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I think the point of deism is you can still justify religion as an institution, so it was favored by "conservative" thinkers who believed religion was necessary

by olavk 10y ago

I think the point of deism is you can still justify religion as an institution, so it was favored by "conservative" thinkers who believed religion was necessary for morality and for society. Atheism has historically been associated with opposition towards religious institutions.

dragonwriter 10y ago
Prominent deists tended to also be major detractors of religious institutions (not just particular religious institutions, but the idea of religion and religious institutions), and very often were liberal rather than conservative thinkers, so I find the idea that deism was somehow a conservative response to justify religion as an institution to be rather hard to swallow.
- olavk 10y ago
  I shouldn't have used the term "conservative", since it is being interpreted as the political position, but I just meant the deists typically saw value in religion and God as a concept, while often being critical towards the actual church. This in contrast to more radical atheism which sought to eradicate religion.
lomnakkus 10y ago
The short answer to that is: No. The long answer is: Fuck no. (Sorry, just had to put that Stephen Fry joke in there!) The whole point of the "historical context" that I, and the post I responded to, referred to is that "deism" served as a sort of "escape hatch" in that you could refer to yourself as a deist and usually avoid being persecuted as an unbeliever/heretic/atheist -- the latter of which I'd wager most of the deists actually were (for all practical purposes) even if the term might not have been invented then. The deists were actually some of the most freethinking (i.e. non-conservative) people of their time. EDIT: Wikipedia actually has a marvellous page on this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deism . Incidentally the page also answered my question (for the US, at least): Apparently 0.02% of people in the US identified as deists in a survey conducted in 2001. Quite a few years ago to be sure, but I don't imagine it's grown a lot.
- olavk 10y ago
  Well I shouldn't have used the term "conservative" since it is too politicized, but I'm thinking of sentiment like Voltaires statement that "if God didn't exist it would be necessary to invent him". This in opposition to the more radical atheism which believed that religious belief in itself was bad. Obviously Voltaire was very critical towards the church, but believed religion itself was valuable.

by olavk 10y ago

dragonwriter 10y ago

Prominent deists tended to also be major detractors of religious institutions (not just particular religious institutions, but the idea of religion and religious institutions), and very often were liberal rather than conservative thinkers, so I find the idea that deism was somehow a conservative response to justify religion as an institution to be rather hard to swallow.

olavk 10y ago
I shouldn't have used the term "conservative", since it is being interpreted as the political position, but I just meant the deists typically saw value in religion and God as a concept, while often being critical towards the actual church. This in contrast to more radical atheism which sought to eradicate religion.

lomnakkus 10y ago

The short answer to that is: No. The long answer is: Fuck no. (Sorry, just had to put that Stephen Fry joke in there!) The whole point of the "historical context" that I, and the post I responded to, referred to is that "deism" served as a sort of "escape hatch" in that you could refer to yourself as a deist and usually avoid being persecuted as an unbeliever/heretic/atheist -- the latter of which I'd wager most of the deists actually were (for all practical purposes) even if the term might not have been invented then. The deists were actually some of the most freethinking (i.e. non-conservative) people of their time. EDIT: Wikipedia actually has a marvellous page on this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deism . Incidentally the page also answered my question (for the US, at least): Apparently 0.02% of people in the US identified as deists in a survey conducted in 2001. Quite a few years ago to be sure, but I don't imagine it's grown a lot.

olavk 10y ago
Well I shouldn't have used the term "conservative" since it is too politicized, but I'm thinking of sentiment like Voltaires statement that "if God didn't exist it would be necessary to invent him". This in opposition to the more radical atheism which believed that religious belief in itself was bad. Obviously Voltaire was very critical towards the church, but believed religion itself was valuable.