The Efficacy of Deism Among University Students: The Ankara University Example

The purpose of this study is to evaluate whether or not deism is effective among students at Ankara University, as well as to develop a deism scale appropriate for the Turkish context. For this purpose, it was necessary to operationalize the concept of deism to identify four subcategories within it. These subcategories include distrust of religious institutions and organizations, the belief that God does not intervene in the world, independence from religious taboos and rules, and the choice of rationalism when reason and revelation conflict. The ranges in the deism questions, which were designed according to the Likert scale, were converted into a hundred-point system, and scored using an ideal theist scoring system of zero and an ideal deist scoring system of 100 to determine the level of influence of deism in each category. The research project was designed in 2018 and approved as decision number 289 at meeting number 09 of the Ankara University Ethics Committee on 19 July 2019. The study was conducted online using a haphazard sample of 453 students as a result of a number of difficulties encountered during the data collection period. There were 918 participants in the first phase of the study, but since the goal of the study was to measure the effectiveness of deism, atheists were excluded from participating in the study. The researchers found that one in five students were atheists, and one in four were deists or held another religious belief that was not related to Islam. A random sample of 1% of the student population at Ankara University was selected for the remaining participants. The demographic data obtained were regarded as independent variables, while the deism score was regarded as a dependent variable. As a result of these scores, political identity polarization among Ankara University students can be related to the effectiveness of deism. The political climate has an impact on the ongoing debates regarding deism. The cross tabulations showed no significant differences between the scores of the independent variables such as age, gender, place of residence, and socio-economic status groups. It is notable that deism is more commonly respected by the students of the social sciences as compared to the students of the natural sciences in terms of faculties. It is also noteworthy that according to the results of the study, there is a tendency for some subcategories of students who declare themselves to be Muslim to exhibit deistic tendencies. As a traditional theistic religion, Islam, which is a very influential religion among its members with its congregational activities and cultural institutionalization, has a strong influence over the participants, but when it comes to rationality and the absence of God's intervention, there is a tendency towards deism. In the conclusion of this article, the shortcomings of this scale developed for Turkey are discussed and suggestions are made for further research in this area. International scholars will be able to gain deep insight into how deism affects university students in Turkey as a result of the study and will be able to gain valuable information about religious life in Turkey as a result of the study.