The deism tendency in adolescents through the eyes of teachers and parents: An investigation into faith development

There are some facts brought with each age. Under the influence of changing life circumstances, modernism and post-modern processes, some of today's people can go beyond the traditional God imagination and develop to new understandings in the form of belief in their own world. Deism is one of those orientations. With this view, Human beings, who cannot completely detach from the idea of God ontologically, reflect their individual-centered attitude to their beliefs. These developments were mostly found in the West, but it was discussed that they were only recently brought to the agenda in regions with Islamic beliefs. Some reports of widespread media coverage and adoption by high school youth may give the impression that this is the case, but is this really the case? Is the truth the way it is reflected? Numerous field studies are needed to reveal the reality of the subject. In this regard, our study examined the development, change and transformation of high school youth through their parents and teachers to verify the reality of deism tendency. The research was carried out by appealing for assessments of parents and teachers who are closer to them and witnessed their emotional, cognitive and behavioral development. Teachers from several related subjects such as psychological counseling and guidance (PDR), guidance, philosophy, religious culture and moral knowledge (DKAB) and and teachers who teach imam hatip high school (İHL) vocational lessons in different districts of Istanbul province were interviewed using semi-structured interview technique with a total of 18 teachers and 12 parents who has at least one child studying at high school level. As a result of the study, the impact of popular culture on young people and the characteristics of adolescence have come to the fore. The findings from parents and teachers show that adolescents are experiencing a typical process of change and transformation, that their faith are affected by this process, that some young people are distant and disinterested in matters of faith, while others are in the phase of quest in serach of answers. In short, our study indicates that while there are some obvious cases, the tendency to deism is not as common as it reflected in the media.