What's Next in Religion? A Generic Deity?

[MineralMan]

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/religionnow/2018/04/the-idea-of-god-beyond-religion/

This is why the increasing tendency of people in the United States to avoid identifying as religious may be the start of something positive, for it opens the door to new and interesting collective explorations of the idea of God.

So this author appears to be saying. Specific deities cause divisions among the religious, so why not just posit a generic deity for people to have faith in? Makes sense to me. People could just say, "Yes, I'm religious. I believe in the universal deity." When asked about doctrine and other matters, they could simply demur and say, "I don't bother with all of that stuff. I just pray for things to happen. Sometimes they do. Sometimes they don't. Nobody really understands deities, anyhow. Still, it's important to have faith in something."

"What happens when you die?" someone might ask. The generic deity believer could say, "We don't know, but we'll certainly find out after we die. What's important is to have faith and live a good life, you know. The details don't really matter. We have faith that we'll go to a, you know, "better place."

Maybe this author has something. Maybe Timothy Rowe is onto a revolutionary concept. In this religion, it would be easy to be religious. You just have to believe that some sort of deity exists in some sort of spiritual realm somewhere. Nothing to worry about. Everything can be explained with the simple statement: "Oh, God did that. I don't understand it, but that doesn't matter."

The No-Sweat, No-Strain Universal Church of Somegod

[zipplewrath]

1. Diesm

I think you are basically describing diesm, which was an fairly popular idea at the time of the writing of the constitution.
As is so usually true, there is rarely anything new in religion and faith. Hasn't been for a few millennia.

[MineralMan]

2. OK. Maybe that's the answer, then, for people who want a religion,

but don't want to really think about it much or do much about it. No need to fret about the details. Whatever. Names don't matter. Why would a deity have a name in the first place, really? You might want to check the spelling, though. Diesm is a little hard to pronounce.

[Major Nikon]

27. When deism was popular, it was really just a placeholder for atheism

It posited a non-interventionalist god with no dogma or doctrine who didn’t care if you begged or not. It was basically religion for atheists during a time when it was somewhat more of a stigma to claim atheism compared to today.

[guillaumeb]

28. Consider the word deism.

Consider that the word dei is Latin for God.

I understand that you might wish to believe this idea that deism is somehow a religion for atheists, but the word itself contains the refutation of your premise.

[Major Nikon]

30. If that's what you got out of what I wrote...

You demonstrate an astonishing ability to misunderstand. For your sake I hope it’s simply a very poor attempt at strawman rhetoric. Alternative explanations don’t work well in your favor.

[guillaumeb]

31. If you can demonstrate another meaning for deism, feel free.

So far, you are demonstrating one thing.

But to help you avoid this error in future, here is one definition of many available:

noun
1.
belief in the existence of a God on the evidence of reason and nature only, with rejection of supernatural revelation (distinguished from theism ).
2.
belief in a God who created the world but has since remained indifferent to it.

http://www.dictionary.com/browse/deism

[Major Nikon]

32. Alleging I even attempted to do so is where the ineptitude begins

You might have learned something about the history of the deism during the Age of Enlightenment and how atheism was a punishable offense in many areas of the world at worst and invited ostracism at best. But please do go right ahead playing puerile semantic games as it seems to suit you better.

[guillaumeb]

33. A roundabout way of admitting an error.

I understand. I also hate making mistakes, but I still do it all of the time.

If you wanted to discuss the many negative reactions to atheism, that is another matter that we might agree on.

[Major Nikon]

35. You really need more practice getting this strawman thing down

Your attempts so far have been pretty pathetic.

Just sayin.

[zipplewrath]

39. More like agnostic

It was faith for people who didn't really have any, but want to hedge their bets.

[Major Nikon]

40. For some yes

There were also Christians who also identified as deists as well as other types of theists. There were also some who at least appeared to embrace the idea, but didn't identify. For instance, George Washington never identified with any theology publicly or privately, but expressed influence of a "creator" in some of his speeches. Thomas Jefferson never identified with any theology either and wrote about seeking creation through a greater understanding of nature and the laws that govern it.

The idea of deism originated with freethinkers who almost certainly were atheists but couldn't identify as such for fear of being BBQed in the public square. The Christian establishment caught on pretty quickly and one had to be careful about identifying as a deist also. For this reason, lots of atheists simply never identified with anything and kept their beliefs or lack thereof to themselves.

[Lordquinton]

3. I am constantly amazed

That people insist something is about individual interpretation, but also insist that their interpretation is the correct one. Nothing is literal except the right bits, which will not be revealed.

[MineralMan]

6. That's the beauty of universal faith. No worries about details like that.

You can just say, "Sure. I believe. I have faith. What more do I need?"

