9 out of 10 monkeys believe they are not behind glass

I first ran into Deism in high school. I can’t seem to remember where I heard it first. I think it was in AP English, but I can’t be too certian. High school is a bit blurry for me now, everything tends to blend together from that time in my life. Not from heavy drinking or anything, but just because there are so many other things worth remembering instead. But I definitely remember running into the concept of Deism in high school. The belief in the Divine Watchmaker, a supreme being that was outside of the universe after setting it into motion. He created it, set it spinning, and then stepped out of the picture to let his universe run on its own, according to its design. Deism, it was claimed, ran rampant throughout the Constition, and the founding of the United States. Many of the country’s founders were Deists… and the influence could be seen in the very principles the country operates on.

The interesting thing about Deism is that it rejects the traditional definition of the Christian God. It rejects God in the sense of the Bible, Jesus Christ, the Triune, the whole shebang. Deism itself is based on pretty much only these key principles…

1. God exists.
2. God created the Universe.
3. God wants us to be moral.
4. We have souls that transcend death.
5. No written word is direct from God.
6. Miracles, prophecies, etc are lies.
7. The Bible’s account of Creation is not literal.
8. Original Sin does not exist.
9. Organized religion is a sham.

As a troubled and confused teenager, I was in the tumult of aligning my personal beliefs against the realities of the world and Deism had a ring of truth to it. Relating faith to science is the hardest thing to do as a Christian. Science and Religion, at first glance, are completely mutually exclusive. That is why the simplicity, the elegance of the Deist mindset really appealed to my geek sensibilities. Everything could be put into a rough order without necessarily violating tenets of cold hard science. I didn’t agree with some of the deist philosophy (and I still don’t agree with many parts of the deist mindset), but some of it really helped “fit” God into the world for me. Ever since, I have leaned on the Deist pillars of thought to approach questions of faith and science.

But I think it was curse in disguise. Because since then, I have been forced to find correlation between faith, predestination, and free will. If God set things into motion and stepped away, then His plan is immutable, and free will does not exist. We are left to fate. If He stepped away and free will exists, our influence on the world (our existance) does not really matter because the plan is immutable. The result is, that we exist in the system, conforming to the system’s rules, regardless of free will. We are just able to make a simple choice, and then live our life to our benefit.

As I have gotten older, I think the question of Faith has become even more complex. We are so quick to thank God for the things that go right in our lives, but we never blame God when things go wrong. (That is called blasphemy right there.) We mark the bad stuff up to “God’s Plan”, but the logical result is, if he doles out the “good”, then he must dole out the “bad”, right? Christians are so quick *not* to blame God. Because to blame God is to lack faith. People want a God that directly interferes with their life, they want a God that blesses them in all ways, protecting them from the world. A loving God, not a vengeful God.

I think that is why Job’s story resonates so strongly with me. God allowed the bad to happen, just as he allowed the good. He wasn’t really directly involved. He had taken a step back from Job. And in all honesty, I think he has taken a step back from our world. That is really hard thing to swallow for most Christians. They can’t imagine a world where God cares for you, but he doesn’t like to get directly involved. God is in the details, not the master strokes.

And the only free will you have is the ability to make the decision if there is a God or not… and that is it. God is in the details, the why of the world. Not the how. God listens to prayers, but the answers are already here in our lives.

We exist in the system of the world. Nothing magic, nothing profound. Just life.

And how we choose to live it.