Deism-2002 wrote:
Yes except they always added in that God just "walked away" which is totally illogical, yet it's the part the deists are atheists crowd always liked to emphasize. The clockwork analogy, especially the part about God backing off from His creation has be been fairly well expunged from references, but it's still out there. This is still the #2 definition at dictionary.com: belief in a God who created the world but has since remained indifferent to it.

Makes my blood curdle. I don't know of a deist who believes that. I can' only think of one reason for it to be there.

I think he's indifferent to it in the human sense of emotions, but I don't think he walked away from it because I think he runs through every bit of it every day, and it's us humans who provide the emotions and the thinking about it and trying to define it and we invariably put human emotions onto God. I think God just is. Hmm, I just wrote this same thing on another post, too.

Sharon

Indifference means unconcerned or uncaring, but I am not sure I would apply those characteristics to God. How could we know God does not care about the Creation or inhabitants? I tend to prefer impartial, as in unbiased.

DaveGaddis wrote:
Well, you're right I guess we can't "know" but that was just my take on it. I know other people feel differently. I don't think of God as having human feelings. Having said that, impartial is probably a better word than indifferent since indifferent has a more negative connotation.

Sharon

No worries. We each use terms that best describe the way we see an issue. The beauty of our community is the lack of dogma. I was just expressing the term that works best for me and did not intend to come across any other way.

Interestingly enough, some part of me really wants to believe that God is caring and concerned about my life and I've tried to believe that (I used to a long, long time ago), but I don't seem to be able to reconcile that with my belief of what God is now. Maybe somebody here through our discussions will say that one thing that makes me look at it a little differently where I can believe that again, or on the other hand, maybe that's just not who I am anymore. But I do enjoy the sharing and different viewpoints.

Sharon