Moral therapeutic deism is the belief in the existence of God but seemingly for only personal reasons and interests. Most teenagers do not deny the existence of God but only call upon him at their own convenience. For instance, most teenagers believe that God wants a good life for them, expects people to relate fairly with each other, but only engage Him when they face problems or challenges (Sire, 2009). Besides, most young people do not believe in the idea of God who is present everywhere or watches them all the time. However, when they experience any suffering, they expect God to automatically alleviate their situation when they call upon Him (Anderson, 2013). Therefore, God is used for therapeutic purposes or to save people from difficult situations.
I also have similar concerns as the young man in the video, especially about the church and how preachers teach the gospel. Most modern preachers have made the church to be institutions where people go for healing or to receive miracles. Therefore, most people believe that God’s most prominent use is during times of trouble. Otherwise, when people are successful and happy, there is no use of God. I think preachers are not doing enough to educate people on who God truly is; rather, they seem to suggest that God is some form of a panacea that consequently should only be turned to in times of suffering.
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Certainly I see moral therapeutic deism among my age group. For example, I have friends who only attend church services when things are really not good for them. However, when they are happy and have financial stability, they never bother about God. That really concerns me because I think they have a wrong perception about the Supreme Being. If truly they believe in the existence of God, then they should not use Him only for therapeutic purposes.
References
Anderson, B. (2013). Moralistic Therapeutic Deism. YouTube . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYAiaocufe8
Davis, W. (2010). What-Is-Moralistic-Therapeutic-Deism. YouTube . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfnJ9lW8XxM
Sire, J. W. (2009). The universe next door: A basic worldview catalog . InterVarsity Press.
