Brian Humanistic Jones
My name is Brian Jones, better known here by my posting name of Humanistic Jones. I am a deist from Marietta, Georgia. I was born into a Roman Catholic family and thought that I followed the tenants of the religion pretty well. Around the age of 16, I came to a realization, that I didn’t. I had managed to personally resolve that evolution was possible, that the universe was billions of years old, and that the bible was a great moral work. When my personal belief became known however, I was told to choose… the literal bible, or science. Can you guess what I chose?
Deism as a movement is not very prevalent. The major tenant of Deism is that there is a god, but that there is no Revelation of universal truth. Most deists also fall under a humanistic bent, felling that more than religious development, the development of human society should be the main focus. This is all pretty simplified and I’ll expound a bit further down.
I encourage any questions that you may have, from all sides of the fence. I will do my best to answer them with politeness and accuracy. I know I will probably get questions from the religious believers amongst the readers (and I’m looking forward to those, I love discussion), I am also looking forward to questions from the other naturalist and humanists amongst you. Have fun, go to town, and I’ll be back with the answers in due time.
Peace to all,
Brian "Humanistic" Jones
QUESTIONS
- Which school do you fall into? –Scott
- If you reject all forms of organized religion why do you believe in a deity at all? –Scott
- You indicate that you believe in both evolution and that we have a soul/afterlife. Would you agree that this means that all living creatures therefore have a soul? –Skyclad
- Can you detail your beliefs regarding the morality of killing (man or animal) with respect to the above point, and where exactly the cutoff point is (if any?) –Skyclad
- How can I meet more Deists? –sidfaiwu
- In reading about Deism, I discovered that many Deists seem to use Intelligent Design as proof of God’s existence. I reject this as I see evidence of spontaneous complexity in nature. I instead accept the logical validity of Leibniz’s version cosmological argument. What is your rational basis for believing in God? –sidfaiwu
- What is your opinion on Evolution and the Big Bang? How does god fit into this view of the world? –Alcari
- If you believe in souls, when do you believe that they come into existence or become attached to the human meatsack? –Your Father
- Do you believe abortion of a lifeless clump of cells is murder? How about the morning after pill? –Your Father
- Do you know just how big the Deist movement is nowadays? –Snurp
- I’m curious about this particular statement, “…original form of Christianity, i.e. Christianity as it existed before it was corrupted by additions of such superstitions as miracles, prophecies, and the doctrine of the Trinity.” Could you explain this please? –Weakness Is Power
- Do deists believe god takes an active role in human affairs? –Elliott
- Assuming a yes answer to the first question, why would an omnipotent being care about a life form so far below it? –Elliott
- Do deists base their beliefs on evidence or a lack thereof? How amenable are they to scientific facts? –Elliott
- Shouldn’t deists, by definition, be independent from each other and have only in common the ‘There is something else.’? (be it a creator-god, caring-god, absent-god, alien-creator, etc.) –Naery
- How do you judge which parts of the bible to add to your religion? How do you define what god thinks is “morally right”? Seeing how morals vary between nations, do you believe that god chooses those that follow the local moral best, or those that follow some all-applicable morals? –Alcari
- Jesus said that his miracle would be like Jonah. Jonah was buried in the stomach of the whale for three days and Jesus was buried in the earth for three days. It’s known that Jonah didn’t die, so how do you think Jesus being crucified (which mean dead) and he said I will be like Jonah? –Mohamed
- Jesus as you claim was crucified on Friday and then Mary went on Sunday, and she didn’t find him in his grave, which with counting it’s not three days. Do you still believe that Jesus was crucified? –Mohamed
- What’s the biggest difference between agnostic and Deism? –staplesmcjesus
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