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RE: How can someone convert from Atheist to Religious
November 23, 2015 at 7:49 am
I think some people never really lacked belief in the first place, they simply were in a middle ground state of deciding whether or not they should believe.
There's many reasons someone who describes as atheist might become religious. Most people who label themselves as atheists that write books and people who search for knowledge are a minority, the majority of atheists are probably not well represented by populations like AF or TTA and will not be as smart as we think. I think cultural factors might lead people to convert, and some will simply identify as such because it is part of their culture but they might not believe much. Others will miss the community factor religion brings. Another reason might simply be because your life sucks and you want to stick with a higher force because it makes you feel better.
Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you
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RE: How can someone convert from Atheist to Religious
November 23, 2015 at 8:13 am
I know it happens but I don't understand it. A frontal lobotomy may be helpful.
Being told you're delusional does not necessarily mean you're mental.
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RE: How can someone convert from Atheist to Religious
November 23, 2015 at 11:40 am
It's an interesting question.
As one of the many here who was raised ultra-religious, and have made the slow and laborious trek away from religion, I wonder: Can I imagine any scenario that would make me turn back?
I can think of a number of scenarios where I would probably fake it. If I fell in love with someone who was deeply religious, and felt that life wouldn't be worth living if I couldn't be with this person . . . I might. For money? The number would have to be more than 7 figures, but maybe.
But to actually RE-believe?? How does a person do that? Even if Jeebus was to come 'round and answer all of my questions personally, my mental state wouldn't be the same. It wouldn't be "faith" because I would have had some proof.
"The family that prays together...is brainwashing their children."- Albert Einstein
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RE: How can someone convert from Atheist to Religious
November 23, 2015 at 12:41 pm
(November 21, 2015 at 11:39 pm)Heat Wrote: It boggles my mind that a person who has become Atheist because of gaining knowledge, like not that they don't know the lack of evidence, but are atheist BECAUSE they know the lack of evidence, can in some instances convert back to being religious.
How can this happen?
It's not like any new evidence for God has been brought up recently, or will any time soon, yet there are plenty of new-age atheist arguments coming in every day.
Well there is not some magic recipe or anything as each persons situation and experiences are unique to them. For some, it is really tied to emotion. Perhaps the lost of a loved one triggered something in them that longs for life after death and religion provides answers that meet those needs. There are other stories like Lee Strobel and the like, who took a more intellectual approach and came to their own conclusion, while others who took that same path reached a different conclusion.
What boggles me, is why those that have an atheist perspective are bothered by this? Should it not be to each his own? So long as they are not shoving their personal view down yours or others throats, does it matter to you? If you hold that each person finds their own meaning, and someone finds their meaning in religion, then they are meeting the existential test you espouse.
We are not made happy by what we acquire but by what we appreciate.
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RE: How can someone convert from Atheist to Religious
November 23, 2015 at 12:47 pm
^exactly.
People change their minds. Atheism isn't some absolute truth that you find once and stay convinced of it forever. You can find new evidence, have different experiences, and come to a different conclusion entirely.
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RE: How can someone convert from Atheist to Religious
November 23, 2015 at 1:31 pm
(November 21, 2015 at 11:39 pm)Heat Wrote: It boggles my mind that a person who has become Atheist because of gaining knowledge, like not that they don't know the lack of evidence, but are atheist BECAUSE they know the lack of evidence, can in some instances convert back to being religious.
How can this happen?
It's not like any new evidence for God has been brought up recently, or will any time soon, yet there are plenty of new-age atheist arguments coming in every day.
If you are including children in your discussion, i must add that some might be drawn into the idea of a loving God, a way of life in which you have a feeling of control over uncontrollable aspects of your life. Also, the story is deliciously deceptive. Young children brought up in no particular religion might buy into it.
As adults, I think it can be some sort of mental illness or disease can bring that about.
