Atheists who have converted to theism?

[Jehanne]

What were your reasons?  Fear of death?  Nothingness?  Or, what convinced you that god, in fact, exists?

[Excited Penguin]

Do you honestly expect them to answer that honestly? You'll have better luck asking a door why it won't open.

[Chad32]

Some people who claim to be converted atheists were likely never strong atheists in the first place. Much like I was never a strong theist. There's also cultural pressure. People love to give testimonies about how they hit rock bottom before converting. Of course it's more about the fact that someone helped them up than what god they may or may not have believed in. If someone is living on the street, selling themselves for their drug addiction, then it doesn't matter what god you're preaching about if you give them food, shelter, and pay for detox.

[Excited Penguin]

I think it's impossible for an atheist who reasoned himself out of belief to get back to it. So one would have to either go nuts overnight in order to become a theist again or they never really gave it much thought to begin with. In other words, their atheism was dumb luck while it lasted. The dumbness never went away, either.

[rexbeccarox]

You guys might want to let theists respond instead of strawmanning them.

[Excited Penguin]

You guys might want to let theists respond instead of strawmanning them.

They're not little kids. They can speak their minds despite our presuming.

[Mystic]

Two different questions.

What convinced me of God's existence after a brief week of Atheism?

What motivated me back to God's existence and acknowledgment of her link to me?

The motivations was the following:


First my belief that without God, it was not rational to be warranted and justified in believing in morality, value, praise, free-will, perpetual identity, inheritance of good actions, etc....since I doubted those things as much as I doubted God, or believed they probably were delusional as God as delusional...I was in crisis...I had to figure out the truth and know for certain. 

That is motivation though. None of that proves God exists. The other motivation was that I couldn't handle the thought that creatures insects, animals, humans, all die and become nothing. And at the end, for all I know, life itself may very well end forever (ie. no life in the future).

Another motivation I had was that such a being existing would be most worthwhile existence. I am glad for it to exist were to exist, and wanted to know if it did, for it is a cause of serenity and peace, if I were to know it does.

These things motivated me to be true to myself. I had to know not simply just convince myself God exists. The journey back to God was not long after that and grew stronger then before.  It was within few years that the identity of God became that of a religious flavor as opposed a deistic flavor. 

This was through long reflection over issue, arguments and counter arguments, and the end, what became more obvious to me (that God is a Guiding Lord, and there enlightened people who have certainty in vision of God, his signs, and the lights of his commands, and that God would manifest some of the people to be followed for humanity to gain vision in truth).

[Jehanne]

What convinced me of God's existence after a brief week of Atheism?

In the opinion of most atheists, you were never an atheist to begin with.  Perhaps you were going through some doubts, but you never embraced atheism, weak or strong.  Of course, none of us can "read minds," but I suspect that most atheists would agree with me and the published literature attests to this fact, also, that is, loss of faith is a slow process whereas conversion is an almost-instantaneous one.

[brewer]

The only ones I ever known in person were desperate and in need of some type of rescue (financial, medical, emotional, addiction, ........).

[Mystic]

What convinced me of God's existence after a brief week of Atheism?

In the opinion of most atheists, you were never an atheist to begin with.  Perhaps you were going through some doubts, but you never embraced atheism, weak or strong.  Of course, none of us can "read minds," but I suspect that most atheists would agree with me and the published literature attests to this fact, also, that is, loss of faith is a slow process whereas conversion is an almost-instantaneous one.

And most Atheists can attest to this how? By their desires that they want to say anyone who turned to Atheism discovered the truth about this issue and would never go back quickly? Atheism is to be without belief in God. I was without belief in God for that week, I wanted God to exist, but I didn't believe he did. I desperately wanted God to exist which made my Atheism put me in severe distress. If my opinion was God was a delusion, then I'm an Atheist. Unless you want to define Atheism with having the desire to believe God doesn't exist.