Moralistic therapeutic deism
Moralistic therapeutic deism (MTD) is a term that was first introduced in the book Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers (2005) by sociologists Christian Smith and Melinda Lundquist Denton. The term is used to describe what they consider to be the common religious beliefs among American youth. The book is the result of the research project the "National Study of Youth and Religion."