Religious Attitudes and Non-Religious Tendencies Among Youth
A Field Study on the Inclination Toward Atheism and Deism
It is possible to say that identity crises of youth are more common in our
age, where social changes are very rapid and we are faced with many
alternatives as a result of globalization, compared to ancient times when
the local culture was stronger. Religious values are also affected by this
situation, and while young people try to form subjective judgments
about the religion that is dominant in the society they live in, they also
evaluate other alternatives. At the end of this research and evaluation
process, it is possible for the young person to adopt social values and
make them a part of their identity or make a choice different from
common beliefs. In this context, it is important to investigate the approach
of young people to religious values and to carry out religious
education planning by taking into account the results obtained from
these researches. Our study, in which high school youth’s tendencies
towards atheism and deism are investigated, consists of two parts, theoretical
and empirical. While the theoretical framework of the subject is
presented in the theoretical part, the findings obtained with the Ok-
Religious Attitude Scale and the Non-Religious Orientation Scale are
evaluated in the empirical part. Our study examines the factors influencing
young people’s religious attitudes and beliefs from the perspective of
religious education science. When the data collected in the field is
evaluated, it is seen that among high school students, there are those
who have developed negative attitudes towards religion and who embrace
atheist and deist understandings, although their numbers are not
very high. The most influential institution on young people’s approach
to religion is the family. Furthermore, as the intensity of the religious
education young people receive and their level of satisfaction with this
education increases, non-religious orientations such as atheism and deism
decrease.
Keywords: Religious Education; Adolescence; Faith; Atheism; Deism