A new world religion has arrived on the scene. Despite a gapping lack of a charismatic founder or body of doctrinal literature, it has gained followers at lightning speed. It's called "Moralistic Therapeutic Deism" and was first specifically identified by a study into the religious thoughts of American teenagers by Christian Smith, a Sociology professor at UNC-Chapel Hill. Alongside Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, Christianity and Judaism, Moralistic Therapeutic Deism is certainly something you would recognize, even if not by name.
Moralistic Therapeutic Deism "is about inculcating a moralistic approach to life. It teaches that central to living a good and happy life is being a good, moral person. That means being nice, kind, pleasant, respectful, responsible, at work on self-improvement, taking care of one's health, and doing one's best to be successful."
Being "nice" is a central tenant of Moralistic Therapeutic Deism. It follows then that holding strong theological convictions that exclude other truth claims is not nice, rather outright rude. Here, MTD consciously separates from Christianity since standing behind some central truths of the Christian life is a direct violation of MTD doctrine. The word nice is actually never used in the Bible.
Secondly, MTD is also about "about providing therapeutic benefits to its adherents." It is the religious feel-good pill that costs no money. MTD is also the only world religion void of an acknowledgement of suffering or sacrifice. "This is not a religion of repentance from sin, of keeping the Sabbath, of living as a servant of a sovereign divinity, of steadfastly saying one's prayers, of faithfully observing high holy days, of building character through suffering, of basking in God's love and grace, of spending oneself in gratitude and love for the cause of social justice, etc.," explains Smith in his study. "Rather, what appears to be the dominant religion among U.S. teenagers is centrally about feeling good, happy, secure, at peace. It is about attaining subjective well-being, being able to resolve problems, and getting along amiably with other people." Happiness is the end to which we seek.
Third, MTD also alters the concept of God. He is still one who orders the universe and gives humans moral guidelines, but He is not one who is personally involved with human affairs. He's especially not involved in the personal happenings in which we prefer God to stay at a distance. In MTD, God is not God of all things, rather of a select few convenient things (i.e. meeting my needs).
Lastly, the most interesting facet of MTD noted by Smith is that this new world religion dominates our culture without requiring adherents to leave their church affiliations or Christian identification. "We have come with some confidence to believe that a significant part of Christianity in the United States is actually [only] tenuously Christian in any sense that is seriously connected to the actual historical Christian tradition, but is rather substantially morphed into Christianity's misbegotten step-cousin, Christian Moralistic Therapeutic Deism" summarizes Smith in his book Soul Searching. "We now live in a nation that largely considers itself Christian, overwhelmingly believes in some deity, considers itself fervently religious, but has virtually no connection to historic Christianity."
It's flexible dimensions require little, but what does this new religion offer in return for it's teasing appeal of ease and comfort? Perhaps the benefits are just what the seekers seek- the resolution of problems and a good feeling. But is that worth following?
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. Hebrews 11:6
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