Deism

=== Deism in Turkey ===
{{Main|Irreligion in Turkey}}
{{Further|Secularism in Turkey}}
[[File:Atatürk Kemal.jpg|thumb|right|230px|[[Mustafa Kemal Atatürk]], the [[founding father]] of the [[Republic of Turkey]], serving as its first [[President of Turkey|president]] from 1923 until his death in 1938. He undertook sweeping progressive [[Atatürk's Reforms|reforms]], which modernized Turkey into a secular, industrializing nation.<ref name="ÁgostonMasters2009">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Cuthell |first=David Cameron Jr. |year=2009 |editor1-last=Ágoston |editor1-first=Gábor |editor2-first=Bruce |editor2-last=Masters |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of the Ottoman Empire |chapter=Atatürk, Kemal (Mustafa Kemal) |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QjzYdCxumFcC&pg=PA56 |location=[[New York City|New York]] |publisher=[[Facts On File]] |pages=56–60 |isbn=978-0-8160-6259-1 |lccn=2008020716 |access-date=23 January 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |title=Atatürk, Kemal |date=2014 |url=https://archive.org/details/worldencyclopedi00oxfo |encyclopedia=World Encyclopedia |publisher=Philip's |language=en |doi=10.1093/acref/9780199546091.001.0001 |isbn=9780199546091 |access-date=9 June 2019 |url-access=registration}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last=Books |first=Market House Books Market House |title=Atatürk, Kemal |date=2003 |url=https://archive.org/details/whoswhointwentie00brig |work=Who's Who in the Twentieth Century |editor-last=Books |editor-first=Market House |publisher=Oxford University Press |language=en |doi=10.1093/acref/9780192800916.001.0001 |isbn=9780192800916 |access-date=9 June 2019}}</ref>]]

