Reflection Blog- Benjamin Franklin

By reading about Benjamin Franklin, I have also learned quite a few things about Deism. Deist's believe in god or in a supreme being, but unlike most other religions they have more of a natural view (Deism). What I mean by "natural view" is that Deist's believe that god allows the universe to rule itself according to nature, without the need of his supervision (Deism). In English class we have talked about two extremes that deal with religion, the Puritans and the Rationalists. The Puritans are very religious and they believe that everything that happens to them is the doings of God, which opposes the views of the Rationalists. Rationalists are much more logical then religious and seem to reason more than believe. I think that Deist's are a perfect mixture between the two extremes because they believe in a god, but they are much more rational than the Puritans in many ways.

I have learned a lot about Benjamin Franklin in the past few weeks, but one thing that has really stuck in my mind about him is that he was very knowledgeable. There were quite a few points in his autobiography that showed us about how much he studied, for example

This library afforded me the means of improvement by constant study, for which I set apart an hour or two each day, and thus repaired in some degree the loss of the learned education my father once intended for me (Franklin 143).

Benjamin Franklin frequently talked about his studies, which I thought was unusual for the time period this was written in because most people back in the day did not spend their time studying like he did. Also, Benjamin Franklin mentioned how he spent his Sundays studying rather than attending church, which I found very surprising since it is completely different than what we have read previously. Here is a passage from his autobiography that shows how he spends his Sundays

...I early absented myself from the public assemblies of the sect, Sunday being my studying day, I was never without some religious principles. I never doubted for an instance, the existence of a Deity (Franklin 144).

In this passage, Benjamin Franklin claims to spend his Sunday's studying rather than attending church which I think is really weird considering the time period and what not. Even though it is kind of weird that he did not attend church, I think it is pretty cool that he valued his studies and that he spent so much of his time learning. I think that by seeing how Benjamin Franklin is not strict with religion it is supports Deism just because they seem to be more relaxed about things. Also, Deist's go by facts and what is known, and I think that Benjamin Franklin supports this well because he is always striving to learn more about anything and everything.

I think that Benjamin Franklin's thirteen virtues support Deism because he is trying to perfect himself so that he can learn more about religion.

Bibliography

"Deism." Philosophy - AllAboutPhilosophy.org. All About Philosophy. Web. 26 Oct. 2011. .

Franklin, Benjamin, and Leonard Woods Labaree. The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. New Haven: Yale UP, 1964. Print.