“Morals play a large part in religion; morals are good if they’re healthy for society. Like Christianity, which is all I know, the values you get from like the Ten Commandments. I think every religion is important in its own respect. You know, if you’re Muslim, then Islam is the way for you. If you’re Jewish, well, that’s great too. If you’re Christian, well, good for you. It’s just whatever makes you feel good about you.”
—A “nonreligious white girl” from Maryland, as quoted in Christian Smith’s essay, “On “Moralistic Therapeutic Deism” as U.S. Teenagers’ Actual, Tacit, De Facto Religious Faith“
In his book, Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers, sociologist Christian Smith describes what he refers to as “the de facto dominant religion among contemporary teenagers in the United States is what we might call ‘Moralistic Therapeutic Deism.’”
The creed of this religion, as codified from what emerged from our interviews with U.S. teenagers, sounds something like this:
- A God exists who created and orders the world and watches over human life on earth.
- God wants people to be good, nice and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and by most world religions.
- The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself.
- God does not need to be particularly involved in one’s life except when he is needed to resolve a problem.
- Good people go to heaven when they die.
“It’s just whatever makes you feel good about you,” says the teenager from Maryland. Smith’s essay is an eye-opener. Because at the heart of it all:
It’s all about us.
Am I the only one who finds that a bit depressing?
The god of Moralistic Therapeutic Deism is best described as “something like a combination of Divine Butler and Cosmic Therapist—he is always on call, takes care of any problems that arise, professionally helps his people to feel better about themselves, and does not become too personally involved in the process.”
He helps me pick myself up by my spiritual bootstraps, gives me a pat on the head and then is off to … I don’t know, take a nap or something.
Kind of like Superman, but less awesome.
