In the search for meaning, there are many options under alternative. Alternate points of view are now becoming popular as humanity’s faith in classic religion continues to falter. Let’s start with some basics.
Deism
Atheism is the disbelief in the existence of God. Deism says there is a god, but it doesn’t intervene in our lives. Theism says there is a god and it intervenes.
A monotheist believes in one god; a polytheist thinks there are many.
Deism was conceived in the 17th and 18th centuries by an intellectual movement that believed in the existence of a creator, on the basis of reason, but rejected belief in a god that interacts with humankind. Deism comes in two forms: warm, which allows for some involvement, and cold, which says there is none.
Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and many of America’s founding fathers were deists, along with Abraham Lincoln, Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, Mark Twain, Adam Smith, Leonardo Da Vinci, and Napoleon.
Religion
Including denominations, there are over 2,000 religions in the world. They generally give meaning to life and explain its origin. Religion also tends to derive morality, ethics, religious laws, or a preferred lifestyle from their ideals. Essentially, they all do the same things:
- Recognize a creator
- Define what the creator is like
- Describe what the creator wants from us (the rules)
- Give meaning to life
Many religions offer personal gods with humanlike qualities (like love and anger) so people can relate. Some say you can interact with them on a daily basis and become friends. Others describe God as being much more mystical, not humanlike at all. They believe the only way to experience Him is through imagination and other means of spirituality.
Deists say only that there is a creator and never try to explain anything more. They find it bizarre any church would claim additional knowledge and feel a belief system should focus on the experience of life, not so much on how we got here.
Meaning of life
In a deistic approach, the meaning of life is to live it. You’re supposed to go out there and meet people, fall in love, have your heart broken, climb a mountain, paint a fence, laugh your ass off, and get stung by a bee. That’s it. The rest will get explained to us at the end. It’s not about continually calling on some God to answer all your prayers. It’s about being in a group that’s taking a trip. Experience the trip, then we’ll talk about it later.
Angels
Warm deists also believe there is some, albeit little, intervention from above to ensure we get full value from our voyage. This comes by way of angels. Angels help us survive and experience the day. They watch over our safety and make us hit every checkpoint on the run. They can’t do much if you drive into a concrete wall but they can negotiate a few inches, which oftentimes leaves only a lesson.
Angels bring people in and out of our lives. Adversaries and allies, lovers and friends, neighbours and heroes, relatives and workmates. And they make us play different roles for each other. (For example, some say you haven’t lived until you’ve met an Italian.) Interfacing with others is a major theme on the trip, along with encountering nature, getting to know yourself, and meeting the god of the mystics. Then, spill a drink, grow a plant, read a book, have a discussion, get a job, and flip a pancake. It’s all life. So are feelings of empathy and holding positions of power. They’re just stops along the way.
Life is an experience that gets explained to us at the end. And angels help us through it.
Possibilities
Okay, so I like the idea of being a warm deist who believes in angels, but can I still have Jesus and belief in the Bible? Sure, if you can handle that Jesus was not God but more like Nelson Mandela, and the Bible as being no more divine than Plato’s Republic or Chicken Soup for the Soul.
Can I still respect religious people? Yup, we’re all on different paths. Classic religion may simply be where they’re at right now. What about reincarnation? Do I have to believe in crazy things like past lives? No, but reincarnation is within the realm of possibilities. Earth could be a training ground where passengers travel without remembrance of past visits. Then, when back up in heaven, everything comes together.
Is it okay to dislike people that try to evangelize me? Absolutely, they’re worse than telemarketers. But it’s all about the experience—both yours and theirs. Evangelical leaders encourage members to believe they’re doing the work of God. So if knocking on doors helps them further that experience, all the power to them. As long as they stop when you ask.
Let’s be honest, life is hard. And questions about meaning are unsettling because no one knows the answers—it’s all just belief. So for the sake of sanity, the reply is whatever floats your boat. Deists aren’t saying you have to see things their way. They’re simply providing another option for those who’ve examined religion and can’t buy in.
Conclusion
Everyone gets brainwashed to some degree by their upbringing—from atheism to fundamentalism. But individuals can be set free. Free to not only choose their own course but free to switch back. And it’s this flexibility that leaves room for doubt. Doubt that should eliminate the arrogance many of us feel towards our way as being the only way.
Couldn’t everyone be right? Couldn’t there be multiple systems all running at the same time? Multiple gods sharing one planet, or one god with multiple faces intervening with different groups so that atheists, mystics, and evangelicals could all be right? I don’t know. Your angel just told me to send you this letter.