[Lordquinton]

7. That's often claimed around here

But then the details come in and now we all have to burn for eternity if we don't also believe. Imagine here on a progressive board that someone would wish others to be tortured past the heat death of the universe for not believing the same way they do!

[guillaumeb]

34. Mine is the only correct interpretation.

For me.

[Lordquinton]

36. We're your ears burning?

[elleng]

4. I was taught, as a child, there is ONE god.

Sorry if that's unsatisfying.

[MineralMan]

5. No. That's fine in the new world of faith.

One god. That's all you need to be religious. You can even name it if you like, but it's all the same deity. It doesn't matter, because the deity doesn't care what you call it. It's not paying a lot of attention to things like that, you know. Just have faith and you're doing fine, see?

[MineralMan]

8. You might ask: What does the generic deity look like?

It's a white, glowing sphere. Featureless, but bright. It's out there, somewhere.



You might wonder: What does this god do?
It glows, you know...supernaturally. That's it.

You might worry: But what does this god want?
Nothing, really. It's a god, innit? It has everything it needs.

[NeoGreen]

12. Everyone knows the Universal One-God (fits all) would be Plaid...

...or Clear and always...FABULOUS!!

[MineralMan]

13. No, see. I added an image. It's an artist's conception, of course.

You can't see it, really, but it looks like this, people think, but it's really hard to get it in focus, because supernatural and stuff:

[NeoGreen]

15. We obviously have denominational differences...

...in our interpretation and visualization of the Universal-Generic One-God of ...'meh"...

[MineralMan]

17. That's just a personal illusion, you know.

But it's OK. It doesn't matter, as long as you have faith, see. What color is faith?

[NeoGreen]

20. Yeah, but my illusion...

...is bigger and better than your illusion...heretic... ...or is 'apostate' a better fit? I sometimes have trouble keeping the mythological terminology straight.

[NeoGreen]

21. Oh, and the colour of faith is definately...

Last edited Tue May 8, 2018, 09:03 PM - Edit history (1)

...'Clear' or 'smoke' and/or 'mirrors'.

[catrose]

9. Glob Standard Deity

Jasper Fforde’s fictional solution to religious wars

[marylandblue]

10. I only buy brand name deities

The generic deities aren't the same quality and don't come with the same features. You really get what you pay for in this area, and I paid a lot for a fancy Bible with nice print and pretty pictures. You just won't get that from a generic god.

[MineralMan]

11. Don't be fooled by fancy labels. Generic god is free.

If you pay for your deity, you've been ripped off. Just have faith. That's all you need do. Really.

[Iggo]

37. "If you pay for your deity, you've been ripped off."

Those are my new words.

Gracias.

[malchickiwick]

14. So is he making knock-offs insteads of real Rolexes, then?

(For those unfamiliar with the reference):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watchmaker_analogy

[MineralMan]

16. Nothing like that. Time is irrelevant to the deity.

It's always right now. But, if you need a watch, I know this guy. He can get you one wholesale.

[byronius]

18. Generic God just spoke to me and said something very strange.

I couldn't understand a word, but it sounded like voices on the telly.

Oh wait, it's the telly.

Never mind.

I'll stay a vegan tree-hugging dirt-worshipping techno-hippie, I guess. Generic enough as it is.

Wait! My cat is whispering something!

Eh. Something about treats.

I was talking to my daughter last night about Marvel's Thor/Ragnarok, and I suggested that the movie was a very fun and entertaining take on an ancient culture that we're all glad is gone now. The movie didn't have any Blood Eagle sacrifices, or slaves tied down to the boat ramp as ceremonial grease, and Thor never seems to run into battles with an erection -- plus, he doesn't even seem to delight in the slaughter of coastal innocents! WTF!

Like some sort of generic modern Viking, I suppose. See what enlightened liberal thought leads to? Kind-hearted Vikings, for Eric the Red's sake! My generic god! This whole comment is a disaster!

I've got to go hug a tree now.

[JNelson6563]

19. Believe it or not Christianity was suppose to do this.

The intention was to merge Jewish and pagan beliefs into a Caesar worshiping cult (whether they knew it or not) that was docile, compliant and payed their taxes. Added bonus: It's a lot cheaper to keep people in line with fear of an omnipotent being than it is to maintain standing armies throughout the empire.

[NeoGreen]

22. I don't believe it. Based on empirical evidence of the ages. (nt)

[JNelson6563]

23. lol Perfect!

[NeoGreen]

24. ...

...

[JNelson6563]

25. Backatcha!

[rurallib]

26. are multiple gods ok? Cause I am hearing many voices

[MineralMan]

29. They're all just avatars of the generic one.

I think, anyway.

[Major Nikon]

38. I picked up the red phone and asked the almighty about it

He says there might be three, but after reading all the books on the subject He is just as confused as anyone.