According to dictionary.com, deism is defined as follows: Belief in a God who created the world but has since remained indifferent to it or as belief in the existence of God on evidence of reason and nature only (Deism). For me, this definition is plane and simple, which makes it easy to understand.
Benjamin Franklin was very modest in religion (The Religion). "The Religion of Benjamin Franklin, Founding Father" states that "he did not attempt to wither Christianity by ridicule or bludgeon it to death by argument" (The Religion). He was a confirmed Deist, and yet he still respected other people and their religions. I find this to be an extremely good characteristic to have. I think everyone should have their own religion and believe whatever they want to believe. I think it goes too far when someone tries to shove their religion down your throat, though. People should not be pressured into being a certain religion. During this time, religion was more important than it is today. People had to be a certain religion to survive in certain areas. People also seemed to think that their religion was right and wanted to convert everyone to their religion. I was surprised to read that Franklin was modest about his religion, but happy to hear it at the same time.
With his father being a true Puritan, I would expect that Franklin would be, too (The Religion). His parents wanted him to be a minister of the gospel, so they educated him with everything he needed to know. He did not like what doing with his life, so he stopped (The Religion). I was really rather surprised to hear this. I assumed that he would continue with what his parents had planned for him. During this time period, people usually just followed in their family's foot steps. They did not really pick their own path and make their own decisions. I am surprised at how different Franklin is from the rest of his time period. He is way more advanced.
Being an active reader of the philosophy of Deism, Benjamin Franklin definitely had all the facts about it before he started to believe it. He studied works from famous philosophers such as Descartes, Locke, Bacon, and Voltaire (Deist). Deism kind of went with the new thinking revolution of this time period. People were not wanting to blame God for everything anymore. Deism puts religion and reason in the same thing, which is really cool. When philosophers applied science to religion, they found that it was necessary to strip revelation and ended up with Deism (Deist). Deism is a natural religion (Deist).
I think it is cool how we started reading about Puritan writing and everything was because God said it was. If something good happened, it was God's doing. If something bad happened, it was God's doing and you had to change your ways that way something bad would not happen again. Later, people started becoming obsessed with reasoning. They would give a reason for everything and not blame God for anything. After those two extremes, they have reached Deism. Deism, being a mixture or religion and reason, seems like the perfect in between. I think it's really cool how we studied these things in the way that we did.
Works Cited
"The Religion of Benjamin Franklin, Founding Father." World Religions Religion Statistics Geography Church Statistics. June-July 2005. Web. 26 Oct. 2011. "Deism | Define Deism at Dictionary.com." Dictionary.com | Find the Meanings and Definitions of Words at Dictionary.com. Web. 26 Oct. 2011. .
"Deist Roots of America." Welcome To The Deism Site! Web. 26 Oct. 2011. .
Franklin, Benjamin. Autobiography. Harvard University, 1895. Print.
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