moralistic therapeutic deism en · NOUN
Etymology
First use appears c. 2005. Coined by Christian Smith and Melinda Lundquist Denton in Soul Searching: the Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers.
Meanings
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(uncountable) A diffuse and nonspecific conception of theism and morality, not necessarily anchored in any established religious doctrine, identified as prevalent among American adolescents in the early twenty-first century.
'Moralistic Therapeutic Deism' indicates the young people's view is that religion is 'good for you' in so far as it provides people with a moral framework (Sara Savage, Sylvia Collins-Mayo, Making sense of Generation Y: the world view of 15- to 25-year-olds, 2006, p. 50)
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Moralistic Therapeutic Deism | alternative | lexicographic |