Freedom of Religion

By Raymond Fontaine, Ph.D., March 2007

Email no. 210: To the World Union of Deists

On December 15, 1796, the United States Congress ratified the First Amendment of the Constitution which declares that all citizens may believe and worship God as and if they please.

The Times Almanac 2007 reports that in 2001, in the United States, there were 159,506,000 Christians and 2,831,000 Jews and 1,104,000 Muslims. The same table in the Almanac breaks down the number of Christians into 36 groups who live in peace with one another respecting each other's religious differences. 

In another group, the Almanac reports that 27,484 said they had no religion; 902,000 declared themselves Atheists who deny the existence of God; another group of 991,000 called Agnostics cannot be sure that God exists; and finally 49,000 Humanists who do not believe in the supernatural and surely not in God.

The Time Almanac makes no mention of Deists - and with good reason. Deists believe that the designs and structures observed in nature presuppose and required Supreme Intelligence. The designs exist and so does their Designer. All that Deists do is to acknowledge His existence and admire His handiwork in the universe.

Again, the collection of groups in paragraph two above believe in God as reputedly revealed by God Himself to ancient prophets and transmitted down the centuries principally by clerics.

The second collection of groups in paragraph three above believe only what reason can grasp on its own. Those people know nothing about God and the supernatural.

The third collection of individuals in paragraph four above, the Deists, declare that designs are observed in nature which required Intelligence. Some call that Supreme Intelligence God, just to give it a name.

Being a member of this last category - that of Deists, I firmly believe in the  existence of a Supreme Intelligence. I find it comforting to know that much about the Designer of Nature. Knowing more about Him is beyond the range of human perception and knowledge. I am completely satisfied and at peace believing in Nature's Designer whom the Declaration of Independence signed on July 4, 1776 calls Nature's God.

E-mail no. 211 Reply From the World Union of Deists

Thanks Ray, for your interesting e-mail. I hope that in the near future Deism will be taken into account when the Almanac reports on religion again. Already a survey done by City University of New York shows that belief in a Deity/Deism has grown in the US by 717 percent. http://www.adherents.com/rel_USA.html    http://www.gc.cuny.edu/faculty/research_briefs/aris/key_findings.htm  Of course, the numbers it grew from were low, but it does demonstrate impressive growth. With more outreach work being done by the World Union of Deists, I hope to see Deism take its rightful place in the US and in the world. The fact that Deism embraces reason allows us to draw from the camp of the Atheists and Agnostics while the fact that we believe in Nature's God allows us to reach people in the camps of the "revealed" religions as well. With enough work and effort on the part of Deists, we can't help but achieve our goals!

The fact that you bring out in your e-mail about American roots having a strong Deistic character is very important. If the Founders had followed Bible teachings, there never would have been an American Revolution since the Bible clearly sides with kings and monarchies as is evident in Romans 13: 1-7. This fact makes me wonder why, especially in America, Deism is so seldom heard of.

Can you imagine what a terrible world it would be if instead of making reference to Nature's God, Thomas Jefferson and his compatriots had said Jesus Christ? The entire original character of the US is owed to its Deistic origins as expressed in the Declaration of Independence. This is one more fact we need to bring to the people!

Progress!

Robert L. Johnson
www.deism.com

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