What Benjamin Franklin went through with his faith is something that many people experience: a want of personal spirituality and faith, without the rites and doctrines telling one how to live life the right way. Franklin says that he never doubted, "...the existence of the Deity...that the most acceptable service to God was the doing good to man; that our souls are immortal; and that all crime will be punished, and virtue rewarded, either here or hereafter" (62). There were times when he went to church and publicly displayed his faith, and times when he didn't. Then again, religion and spirituality are two very different things, as I see it. Spirituality seems to be a very personal experience with something outside or larger than oneself, like God, whereas religion is the outward appearance and manifestation of this relationship and one's beliefs.
Although I'm not a Deist, I can relate to Franklin because I've felt some of the same things about religion. As much as I know what I believe, it's still hard to be told what the one right way is, especially when many people or groups think their way is right. It makes me uncomfortable when religion is used as both a sword and a shield, as justification and defense for doing something that's otherwise seen as wrong. People sometimes use God to protect themselves from dispute or critique. I believe in God, but sometimes in a slightly different way than how official religions groups or politicians do.
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