Recently the American Religious Identification Survey(ARIS)showed that 12% of Americans identify themselves as believing in God, but not from one of the "revealed" religions. Deist Robert Johnson spells it out well in an article he wrote for Strike the Root. You can read his article here http://www.strike-the-root.com/91/johnson/johnson5.html. I would like to compliment his article with one of my own.
Deism, or Natural Religion, as it was once called, is an Enlightenment religion and philosophy of belief in a Divine Creator, but not the one of the "revealed" religions of Christianity, Islam or Judaism. Deism is a religion of reason and rationality. It shows men the way to God is not through ancient books and fables, but through using their own God given reason to attain truth. Deism, outside of a belief in a Divine Creator, has no dogmas, priesthood,or "holy" books to consult. Deism shows the way to God is through your senses and examing his wonderous creation. The Earth and all of it's animal and plant life are intricately organized, the solar system with it's heliocentric organization,and the vastness of the Universe all point to a Divine Architect. Some Deists believe in Pantheism, holding the view that the Universe itself is alive and sacred.
Deism is also a religion of liberty and rejects fear based religions like Christianity. Many of our Founders and other revolutionaries were Deists. Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, John Adams,and the great Thomas Paine were all either Deists, or Unitarians. All were for the most part, freethinkers. Most Deists believed in religious liberty, republicanism, freethought, and and the end of state sponsered religion. Most also believed in reforming society by abolishing slavery, monarchy, and establishing democratic republics. This threatened the status quo of monarchy, state churches, nobility, and domination by the wealthy classes. In both the American and French Revolutions, Deists took prominent roles. Thomas Paine participated in both revolutions.
I support the right of all people to believe in any God they wish or no God at all. Civil government should have absolutely nothing to do with religion. Religion is a personal private matter, and when wedded to government it becomes coercive, violent, and seeks to dominate and surpress all religions that are different. Fear based religions destroy liberty and indoctrinate their followers with passivity,deference to authority, and a slave mindset. That being said, I would encourage people to investigate Deism and see for yourself. Robert Johnson's website is by far the best I have found. It is one of the links on this page. Check it out and let's see if we can liberate mankind, mind, body and soul.
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