Deism, agnosticism and other belief tendencies among high school students

Religion is an indispensable element that creates value and meaning for the individual throughout human history. However, today, especially among adolescents, the relationship established with traditional religious structures gains a more questioning and individual dimension. In recent years, there have been widespread discourses in our country and internationally about the increasing tendency towards deism and agnosticism among young people. Based on this problem, the subject of our research is to examine the fluctuations observed in the belief structures of high school youth and the factors that cause the tendencies such as deism and agnosticism that emerge accordingly from the perspective of psychology of religion. The aim of our research is to try to understand the psychological, cognitive and developmental processes that affect the intellectual tendencies towards deism and agnosticism in the discourses of high school students. In the research, qualitative research method was adopted in order to understand the inner world, subjective experiences and belief tendencies of the individual in depth. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 30 students from two different school types, social sciences and vocational high schools in Osmangazi district of Bursa province and the findings were evaluated within the framework of the themes determined based on the literature. In this study, convenience sampling and purposive sampling methods were used together by reaching students within the framework of teacher observations and guidance services' guidance. As a result of the research, the following conclusions were reached: According to the theme of religious socialisation and family; the determining role of the family in the development of religious belief and identity of young people was revealed. The majority of the participants stated that they had been introduced to religious concepts through their families since childhood, but this transfer had different effects on individuals. It was observed that explanatory and supportive family attitudes reinforced belief, while oppressive, indifferent or permissive attitudes led to doubt and distancing over time. According to the perception of God, although the majority of the participants believe in the existence of God, there is a tendency to define this belief in an individualised way, independent of traditional religious teachings. For some participants, God is a powerful, sheltering being, while for others, God is questioning. This diversity in the perception of God reveals a multidimensional belief structure shaped by the search for identity, cognitive development and emotional needs within the framework of adolescent developmental characteristics. The perception of the Prophet is evaluated in a traditional and affirmative framework by most of the participants. However, the fact that a small number of students developed questioning and distant attitudes towards this concept reveals that there is diversity in the interpretation of religious figures at the individual level and this situation points to the multi-layered nature of identity formation in adolescence. A significant portion of the participants maintain their belief in God and prophet. Even those who have a distant stance towards belief have a perception of a transcendent creator and have developed a critical discourse against deism-agnosticism. Deistic-agnostic tendencies were observed in some students, but these tendencies were attributed to the developmental characteristics of adolescence, the search for meaning, inadequacies in religious education, family and peer influence, and especially the influence of social media. Based on this, it was concluded that rather than the prevalence of deistic and agnostic tendencies, it is the discourse of deism and agnosticism that is widespread.