Sincerity and ""Conversions" to Atheism

mijopaalmc

Philosopher
M
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Mar 10, 2007
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I posted this in another thread and though that, rather than hijack that thread, I would start thread for it:

mijopaalmc said:
My own experience with theism and atheism has been that my desire to be a theist has been driven by my desire to belong. Long story short, I have had several "religious experiences" that made me want to become a Christian, but because I never nurtured those impulses (as that would mean changing my daily routine), I always fell back on my default atheism/agnosticism.

The point is that I experienced euphoria when I had those "religious experiences" but as the euphoria wore off and I didn't make an effort to engage in ritualistic behavior to reinforce it, I transitioned back to atheism/agnosticism. Thus, I was wondering if, in the experience of the atheists here, the realization of atheism is a much slower process than the "road to Damascus" epiphany that some people claim to have when they read C. S. Lewis, and if the difference in the swiftness in this "about-face" (whether from atheism to theism or vice versa) is what leads people to trust someone's "conversion" from theism to atheism more that the reverse conversion.
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I am truly interested in people's opinions, so I will keep my posts to a minimum.

I look forward to any and all responses.
 
mijopaalmc said:
Thus, I was wondering if, in the experience of the atheists here, the realization of atheism is a much slower process than the "road to Damascus" epiphany that some people claim to have when they read C. S. Lewis, and if the difference in the swiftness in this "about-face" (whether from atheism to theism or vice versa) is what leads people to trust someone's "conversion" from theism to atheism more that the reverse conversion.
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There is no one conversion experience. Dan Barker describes a years-long painful journey. Conversely, I remember the story from another long-time preacher (personal anecdote here) who describes driving down a long, dark, lonely road one night and having a revelation that the whole Christianity thing was a gigantic hoax (his word). I suspect conversions in the other direction have a similar wide range of descriptions.
 
Well you could start by becoming a Christian for the right reasons...fyi not one of them is for a sense of belonging to help you feel all fuzzy inside
 
I hear the 'inexplicable interior fuzziness' as the reason most people become Christians. Parental and societal influence is usually dismissed. I remain frustrated by claims that I've never experienced the feelings Christians have or I'd believe. My Christian friends refuse to entertain the possible I have them and don't attribute them to a god. Understandable given the worldview, but still irksome.
 
jesus_freak said:
Well for one...so that we may be forgiven of our sins so that we can spend eternity with the Lord in Heaven!
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So instead of getting the earthly reward of social acceptance you get the heavenly reward of....social acceptance?

To paraphrase Gertrude Stein: a reward is a reward is a reward.

How is less noble to want to be accepted by your peers the to want to be accepted by "God"?
 
jesus_freak said:
Well for one...so that we may be forgiven of our sins so that we can spend eternity with the Lord in Heaven!
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BS, your so-called god couldn’t get it right on earth, so what makes you think it could get it right in so-called heaven, ever hear of the Fallen Angel.

Paul

:) :) :)
 
Bart Ehrman said that he converted to Christianity because they showed him the Jesus shaped hole in his heart and it got rid of confused and lonely feelings.

Later he realized that the confused and lonely feelings are part of being a teenager.


It makes me wonder if religious groups realize this and prey on it.
 
quixotecoyote said:
I hear the 'inexplicable interior fuzziness' as the reason most people become Christians.
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Quite true. A friend of mine was forced throughout high school to attend church by his parents under the idea that "children who attend church are X percent happier than those who do not."
 
Jesus said:
Well for one...so that we may be forgiven of our sins so that we can spend eternity with the Lord in Heaven!
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What the hell are you going to do for eternity?

If you retain your current personality, I daresay you won't be able to stand it after a hundred years or so.

If your personality changes so that you enjoy being in a blissful state forever, then it is not you who has ascended to heaven.

~~ Paul
 
So does anyone want to answer: why do you trust a person's decision to abandon theism for atheism more than a person's choice to abandon atheism for theism?
 
My own transition was rather gradual and took years. I can't even pinpoint a moment when I thought "Hey! I'm an atheist!".
 
mijopaalmc said:
So does anyone want to answer: why do you trust a person's decision to abandon theism for atheism more than a person's choice to abandon atheism for theism?
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I'm not sure what you mean trusting a person's decision. Do you mean trusting that they are sincere? In that case, I would trust the conversion to atheism more because the cost of being a self-declared atheist is fairly high in our society while there is little cost and numerous benefits to being a self-declared Christian. Other religions, such as conversion to Judaism, Islam, etc. tend to fall between those two extremes.
 
Beth said:
I'm not sure what you mean trusting a person's decision. Do you mean trusting that they are sincere? In that case, I would trust the conversion to atheism more because the cost of being a self-declared atheist is fairly high in our society while there is little cost and numerous benefits to being a self-declared Christian. Other religions, such as conversion to Judaism, Islam, etc. tend to fall between those two extremes.
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I fully agree with Beth here. An analogy would be the "conversion" confessions of gays trumpeted by certain conservative religious groups. I would be less likely to trust a homosexual admitting they are actually heterosexual than the reverse.

A side point this analogy brings up is that the whole theism/atheism dichotomy ignores the full spectrum of religious belief. It leaves out the experiences of the deists and agnostics, who probably make up more of the general population than is usually acknowledged. I would say more people are converted from theism to deism or from theism to agnosticism, as well as from atheism to agnosticism, etc. than between the two groups listed in the OP.
 
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