Deism, Pantheism, & Our Place In The Universe
Pantheism is sexed-up atheism. Deism is watered-down theism.
The above quote from Richard Dawkins can be illuminated with a few definitions:
Theism - belief in the existence of God or gods
Atheism - disbelief in the existence of God or gods.
Pantheism - a doctrine that identifies God with the universe, or regards the universe as a manifestation of God.
Deism - belief in the existence of a supreme being, specifically of a creator who does not intervene in the universe.
Atheists and pantheists both don't put much stock in the traditional idea of a god, but pantheists tend to approach godlessness with a little more poetic flair. Deists and theists both believe in gods, but theists tend to believe in gods who intervene with human lives, while the deist god is a distant observer.
All that to say, I'm not writing this as SAT prep for basic definitions relevant to the subject of religious studies. Where's the fun in that? I mostly want to examine what these positions mean to me, and how they inform my own view of myself and my place in the universe.
Generally speaking, I don't pray. I grew up in a Baptist church and had a brief fling with Catholicism, and I've always loved the study of religion and mythology, but it doesn't really speak to me anymore as a way of life. Divinity, whatever it is, feels so limited and tiny in the confines of organized religion, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't view the world in at least somewhat spiritual terms.
I know. The whole "I'm spiritual, not religious" shtick usually infuriates me too. It seems to be born out of some milquetoast rebellion against whatever church your parents dragged you to as a child. The indoctrination did its job; you believe in the supernatural. You're an intelligent, rational person, however, and organized religion just doesn't do the trick. You decide to start sleeping in on Sundays, but you maintain some wishy-washy level of belief in something "more."
Does the world we exist in require more? Is this universe, in all its vast splendor, not enough? Are you, a self-aware part of reality that can consider what it is, somehow so unimpressive that you require additional majesty?
For me, the "spiritual" aspect comes from the utter lack of belief in orthodox religious thought. I don't see a world brimming with gods and spirits. I see orders of magnitude so far larger and smaller than I am that my place in it feels utterly random and insignificant, a brief flash of personal consciousness within something much greater than me.
However, I was born into a religion, and I live in a world that operates in religious paradigms. These paradigms are a part of my consciousness and a set of tools I use to contextualize what's around me. As such, I utilize some of these (like the concept of a god) as a way of expressing the otherwise non-spiritual awe that I feel for the universe and my place in it.
That's the appeal of pantheism for me - I take the universe and its rules, all its array, and I am crushed what my human mind did not evolve to comprehend. That sensation of being overwhelmed is inspired by something that is, to me, entirely unspiritual, but the words and attitudes I use to help wrap my head around everything are taken from religion.
Do I believe in a personal god, or a god with agency, or a god who intervenes? No, not really, and that's the appeal of deism for me. If there even is a self-aware god with qualities and a personality, I don't see how the universe needs him/her to function. Everything ticks along as it does; no assistance required. From the perspective of human morality, there's a lot of evil out there, but human morality is a human construct, not something we should take and impose on the unfeeling universe. We create it to function as a society that benefits as many as possible, but it really has no place above or below human society. The moons of Jupiter don't give a damn about what we consider right or wrong (nor do they have the capacity to).
Does this "more" exist? Maybe? But, what does exist is right here in front of us, and a near certainty carries more weight than a maybe.
When I sense what I am and my place in the universe, I use pantheistic language and ideas (God is the sum of the universe's parts). When I consider the role of humans in our own lives, I use deistic language and ideas (there is no salvation from above - we must rely on each other). Do gods exist in the conventional way most religions define them? I don't know. I don't really care. I'm not going to rely on prayers or miracles to help myself and others, to dictate how I vote or what legislation I support, and divine proclamations and scriptures do very little to convince me what's right or wrong.
My sense of morality begins from one place, the notion that the actions that benefit others are the most valuable to a person and society. The closer you are to that, the more moral you are. The farther away, the more immoral. As for what it means to "benefit" someone, or why that's something that should even be considered desirable...that's where the fun of debating all the details comes into play.
And that's what it's all about for me, really. Figuring out the best way to live during the few decades we might be lucky enough to have. Enjoying our brief mortality, creating our own meaning, and living fully, until it all goes dark.