as possible with knowledge of Deism, to let them know that Deism offers them a rational and natural alternative to the "revealed" religions and to Atheism. Since 1993, the World Union of Deists has been a consistent and persistent voice for Deism. For 33 years we have pursued our goal with singleness of purpose, passion and creativity, even while relying on limited resources. Working together, we can achieve so much more for God-given reason and Deism, and truly ‘create the world over again.’ If you'd like to make a meaningful difference, become a World Union of Deists Sustaining Member by clicking here!