Turks edge closer to deism as misuse of religion continues

Some of Turkey's youngsters are rebelling against praying, the first of the five pillars of the Islamic religion, considering the prayer a form of submission to political rulers, which is why some of them are giving up the Islamic religion altogether and turning to atheism.

This strikes a discordant note with Muslim Brotherhood media which tries to portray Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as an exemplary Muslim ruler who should be emulated in each Arab and Islamic state.

According to a new research by Turkish pollster, Konda, people in Turkey appear to be becoming less religious despite the 17-year-rule of the Islamist Justice and Development Party (AKP).

Although the number of those who believe in God increased slightly, the share of those who call themselves religious fell from 55% to 51%, while the share of those see themselves as extremely religious dropped by nearly a quarter, from 13% to 10%. 

Dealing with the phenomenon

The Ministry of National Education organized a workshop that was broadcast on TV to discuss atheism and the reasons why some youth in Turkey are turning to it. A short time after the workshop was aired on TV Erdogan criticized the minister of national education for allowing such content to be discussed openly on TV.

The minister of national education said there was not a study showing an increase in the number of atheists in Turkey and that Turkish youth cherish their country and its values.

A short time later, a study appeared in Turkey to show an increase in the number of youth who believe in deism.

The same study added that 12% of pupils in religious schools and 30% of pupils in secondary schools have religious doubts in general.

However, Erdogan described the study as "unacceptable".

Deism

A Turkish professor of theology said deism contradicts the Islamic religion altogether, does not recognize most of the main beliefs of this religion.

Deists, he said, tend to believe in the present of God. Nonetheless, they believe that this god does not intervene in the universe.

Suleyman Karan, the spokesman of the Association of Atheism, said, meanwhile, that the misuse of religion is leading to a rise in the number of atheists in Turkey.

He said Erdogan described atheists in his electoral campaign in February 2014 as "terrorists.

"The misuse of religion increased dramatically after the AKP reached power," Karan said.