The sagacity of the ignorant masses

I believe you remember. In 2019, Bülent Arı, Vice Rector of Sabahaddin Zaim University, said;

“As the literacy rate increases in our country, I get overwhelmed. I trust more in the sagacity of the ignorant and uneducated segment,” and added; “Those who will keep the country standing are the ignorant masses who have not been educated, or who have not even finished primary school.”

Following this statement, he was appointed as a member of the Higher Education Council (YÖK) Supervisory Board, meaning he was rewarded.

The reasons underlying this statement have come to light today through research conducted worldwide on the “future of religion.”

Since the 2000s, there have been major ruptures from religion in the USA and Europe.

For example, while the rate of those who believe that religion has a very important place in their lives in the USA was 70% in 1965, it fell to 45% in 2023 (2023 Gallup Survey). Church attendance declined from 49% to 32%. Trust in religious institutions was 46% and became 12%.

A similar situation was observed in European countries. In Western Europe, where the rate of secularization is rising and the educated segment is increasing, the rate of church attendance remained below 10%. In the 14 richest countries, the rate of those who do not believe in God in 2018 is 42%.

Scientific research reveals that two main reasons are gaining weight: the increase in prosperity and education.

The spread of science and technology through education, and the fact that individuality comes to the fore, nourishing the potential to think and act independently of religious communities, is rapidly changing the way young people view religion.

The rate of Deism among US citizens born after 1981 is 53%.

According to the 2023 report by the Washington-based independent think tank PEW, which covers 34 countries; the rate of those who “argue that one must believe in God to have moral and good values” is only 37% in Germany, 26% in Canada, 20% in the UK, 15% in France, and 9% in Sweden.

In other words, the relationship between morality and ethical values and faith is being rejected. Morality is accepted as a value of humanity.

The rate of university students who believe that the Bible contains infallible information is 17%. Because the Holy Book is being questioned, and comparisons are being made with science.

It is possible to see one of the most concrete data points regarding the relationship between the level of prosperity and religious belief in the World Bank's 2018 Report. Religion is in decline in 20 of the 21 countries with the highest income. The social security provided by the Welfare State is accepted as superior to the assurance religion provides for the afterlife.

In the 21st century, ensuring social order through authority is not accepted. The people of our age want to keep control in their own hands.

When we look at the distribution of religion in the world, 30% of the population is Christian, 25% is Muslim, 15% is Irreligious, and 0.2% is Jewish.

While all religions are losing ground, the only religion showing an increase is Islam. There are findings that the high fertility rate plays an important role in this increase.

So, what is the situation in our country?

The study titled “Report on Faith and Religiosity in Turkey by Numbers” (Dr. Zübeyir Nişancı), conducted in the Sociology Department of Marmara University in 2023, reveals the relationships between age, education level, and religiosity.

While the rate of those who say “I am not religious” is 6% (in the 65+ age group), it is 15% (in the 25-34 age group) and 19% (in the 18-24 age group).

When you add the group that shows indifference by saying “I am neither religious nor not religious” to those who say “I am not religious,” the rate rises to 38% (in the 65+ age group), 42% (in the 25-34 age group), and 53% (in the 18-24 age group).

When education level is taken as the basis, the picture is as follows;

At the Master's and Doctorate level, the rate of those who say “I am not religious” is 23%; the rate of those who are indifferent to religion is 33%, and those who say “I am religious” is 44%.

Among university graduates, those who say “I am not religious” are 22%, and among university students, it is 23%.

Among primary school graduates, those who say “I am not religious” are 4%, and among those who are only literate, it is 3%.

The rate of those who say “I am religious” among the illiterate is 88%.

As the level of education increases, religiosity decreases.

Among the “18-24 age group,” those who do not perform daily prayers are 55%.

Those who accept that religion is lived freely in a secular country are 73%.

The research reveals that a similar trend to the world is being experienced in Turkey in terms of the religiosity-education relationship, albeit at a lower dose.

It is also useful to convey some values from the 2017-2020 Turkey Report of the WVS (World Values Survey), an organization founded by the world's leading scientists.

Although it is quite remarkable that the subjects avoided answering some questions in the field research conducted, it is possible to see that religiosity is still effective in Turkey.

For example, the rate of “those who believe in fate” is 40.6%, but there is a very high segment (50.8%) that prefers to remain silent.

Those who believe that “in the religion-science conflict, religion is always right” are 65.3%.

Regarding the question of “performing religious worship,” 29.6% of the subjects marked “only on religious holidays,” and this is the highest rate.

The rate of those who say “no” to the question “Are you religious?” is 24.5%.

Those who say “they are not part of the mosque congregation” are 93.2%.

The fact that science in the world offers scientific evidence for questions that cannot be answered in religion (nature, the formation of the universe, the existence of humans, etc.) is among the important reasons why highly educated segments are suspicious of religion. The replacement of emotions and preconceived notions with reason and science, and the individual choosing to proceed under the guidance of their own mind, results in them questioning religion.

In Christian societies, the fact that women were viewed as an “instrument of reproduction” for centuries and were forced to give birth to an “average of 5 children” for the compensation of child mortality and the continuity of society was not only rejected with the extension of human life and the development of health conditions, but was also made a tool for questioning religion.

The strict religious policies followed, coercion and pressures, and the attitude of especially the Catholic and Evangelical churches also accelerated the ruptures from religion.

The use of religion as a tool of authority in the 21st century and its prescription of absolute obedience paved the way for it to come into conflict with the phenomena of democracy, freedom, and individualization.

During the liberalization process, a view that commodifies all areas of existence has dominated the world. Religion has also received its share of this. An area called the “Religion Market” has emerged. Those who see themselves as the owners of religion have started the marketing of religion. This has damaged the sanctity of religion. (Ali Köse; “The Future of Religion”)

The following words of the philosopher Al-Kindi summarize the situation: “He who trades in something sells it. What he sells no longer belongs to him. He who acts as a merchant of religion has lost his religion.”

Those who trust in the sagacity of the ignorant masses and want to entrust the country to ignorance, and those who turn religion into a tool of oppression and a political material, are also the merchants of the Religion Market.