> I don't understand what deists would get together to discuss. "Yeah, God's out there but he doesn't really care about us." I mean, unless you're a deist who believes in some sort of revelation from the creator of the universe, what will you have to discuss? ...etc...
> Stephen

Hear hear!

Exactly. I completely agree. The very idea of the previous poster capitalizing the 'd' in deist is missing the point of deism exactly.

The only thing that defines deism as a group is the fact that they have a now absent creator-god(s). The theists would have this god(s) still present and personal today, while the deist assume this creator god to have toddled off right after spawning us from where-ever he/she pulled us from.

So how do you define a deist organisation? You can't really make a church called "The First Church Of Our-God-Isn't-Really-Around-Anymore". And pomp, ritual, and sacrifice make *no* difference to a now-absent god... making anything like that pointless too.

I suspect the benefit of deism (though I am a Christian so I disagree anyway) is that it enables a person to lead an unrestricted life-style, just as any *atheist* on earth does (within human Law of course), yet have an answer to the eternal question "Where Did I Come From?".

Have fun,

-Iain.