Depart not from the path which fate has you assigned.

That was in my fortune cookie last week. I don't get chinese food often.

The fortune the time before that was : You will be unusually successful in business.

A cookie has no bearing on my fate, nor my business sucess (or lack thereof)
and yet I still keep the fortunes. Its as if I don't believe, but I'm fearful of what reality is. That is to say, just in case the chinese have anything to say about it, i've always got business goin for me.

Religion is that way for me too. It's perhaps insanely hypocritcal, but I'm a deist.

Historical and modern Deism are defined by the view that reason, rather than revelation or tradition, should be the basis of belief in God. Deists reject organized religion and promote reason as the essential element in making moral decisions. This "rational" basis was usually founded upon the cosmological argument (first cause argument), the teleological argument (argument from design), and other aspects of what was called natural religion. Deism has become identified with the classical belief that God created but does not intervene in the world, though this is not a necessary component of deism.
Many deists hold different views on the nature of God, particularly on whether or not God intervenes in the world. The classical view is that the universe was created by a God who then makes no further intervention in its affairs. In this view, the reason God does not intervene in the world (via miracles) is not that God does not care, but rather that the best of all possible worlds has already been created and any intervention could not improve it. Historically, many deists adhered to this view; others hold a more pantheist or "pandeist" view that in creating the world, God became the world and does not exist as a separate entity from it; while some hold that God intervenes only as a subtle and persuasive force in the universe.


The classical view of an impersonal and abstract God has caused many to claim that deism is "cold" and amounts to atheism. Deists maintain that the opposite is true and that this view leads to a feeling of awe and reverence based on the fact that personal growth and a constant search for knowledge is required. This knowledge can be acquired from many sources including historical and modern interpretations found in the many varied fields of science (biology, physics, etc.) and philosophy. While many religions have an adversarial opposition to modern views such as those found in science, this is not an issue for deism -- as reconcilation and unification are desired.

The words deism and theism are closely related and this sometimes leads to controversy. The root of the word "deism" is from the Latin deus, while the root of the word theism comes from the Greek theos, both meaning god in English. However, theism can include faith or revelation as a basis for belief, while deism includes only belief which can be substantiated through reason.

Deism and prayer
Many deists who do not believe in divine intervention still find value in prayer. They think of it as a form of meditation and self-cleansing, which can improve one's life and lead to one's efforts being more effective.

hum. voltaire and I have something in common. good to know.