RE: 13 Questions
May 28, 2011 at 5:18 pm
(This post was last modified: May 28, 2011 at 5:21 pm by Girlysprite.)
Just a little note on point 9:
When Christians become Atheists, some will say that they have never been 'true' Christians to begin with. If an atheist converts to a religion, some atheists would claim that he never had been a 'true' atheist, or for the 'wrong' reasons.
I think those claims are bogus in all those cases. A person can truly believe in a goal, a cause, a being, a whatever, and change for any reason, very often because that reason had a big impact on him/her. People change through their lives, and their believes can also change. That does not make their previous believes any less 'real' though.
As for why these specific atheists became religious, I do not know. I don't know them to begin with, and such changes are often quite personal. The reason that some might claim that they never had been 'true atheists' to begin with i because some Christians have lied about their 'past as atheist'. People who have converted can score more brownie points with the public, so sometimes they make stuff up. It makes people distrsting towards claims of 'having been atheist' before. On top of that, many people seem to misunderstand what atheist means, thinking it is someone who dislikes god. Disliking god means you still believe in him.
When Christians become Atheists, some will say that they have never been 'true' Christians to begin with. If an atheist converts to a religion, some atheists would claim that he never had been a 'true' atheist, or for the 'wrong' reasons.
I think those claims are bogus in all those cases. A person can truly believe in a goal, a cause, a being, a whatever, and change for any reason, very often because that reason had a big impact on him/her. People change through their lives, and their believes can also change. That does not make their previous believes any less 'real' though.
As for why these specific atheists became religious, I do not know. I don't know them to begin with, and such changes are often quite personal. The reason that some might claim that they never had been 'true atheists' to begin with i because some Christians have lied about their 'past as atheist'. People who have converted can score more brownie points with the public, so sometimes they make stuff up. It makes people distrsting towards claims of 'having been atheist' before. On top of that, many people seem to misunderstand what atheist means, thinking it is someone who dislikes god. Disliking god means you still believe in him.
When I was a Christian, I was annoyed with dogmatic condescending Christians. Now that I'm an atheist, I'm annoyed with dogmatic condescending atheists. Just goes to prove that people are the same, regardless of what they do or don't believe.
