My View of Other Faiths

by Lewis Loflin

I don't believe one has to be a Deist, just a moral person and follow the Golden Rule. This not only includes Atheists, Agnostics, Freemasons, Rosicrucians, Gnostics, New Agers, Neopagans, Unitarian Universalists, pantheists, etc but moral Christians and Jews as well. It is personal conduct alone, not whatever church/belief that is important. One reveres God by ones actions (even if a non-believer), not some empty claim of faith. The Deist view of God is not the Old Testament bible-god nor does God interfere in human affairs because God expects us to solve our problems and grow. Many are Deists or semi-Deist and don't even know it.

See Deism

Note to visitors to this website: This is a Deist/Unitarian website. I take a view of rational theism and a unified view of God often at odds with Paul's mostly Gnostic or "faith based" theology. I consider Christians and Jews in general good people that have contributed positively to American culture.. There's a direct line for "Christians" from Apostle Paul's Christ to Marcion who invented the New Testament to St. Augustine to Martin Luther and John Calvin. Our path is Jesus to the One God that is One. (Duet. 6:4) I reject St. Augustine, but accept his opponent Pelagius. Unitarianism in general arose in opposition to Calvinism. I also strongly reject godless pseudo-religions of Secular Humanism, socialism, and environmentalism as religion all which I consider destructive. Also read the following Thomas Jefferson on the Morals of Jesus.

While we may think most of the above beliefs are recent inventions, they all go back to the first century and beyond. Deism and Unitarianism share many common beliefs with Quakers, Reformed Judaism, etc. All use reason to some degree.

When this page was written in 1999, I thought the main threat to freedom was the Religious Right. While I still reject their politics coated with religion, Islam has by far become the most violent threat to the West. Equally troubling is the large number of Liberals that act as apologists for Islam while attacking Christians and Jews on every issue. I have serious concern about the negative path that Liberals in general seem to be taking.

I reject Islam as a violent fundamentalist religion. See Click here for my view of Islam

I consider Christian fundamentalists a political movement and treat them as such. My attitude towards them is the same as Episcopal Bishop John Shelby Spong. I also have no tolerance for racism, attacks on gays/lesbians, Jew-bashing or those who undermine the rights of women.

Pagans: Modern Neopagans, Wiccans, etc are usually nice people who don't worship Satan (Deists don't believe in Satan), don't sacrifice children etc. Their belief of "bring no harm to others" I fully endorse. They have little in common with the historical Druids who practiced human sacrifice. While I don't believe in magic myself, I do enjoy the artwork, Gaelic culture, ceremony, etc. I have pagan friends and wouldn't change them at all because they act in a reasoned and responsible manner. See "What is Paganism?"

Atheists Some atheists are as arrogant and intolerant of all other beliefs just as much as Jerry Falwell. Nobody has an exclusive on ideas or all the answers, myself included. In fact a close friend of mine is Carletta Sims head of the Atheists of Tennessee and we are the only two who have stood up publicly to the raving Christian Fundamentalists in our community. Both she and I picketed the Sullivan County Courthouse over placing the Ten Commandments. I reject atheism myself.

A fellow Deist wrote the following and it stands for me as well:

The reason I don't consider myself an atheist is not solely for "preference" or an "emotional tie". The reason is Depth, or the evolution of a value system. Atheism can't account for it. Atheism, in and of itself cannot explain how humans come to the conclusion that "murder" is bad, and "compassion" is good. It doesn't account for why humans, free to explore their own path succeed more than an individuals who have one person or a group of persons instructing them as to what they can do. If it was simply a division of labor that leads to excellence, one would expect to see "ant like" societies of collective intelligence dominating the scene. Atheism does not account for the appreciation of art, or literature, or simple self-expression. It does not account for why individuals make self-sacrifices for ideals, values, and principles. This is not to say every ideal, value, or principle is "good", it just simply does not account for the development of such. Depth is the real albatross of Atheism, not whether there is a God or not. .

I'm very wary of New Age Religion because of the level of fraud, con artists, and cults. Like Christian fundamentalists some of them prey on emotionally vulnerable people and all I can say is please be careful with this stuff. I don't consider Neopagans or Gnostics, etc as New Age, just mostly psychics, etc. See New Age Religion Debunked.

Finally pantheism which says nature is God. Deists and pantheists can allies in things but are polar opposites in theology. Pantheists do employ reason but are really the Stoics of Ancient Greece, which produced some of the greatest thinkers in Western Civilization. I admire the Stoics. See my Pantheism page. Pantheism (stripped of all reason) is used in New Age religion.

When asked "One quick question: as a deist, why is Christian morality acceptable and not Buddhist or Hindu?"

The obvious answer is Deism is based on Christianity. It also depends on what is meant by "Christian morality." The old English Deist' believed as follows,

Belief in the existence of a single supreme God
Humanity's duty to revere God
Linkage of worship with practical morality
God will forgive us if we repent and abandon our sins
Good works will be rewarded (and punishment for evil) both in life and after death.

Does this sound familiar? Understand that Jesus never taught what the fundamentalists preach. Many early Christians never followed what became Christianity of the 4th century. Many such as the Gnostics, Arians, Jewish Christians, etc were murdered with pagans and Jews. Deism got exported to France and got poisoned by extremists and in the 19th century Deism became tinged with skepticism, pessimism, or pantheism. Both Christian fundamentalism and Romanticism are a backlash against reason and Deism/Unitarianism. I follow old style Deism/Unitarianism.

The big difference in Deism is we don't believe God interferes or performs miracles or magic. God lives within the Laws of Physics. What do we consider sin? Jesus said directly as follows: "don't kill...no adultery...don't steal...don't bear false witness...honor parents...love your neighbor... give to the poor." (Matthew 19:18) That is very universal and applies to most belief systems anyway. The fact remains Jesus never wrote the Bible and to understand Scripture at all takes reason to remove all the added nonsense and distortions. The Bible must be put back in the context of first century Judaism. "Don't kill" is the most important commandment which when properly translated means don't murder. The only time I would condone any killing is self-defense. Deists do not believe Jesus is divine; Both Jefferson and Franklin view Jesus as a moral teacher, not God.

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