http://www.deism.com/deism_defined.htmMy Deist voluntary and individual profession of Reason.
I do this with all sincerity and frankness with which the mind of man communicates with self.
But, if it should be supposed that I believe in many other things I shall, in the progress of this writing,
declare the things I do not believe, and my reasons for not believing them. I do not believe in the creed professed by the Jewish church, by the Roman church, by the Greek church, by the Turkish church, by the
Protestant church, nor by any church that I know of. All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian or Turkish, appear to me as human inventions, set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit. I do not mean by this writing to condemn those who believe otherwise; they have the same right to their belief as I have to mine. But it is necessary to the happiness of man, that he be mentally
faithful to himself. Infidelity does not consist in believing, or in disbelieving; it consists in professing to believe what he does not believe. It is impossible to calculate the moral mischief, if I may so express it, that mental lying has produced in society.
When a man has so far corrupted and prostituted the chastity of his mind, as to subscribe his professional belief to things he does not believe, he has prepared himself for the commission of every other crime.
(using ideas as the model in the Age of Reason by Thomas Paine)
I believe in God, and I hope for happiness beyond this life. I believe in the equality of man; I believe that my religious duties consist in doing justice, loving mercy, and endeavoring to make our fellow-creatures happy. But, if it should be supposed that I believe in many other things I shall, in the progress of this writing,
declare the things I do not believe, and my reasons for not believing them. I do not believe in the creed professed by the Jewish church, by the Roman church, by the Greek church, by the Turkish church, by the
Protestant church, nor by any church that I know of. All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian or Turkish, appear to me as human inventions, set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit. I do not mean by this writing to condemn those who believe otherwise; they have the same right to their belief as I have to mine. But it is necessary to the happiness of man, that he be mentally
faithful to himself. Infidelity does not consist in believing, or in disbelieving; it consists in professing to believe what he does not believe. It is impossible to calculate the moral mischief, if I may so express it, that mental lying has produced in society.
When a man has so far corrupted and prostituted the chastity of his mind, as to subscribe his professional belief to things he does not believe, he has prepared himself for the commission of every other crime.
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