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How can someone convert from Atheist to Religious
#21
RE: How can someone convert from Atheist to Religious
(November 23, 2015 at 1:57 pm)DIRTY_DEEDS_93 Wrote: I'd say they never truly stopped believing.

Case in point .-.
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#22
RE: How can someone convert from Atheist to Religious
(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.
Never said I was bothered by it, just struggling to understand it.
Which is better:
To die with ignorance, or to live with intelligence?

Truth doesn't accommodate to personal opinions.
The choice is yours. 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There is God and there is man, it's only a matter of who created whom

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The more questions you ask, the more you realize that disagreement is inevitable, and communication of this disagreement, irrelevant.
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#23
RE: How can someone convert from Atheist to Religious
Generally we're quick to react and respond, usually negatively, to an atheist who converts to a religion.

It's common to do that.

What we need to do is take a step back before we react and ask ourselves a few questions:

1. Do we understand/know what this person is going through in real life?
2. Has their religious choice changed the person they are?
3. Are they still actively interacting with you as they once did?

Don't be too quick to judge.

Ask the person why. If they want to, they will tell you.

If not, leave them to their choice and support them.

Only respond judgementally if they start trying to convert or judge you.

Playing Cluedo with my mum while I was at Uni:

"You did WHAT?  With WHO?  WHERE???"
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#24
RE: How can someone convert from Atheist to Religious
When anyone converts from atheism to religion, it is due to having lapsed in reason.
"Never trust a fox. Looks like a dog, behaves like a cat."
~ Erin Hunter
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#25
RE: How can someone convert from Atheist to Religious
(November 23, 2015 at 1:57 pm)DIRTY_DEEDS_93 Wrote: I'd say they never truly stopped believing.
More like, they never stopped hoping.
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#26
RE: How can someone convert from Atheist to Religious
(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're curious, just do a google search. There are plenty of former atheists out there who write about how/why/what led them to the faith. 

(Or better yet, ask Kingpin about his own journey)
"Of course, everyone will claim they respect someone who tries to speak the truth, but in reality, this is a rare quality. Most respect those who speak truths they agree with, and their respect for the speaking only extends as far as their realm of personal agreement. It is less common, almost to the point of becoming a saintly virtue, that someone truly respects and loves the truth seeker, even when their conclusions differ wildly." 

-walsh
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#27
RE: How can someone convert from Atheist to Religious
(November 23, 2015 at 8:19 pm)Catholic_Lady 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.

If you're curious, just do a google search. There are plenty of former atheists out there who write about how/why/what led them to the faith. 

(Or better yet, ask Kingpin about his own journey)


Yeah, usually they are bad reasons. 

Better yet, google "the clergy project".  Over 700, and growing, members of clergy or former members, who no longer believe, and are stuck in their positions, with no skills to leave.

You'd believe if you just opened your heart" is a terrible argument for religion. It's basically saying, "If you bias yourself enough, you can convince yourself that this is true." If religion were true, people wouldn't need faith to believe it -- it would be supported by good evidence.
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#28
RE: How can someone convert from Atheist to Religious
I think sometimes people just abandon themselves into views which are comforting and easier (less thinking required) to hold, especially when surrounded by believers.
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#29
RE: How can someone convert from Atheist to Religious
Alcoholics Anonymous.
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#30
RE: How can someone convert from Atheist to Religious
(November 23, 2015 at 8:19 pm)Catholic_Lady 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.

If you're curious, just do a google search. There are plenty of former atheists out there who write about how/why/what led them to the faith. 

(Or better yet, ask Kingpin about his own journey)
Almost all those stories are along the lines of:
"I was sinning daily, my life was a mess, then I asked god for help and everything turned around"

Mostly they are people who "hated god", or something along the lines of that, not people who have evaluated the evidence and made a rational and well-thought out decision based on that evidence.
Which is better:
To die with ignorance, or to live with intelligence?

Truth doesn't accommodate to personal opinions.
The choice is yours. 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There is God and there is man, it's only a matter of who created whom

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The more questions you ask, the more you realize that disagreement is inevitable, and communication of this disagreement, irrelevant.
Reply



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