World Enlightenment

Beginning in English Revolution of the 1640's through the American and French Revolutions of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the great march of progress has transformed the world. The revolutions in science and industry, combined with the powerful intellectual empiricism of the Enlightenment, has truly made the world a better place. The Enlightenment was like a corrosive acid burning a hole through ages of religious superstition, mysticism, and ignorance. We still have a long way to go, but with the rise of freethought,and Deism, we can hopefully complete what Thomas Paine originally wanted to do, enlighten the world. We still have a long way to go.

Currently, the three monotheistic religions of the world, Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, still hold a powerful grip on the minds of the people of the world. In Islamic nations women are brutally oppressed, forbidden to vote or go to school, show their bodies, pick their own spouse, drive, drink alcohol or take drugs, have sex before marriage, and all enforced by a government dominated by imans, and monarchs.

In The United States, and other western nations, the tyranny is more subtle. Modern Christians demand prayer in schools, the banning of Darwin's Origin of the Species, bans on contraception and abortion, posting of the Ten Commandments in the courtrooms, blind support for Israel, using taxpayer dollars, etc. All of this is a revolt against modernity. The modern world, birthed in the Age of the Enlightenment, is still a threat to religious zealots of all stripes, and their control of societies and governments. Throughout history, religious leaders, and established churches have always been enemies of freedom. Thomas Jefferson put it best " In every country, and in every age, the priest has been hostile to liberty, always in alliance with the despot, abetting his abuses for the protection of his own." Revealed religious leaders of the seventeenth century through the present have consistently waged war on science, knowledge, and personal liberty.

Is it possible to free the people of the Earth from the tyranny of revealed religion? I believe it is. Sadly, the people of Islamic nations suffer the worst of religious tyranny, superstition, and intolerance. All believers in progress, liberty and the spirit of tolerance, should strive to provide knowledge and new ideas to the people of these nations. As a Deist and a libertarian, I believe it is imperative to start now if we are to free the world from oppression. I plan on being a Deist evangelist, so to speak. I would like to spread Deism through the works of Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson, John Toland, and other great deists. Islamic nations need great works like Jefferson's writings,the Declaration of Independence, and the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom. To make this happen, the people of these nations must be educated to overthrow their horrible rulers and imans. The revolutionary power of the Internet will be needed for this. If we can liberate their minds, they too, can join in the modern world, and free their societies from revealed religion.

We also must start by working in our own country, the United States. Read Paine's the Age of Reason, John Toland's Christianity Not Mysterious, and the writings of other American Revolutionaries like Samuel Adams, James Madison, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, etc. These courageous men, with the exception of Samuel Adams, were not Bible thumping Christians, but instead were rationalists and deists. The world can be enlightened. Look how far we've come since the first revolution in England in 1640, only 360 years ago.

I believe that we must saturate our society with Deist values. We must cease to be polite and afraid to offend people. Speak your mind! Don't hesitate to tell them the benefits of liberty and natural religion. Confront their superstition. Make them justify their irrationalism. Also, start a blog, a webzine or write letters to the editor of your local paper, and express your views. I also want to encourage readers to check out the World Union of Deists, of which I am a member, run by a courageous and tireless proponent of Deism, Robert Johnson. The WUD can be found at the link to the right of this article. Robert also wrote a book entitled: Deism-A Revolution in Religion, A Revolution in You. The book is sold on Robert's site and is a great introduction to Deism. You can also purchase it on Amazon.com.

Take a step in the direction of natural religion, Deism. Reject revealed religion and enlighten the world!