whats the connection (if any) between deism, unitarianism, and modernism?

Answer 1

All three seek human answers for human problems. For Deists, there is a God who created the universe, but once He or It established the natural laws by which it runs, the Creator withdrew and does not interfere in the way the universe operates. This means, for example, that Jesus is not the son of God but another human being and that, as Thomas Jefferson believed, the miracles of the Bible are myths.
Unitarianism has a couple of different roots. The oldest is with the teachings of Jon Huss in Bohemia about 1400. He denied that the Trinity exists (pointing out that there is no scriptural justification for this belief) and he decried the horrible abuses of power by the Church. He was burned at the stake for his outspokenness, but his followers became militant and it took some time for the army of the Holy Roman Emperor to suppress them. In New England the Unitarians branched off from the Congregationalists and emphasized the importance of reason in solving human problems. Samuel Taylor Coleridge was born a Unitarian but rejected it as an adult because he saw that logically it led to pantheism, and he couldn't accept that, so he became an Anglican. (Pantheism is the belief that since God is omnipresent then it logically follows that it is all God.) Unitarians supported, and continue to support, many progressive causes such as abolitionism, women's suffrage, and the cause of international peace. They were also highly involved in the civil rights movement. As for believing in God, about 10% of Unitarian Universalists (the two movements merged in the '60's) are liberal Christians, about 20% are pagans, and the rest are agnostics, humanists, and atheists.
Modernism seeks to do away with reliance upon faith as a solution for anything, except perhaps sorrow. Modernism believes fully in science and technology and believes that, for example, our criminal code should be reformed to eliminate "victimless" crimes like gambling, prostitution and personal drug use (although opinions do differ). Thanks to modernism, for example, most of us no longer believe that illness is caused by demons.

Answer 2

They all re-define faith and reject even the possibility of revelation from God. The Deist believes in God and won't even entertain evidence that He is still involved in His Creation, and of course, will not accept Jesus as the God-Man, which would be God caring about His Creation. And unitarianism rejects Jesus as God, Revelation of divine intervention, and the doctrine of the Trinity, which flows from accepting Jesus.
Modernity gets up most of its steam from the Enlightenment and shows its true colors in the French Revolution.
A fascinating account that ties this all together is the book by Buckley, At the Origins of Modern Atheism

Answer 3

I think the connection is that all of them evidence the desire to be part of something higher, bigger, more important than self yet also keep an independence from the authority of God.

It is the desire for God to carve out a kingdom for us where we reign without Him and when we die, we go to heaven where we will be happy and also independent of Him.

It is the view that God is like a senile grandfather who sprinkles gifts (including some kind of afterlife) but doesn't really know or care what is going on around Him.