Keith R. Wright

Reverend Keith R. Wright (born February 6 1961) was one of the founders of the United Deist Church and its first elected president.

Born in Columbus, Ohio he was an ardent proponent of Deism and the positive benefits of meeting in community. He believed that the only difference between an Atheist and a Deist is that a Deist believes in a God of First Cause. He was a Classical Deist in the very strict sense of the word. He only believed in a Creator which set forth all of the laws of nature and that is how we may know the true "word" of God. He didn't believe in an anthropomorphic God but that the true form of God is unknowable and our efforts should be in celebrating our existence as beings rather than worshiping God.

Rev. Wright was fond of using analogies examples and metaphors to make his ideas understood by anybody. He delighted in getting others to open their eyes and contemplate their existence. He is quoted as saying: "Ponder this. You are a periodical table of the elements with consciousness and the ability to love, hate, reproduce and a myriad of other things. Above all, what separates us from any other animal is our ability to experience the divine. It is that action which makes us fully human and unique in our world. An Atheist is content in not experiencing this human experience. A Deist celebrates existence and offers prayers of thanks to the Creator (even though a Deist may or may not believe that the Creator is able to "hear" the prayer.")

Rev. Wright believed in challenging others to the test of reason in their faith. Especially other Deists. He felt that reason must be applied to belief and that Deism was a religion of faith in that the heart had faith in what the head believed based upon reason. He was an avid reader of Paul Davies, Frank Tipler, Richard Swinburne, A.O. Wilson and held in high regard the works of Thomas Paine and Ethan Allen. He was a non academic follower of particle physics and string theory and felt that a Unifying Theory would bring us closer to the mind of God. He denied the existence of Jesus of Nazareth citing an absence of evidence from an archaeological standpoint and reasoned that we have more hard evidence of the existence of Alexander the Great than of Jesus. He felt that the Bible was a terrible work in that it created God in the image of man and that Aesops Fables were a better moral base for humans to follow.

Rev. Wright became a member of the Anti-Dominionism movement through his weblog under the pen name [http://www.livejournal.com/users/incipit/] Incipit. He believed in separation of church and state and fought as an individual to maintain that separation.