Do you think Moralistic Therapeutic Deism is an accurate reflection of society today?
According to Wiebe (2016) Moralistic Therapeutic Deism (MTD) can be described as the “de-facto dominant religion among contemporary teenagers in the United States.” In other words, it can be termed as the default, mostly unconsciously held religious perspective among many teens and emerging adults. This perspective by teenage Americans can be viewed through three components moralistic, therapeutic and deism. Moralistic is the aspect that focuses on being good or nice, the youth use this approach to obtain interpersonal pleasantries, self-improvement, physical health and achieving potential; those are among the common things that this group wish to gain with religion. Therapeutic is an aspect that deals with feeling good happy and at peace. Wiebe reports that teenagers are not into religion for repentance, the Sabbath, following commandments, sticking to steadfast prayer but they go to church and follow religion to feel good, happy,secure and be at peace. Religion is being used to acquire subjective wellbeing, ability to resolve problems and try to get along with other people. Lastly Deism is the acknowledgement of Gods existence; teens do approve that God exist but places Him in a distant role. They only involve God when they want Him to meet their needs.
Therefore, we can confidently say the moralistic therapeutic deism isthe true reflection of the perspective the Americans’ teen have on religion. The break down illustrated above accurately describes the view that the teens have on religion and the motivation that makes them to join religion.
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What are relevant examples you can provide that supportyour conclusion?
A good example on this perspective is a case where teens treat God as a distant divine ruler. They see him as demanding and only come to their lives to solve problems and make people feel good. They view him to be attentive to solve any problem that they face; he is seen as a profession who helps his people to feel better about themselves and is not supposedly required to get involved in the process.
MTD was also evident in the 2010 Bachelorette Show as famous characters were good on faith and religious teaching. According to French (2012) some would be seen wearing cross jewelry and having a crucifix and others considered themselves blessed. When some of the participants were asked what is the most important thing in their lives they unequivocally claimed its God. Generally, in the show people portray a perspective that God wants them to be good, nice, and fair. The central goals of life is to be happy and feel good; this is in line with the portrayal of ‘blessings’, ‘destiny’ and ‘following ones heart’ as portrayed in the show.