An early April 2018 report of the [[Ministry of National Education (Turkey)|Turkish Ministry of Education]], titled ''The Youth is Sliding towards Deism'', observed that an increasing number of pupils in [[İmam Hatip school]]s was [[Apostasy in Islam|repudiating Islam]] in favour of Deism (irreligious belief in a [[Creator deity|creator God]]).<ref name="McKernan 2020">{{cite news |last=McKernan |first=Bethan |date=29 April 2020 |title=Turkish students increasingly resisting religion, study suggests |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/29/turkish-students-increasingly-resisting-religion-study-suggests |url-status=live |work=[[The Guardian]] |location=[[London]] |issn=1756-3224 |oclc=60623878 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211122171105/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/29/turkish-students-increasingly-resisting-religion-study-suggests |archive-date=22 November 2021 |access-date=17 January 2022}}</ref><ref name="Sarfati 2019">{{cite magazine |last=Sarfati |first=Yusuf |date=15 April 2019 |title=State Monopolization of Religion and Declining Piety in Turkey |url=https://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/responses/state-monopolization-of-religion-and-declining-piety-in-turkey |url-status=live |magazine=Berkley Forum |location=[[Washington, D.C.]] |publisher=[[Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs]] ([[Georgetown University]]) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210516220605/https://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/responses/state-monopolization-of-religion-and-declining-piety-in-turkey |archive-date=16 May 2021 |access-date=17 January 2022}}</ref><ref name="Bekdil 2021">{{cite magazine |last=Bekdil |first=Burak |date=20 May 2021 |title=Turks May Be Rediscovering the Merits of the Secular Paradigm |url=https://besacenter.org/turks-may-be-rediscovering-the-merits-of-the-secular-paradigm/ |url-status=live |magazine=BESA Center Perspectives |publisher=[[Begin–Sadat Center for Strategic Studies]] ([[Bar-Ilan University]]) |location=[[Tel Aviv]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210718121849/https://besacenter.org/turks-may-be-rediscovering-the-merits-of-the-secular-paradigm/ |archive-date=18 July 2021 |access-date=17 January 2022}}</ref><ref name="Akyol 2020">{{cite magazine |last=Akyol |first=Mustafa |date=12 June 2020 |title=How Islamists are Ruining Islam |url=https://www.hudson.org/research/16131-how-islamists-are-ruining-islam |url-status=live |magazine=Current Trends in Islamist Ideology |publisher=[[Hudson Institute]] |location=[[Washington, D.C.]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211225174332/https://www.hudson.org/research/16131-how-islamists-are-ruining-islam |archive-date=25 December 2021 |access-date=17 January 2022}}</ref><ref name="MERIP 2018">{{cite magazine |last=Bilici |first=Mucahit |date=Fall 2018 |title=The Crisis of Religiosity in Turkish Islamism |url=https://merip.org/2018/12/the-crisis-of-religiosity-in-turkish-islamism/ |url-status=live |magazine=[[Middle East Report]] |publisher=[[Middle East Research and Information Project|MERIP]] |location=[[Tacoma, Washington]] |issue=288 |pages=43–45 |issn=0899-2851 |jstor=45198325 |oclc=615545050 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211013021037/https://merip.org/2018/12/the-crisis-of-religiosity-in-turkish-islamism/ |archive-date=13 October 2021 |access-date=17 January 2022}}</ref><ref name="Girit 2018">{{cite news |last=Girit |first=Selin |date=10 May 2018 |title=Losing their religion: The young Turks rejecting Islam |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-43981745 |url-status=live |work=[[BBC News]] |location=[[London]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211206105549/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-43981745 |archive-date=6 December 2021 |access-date=17 January 2022}}</ref><ref name="Külsoy 2018">{{cite news |last=Külsoy |first=Ahmet |date=6 May 2018 |title=What is pushing half of Turkey towards Deism? |url=https://ahvalnews.com/islam/what-pushing-half-turkey-towards-deism |url-status=live |work=[[Ahval News]] |location=[[Cyprus]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109042354/https://ahvalnews.com/islam/what-pushing-half-turkey-towards-deism |archive-date=9 November 2020 |access-date=17 January 2022}}</ref> The report's publication generated large-scale controversy in the [[Mass media in Turkey|Turkish press]] and society at large, as well as amongst [[Conservatism in Turkey|conservative]] [[Islamic schools and branches|Islamic sects]], [[Ulama|Muslim clerics]], and [[Islamism|Islamist parties]] in [[Turkey]].<ref name="McKernan 2020"/><ref name="Sarfati 2019"/><ref name="Bekdil 2021"/><ref name="Akyol 2020"/><ref name="MERIP 2018"/><ref name="Girit 2018"/><ref name="Külsoy 2018"/>

The [[Liberalism and progressivism within Islam|progressive]] [[Islamic theology|Muslim theologian]] Mustafa Öztürk noted the Deistic trend among [[Turkish people]] a year earlier, arguing that the "very archaic, dogmatic notion of religion" held by the majority of those claiming to represent Islam was causing "the new generations [to get] indifferent, even distant, to the Islamic worldview." Despite lacking reliable statistical data, numerous anecdotes and independent surveys appear to point in this direction.<ref name="McKernan 2020"/><ref name="Sarfati 2019"/><ref name="Bekdil 2021"/><ref name="Akyol 2020"/><ref name="MERIP 2018"/><ref name="Girit 2018"/><ref name="Külsoy 2018"/> Although some commentators claim that the [[Secularism in Turkey|secularization of Turkey]] is merely a result of [[Westernization|Western influence]] or even an alleged "[[Conspiracy theories in Turkey|conspiracy]]", other commentators, even some pro-government ones, have come to the conclusion that "the real reason for the loss of faith in Islam is not the West but Turkey itself".<ref>{{cite news |last=Akyol |first=Mustafa |date=16 April 2018 |title=Why so many Turks are losing faith in Islam |url=https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2018/04/turkey-why-so-many-turks-are-losing-faith-in-islam.html |url-status=live |work=[[Al-Monitor]] |location=[[Washington, D.C.]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210815011838/https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2018/04/turkey-why-so-many-turks-are-losing-faith-in-islam.html |archive-date=15 August 2021 |access-date=17 January 2022}}</ref>