In rational adults, the explanation can be a bit trickier. Consider an adult who "became" an atheist without thinking about it too much. In that case, they can just as easily be drawn back to religion.
The other group of sane adults who convert back to religion, I think they are cleverly employing double think. They are calling themselves religions, going through the motions and rituals of religion for some sort of personal gain. This could be:
1. Jobs and networking (Religions people hook each other up to opportunities)
2. Social deprivation. Atheists are hated in parts of the world. It may be just easier to form friendships if you pretend to be religious
3. Family deprivation: some families might stop talking to irreligious members of their family. A good way to win back their trust would be to take up religion again
4. Some people might have to become religious in order to marry the love of their life (an uncle of mine has to do this, How he tolerates Christianity is beyond me)
5. Monetary gain
6. Immigration: Some Middle Eastern countries will not allow atheists to enter their countries. Pretending to be a Christian really helps.
I sort of think of atheists turned religious people as clever idiots. Think of people like Ken Ham and Jason Lisle. They surely dont believe in the creationist crap they so readily espouse. They do it because they are failed scientists and this allows them to earn a lot of tax-free money. So they pretend to support creationism even if they do not believe it at heart. The same goes for atheists who become religious suddenly.
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RE: How can someone convert from Atheist to Religious
November 23, 2015 at 1:36 pm
Q: How can someone convert from Atheist to Religious?
A: There are a lot of people out there who claim to be Atheist but are actually very confused and are perhaps going through an identity crisis. These are the people that people who set up 'Dawah Tables' seek to take advantage of. There's a reason why so many converts end up in Syria/Iraq: It's because Saudi funds the Dawah Tables. These people weren't really Atheists to be begin with. Just very confused.
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RE: How can someone convert from Atheist to Religious
November 23, 2015 at 1:42 pm
(November 23, 2015 at 12:41 pm)Kingpin Wrote: (November 21, 2015 at 11:39 pm)Heat Wrote: It boggles my mind that a person who has become Atheist because of gaining knowledge, like not that they don't know the lack of evidence, but are atheist BECAUSE they know the lack of evidence, can in some instances convert back to being religious.
How can this happen?
It's not like any new evidence for God has been brought up recently, or will any time soon, yet there are plenty of new-age atheist arguments coming in every day.
Well there is not some magic recipe or anything as each persons situation and experiences are unique to them. For some, it is really tied to emotion. Perhaps the lost of a loved one triggered something in them that longs for life after death and religion provides answers that meet those needs. There are other stories like Lee Strobel and the like, who took a more intellectual approach and came to their own conclusion, while others who took that same path reached a different conclusion.
What boggles me, is why those that have an atheist perspective are bothered by this? Should it not be to each his own? So long as they are not shoving their personal view down yours or others throats, does it matter to you? If you hold that each person finds their own meaning, and someone finds their meaning in religion, then they are meeting the existential test you espouse.
I agree. I'm not bothered by it. I'm often confused by it, but it's up to them as you say.
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RE: How can someone convert from Atheist to Religious
November 23, 2015 at 1:45 pm
(This post was last modified: November 23, 2015 at 1:49 pm by Longhorn.)
Kingpin Wrote:What boggles me, is why those that have an atheist perspective are bothered by this?
I think it's a natural reaction to different views, especially those diametrically opposed. How can anyone think like that, and such, and the fact that this person used to think similarly to me only serves to magnify that feeling.
It sometimes manifests as the No True Atheist.
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RE: How can someone convert from Atheist to Religious
November 23, 2015 at 1:57 pm
I'd say they never truly stopped believing.
CHRISTIANITY: The belief that some cosmic Jewish Zombie can make you live forever if you symbolically eat his flesh and telepathically tell him that you accept him as your master, so he can remove an evil force from your soul that is present in humanity because a rib-woman was convinced by a talking snake to eat from a magical tree.
Makes perfect sense.
Give a man a fish, and you'll feed him for a day; give him a religion, and he'll starve to death while praying for a fish.
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