https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/one...urn-theism
EXCERPT: [...] What is the alternative? Atheism, as I mentioned going in, brings its own punishments in the form of social rejection. Atheists, in this country, have trouble getting dates and they cannot be elected president (of just about anything).
Shall we try deism? [...] Here, god created the world and then walked away. He does not care about you, let alone love you. The good news is that he will not punish you [...] Deism is cerebral. [...] many wanted their rationalism but were too scared to give up the idea of god. Deism is not rational, though. Once you give up the infantile fantasy of being monitored by an omniscient and benevolent creator god, there is no psychological need to hold on to the idea that there was a creator. In deism, the problem of theodicy is no longer an issue, but the problem of infinite regress remains, and a rationalist should recoil from it. Who created the creator? [...]
Love-theism, deism, and atheism all have their problems. An option that remains is theism without love. If god is a mischievous, even sadistic, demon, the problem of theodicy is solved and the problem of infinite regress can be left to the philosophers. The psychological consequences seem dire at first, but liberating at second glance.
On the dire side, it may seem depressing to think that a malevolent supernatural entity is responsible for the construction of a deeply flawed world and an even flaweder human nature. On the upside, we would know whom to blame [..] and we could take the matters we can control into our own hands. By the lights of this dark theism, we can confront life as the heroic struggle that it is, and in the end, we can consider ourselves worthy adversaries – and not sheep....
EXCERPT: [...] What is the alternative? Atheism, as I mentioned going in, brings its own punishments in the form of social rejection. Atheists, in this country, have trouble getting dates and they cannot be elected president (of just about anything).
Shall we try deism? [...] Here, god created the world and then walked away. He does not care about you, let alone love you. The good news is that he will not punish you [...] Deism is cerebral. [...] many wanted their rationalism but were too scared to give up the idea of god. Deism is not rational, though. Once you give up the infantile fantasy of being monitored by an omniscient and benevolent creator god, there is no psychological need to hold on to the idea that there was a creator. In deism, the problem of theodicy is no longer an issue, but the problem of infinite regress remains, and a rationalist should recoil from it. Who created the creator? [...]
Love-theism, deism, and atheism all have their problems. An option that remains is theism without love. If god is a mischievous, even sadistic, demon, the problem of theodicy is solved and the problem of infinite regress can be left to the philosophers. The psychological consequences seem dire at first, but liberating at second glance.
On the dire side, it may seem depressing to think that a malevolent supernatural entity is responsible for the construction of a deeply flawed world and an even flaweder human nature. On the upside, we would know whom to blame [..] and we could take the matters we can control into our own hands. By the lights of this dark theism, we can confront life as the heroic struggle that it is, and in the end, we can consider ourselves worthy adversaries – and not sheep....