We are here on this planet thanks to an amazing force that endowed people with the ability to discover and control complex and original ideas, created DNA and allowed for evolution. An incredible array of beauty and relentless times of destruction are but a couple of examples of the incredible power of the creator.
Realizing G_D as the creator is a distant experience, made more understandable if there is a creator, not a controller. Will G-D answer your prayers for the winning lottery ticket or for your favorite team to win the super bowl, I don’t think so. Could you win the lottery or your team win the superbowl, it is possible, but was it the hand of G-D that swayed the fortune in your favor; I heartily doubt it. For the masses that choose to believe that a Divine entity has a hand in all events everywhere and at all times, there is an alternate belief.
While some seem to experience a miracle, others experience terrible events and bad luck. There is an explanation. G-D created a Perennial Wind that flows around us at all times, that influences at times, and neglects at other times. It is invisible, cannot be called up at will, or controlled in any other way. Endless breezes flow in a random fashion from the Perennial Wind and effect all things with results either beneficial or damaging. When G-D created life, free will was given to all. This bestows upon all creatures the ability to think for themselves and is thus a determining factor in all our daily lives.
Organized religions and any other kind of religion may give comfort, a feeling of belonging to something greater than oneself, and a unifying center of the family; but devastating harm has been done in the name of religion. Though there are many instances of humanism and good will emanating from religion, so much destruction has been carried out in its name. From biblical times through the Crusades, the Inquisition, The Thirty Years’ War, the Holocaust and multiple other wars and genocides, religion was the core of the disputes. The negative side of religion is the daily expression of hatred and antipathy, that is seen around the globe.
Religions should be judged by how well they carry forward basic tenets of positive attitude and good will. What are the beliefs of the people the religion advocates. Whether religion is used as a crucible or scapegoat, or as a catalyst for dispute among tribes, alternate ways of embracing a higher power are decidedly more appealing.
One such philosophy is the belief in Deism. Notable adherents of Deism as a more rational expression of a belief in G-D include; Spinoza, Voltaire, Da Vinci, Albert Einstein, Immanuel Kant, Adam Smith, James Watt, Thomas Paine, Ethan Allen, Benjamin Franklin, Abraham Lincoln, Mark Twain, Jules Verne, Thomas Edison and Neil Armstrong.
While their traditions had them affiliated with various religious denominations,(to differing extents), the first five Presidents of the United States, had all expressed their belief in the rational tenets of Deism. RJB