TruthSeeker said:

Greetings,

So I am in a period of flux and am interested in what Deism has to offer. I was raised in a Christian faith but found that Christianity's Claim was not valid under Jewish Biblical Text or Tradition, so I did the only logical thing with the tools that I had at the time (being unaware of Deism and Noahidism) I converted to Judaism. I am trying to figure out where I fit with my beliefs- Judaism, Deism or Both.

 

I believe in Nature's God but I am coming to the conclusion that Revealed Religion is not completely divinely inspired. Here is what I mean. God left his/her/it's metaphoric finger prints on creation and some aware indiviuals came to said conclusion there must be a Designer… in that light it was Divinely inspired. However I think that Humans- being the way that we are- needing to control eachother and ourselves from some of our baser desires- set up rules "from God" to codify natural rights. Rules meant to keep us ethical are not meant for the Strongest of us but the Weakest. (Do you really need to be told don't Murder or don't sleep with your friend's Wife?) This Codification is where things can go a little askew because it is where a people's culture, prejudice, greed, and Corruption can step in. Now don't get me wrong some of the rules were justified… Like a Ban on Human Sacrifice… that is good. However one has to question an order to kill innocent women and children in time of war of an enemy living in a land that you are claiming God gave to you…. which in itself can be seen as no better or even worst than human sacrfice. This is just an example of which there are many. 

 

I have found that using revealed religion and ritual as a source of grounding is good as long as it does not get in the way of your God Given Reason- even Abraham Reasoned with God on behalf of Sodom and Gamora. Not so much with the whole sacrifice Isaac thing but that was an issue of faith. – Both stories I see as metaphores held in plain sight meant to stir the Idea of Questioning everything to include your God if something does sit right with you. Jews often debate things that would make Christians and Muslims a little uncomfortable in relation to God and the Bible. Look at the Tradition of Midrash. These are stories meant to explain certain things in the Bible such as the "duel creation story of man"- hence the story of Lilith came to life to expand on that notion (Jews can Never pass up an opportunity to tell stories with a lesson). With this tradition in mind one can logically come to the conclusion that much of the Bible is Midrash. More than a few Jews have come to this conclusion, to include my wife.

So what is Ritual as I understand it? Nothing more than an act to get the person or people into a certain mind set. It is this mind set that can be beneficial. If I pray to God or do another precribed ritual designed to get me thinking about Myself, Others and a Certain situation, my mindset will change and see (hopefully) the natural cues to change or address the situation. IE I may be paying closer attention and catch on to a good business deal that I might not have otherwise noticed if my concern was money for example. I know that these thoughts are Deistic in nature. However- I do believe that the Creator can and does to a certain extent through Nature or Natural Laws help out his creation to include individuals, while being careful not to run over Free Will- to which reason is only apart of. I don't know if you would call my beliefs purely Deist or if you would call it a Mixture of Faith and Reason. But I have a hard time with the thought that God would not answer his creation in a personal way. 

Any thoughts on the matter?

I found this site because I consider myself a deist, and I would like to attend a brick and mortar church, so I was looking to see if one existed in my area.  Sadly, it does not.  I was raised Catholic by 2 VERY devout parents. When my mother died, I was 10, and had a major crisis of faith. I stopped attending church, and my father, in his own grief, allowed me to handle it my own way.  I never went back to any church, except through the catholic school I attended until high school, and then as an adult for weddings, funerals, quinceaneras, and the like.  I was actually atheist for a time, then agnostic for quite literally decades, and have only within the last few years had experiences that led me to believe very strongly in God.  I eschew Christianity, or any Bible-based religion, because I do not believe the Bible is the word of God.  I have respect for Christians or Jews whose faith helps them to live good, moral lives, but I have found that it usually is just a vehicle for them to feel superior to others and most do not practice anythinf close to what they preach.  Attending church every Sunday means nothing to me if you lie, cheat and steal, gossip, backstab, and hurt people every other day of the week. While I think there are some good lessons in the bible, and it CAN be a primer for a good life, it requires one to pick and choose what is valid (the 10 commandments?) and what is outdated (killing your children for disobedience, women are unclean while menstruating?). In my opinion, if the bible truly was the written word of God, who is omnipotent, every word in it would transmit cleanly and appropriately across time.  It would not need 2 testaments.  It would be applicable to all of humanity, of any era.  I believe we all develop our own personal and intimate relationship with God.  Morality is universal – Do unto others is valid, but I do not need the bible to teach me that.  It is common sense.  I have reached apoint in my life where, while I am comfortable praying to and thanking God in my own space, with impromptu words, I remember with some fondness the peace and ease of meditation I had in a physical church.  I decided that I will be attending church again, to feel that closeness with God.  I was hoping to find a church that was not Christian or part of an existing organized religion, but I have had no luck.  Ideally, there would be a non-denominational deist church where people could go pray, on their own time, perhaps with organized services and especially songs, which were another enjoyable part of my Catholic upbringing.  This space could be used to perform weddings and funerals, and to celebrate other rituals, but at that point, it'd be an organised religion, no?  LOL  Oh well.  Thank you for providing this forum.  Hopefully all of us will find what we are looking for.  Unfortunately, I think we may have different goals and perceptions of deism itself.