How can an atheist become a Christian?

[CreativeCrook]

Have you tried to search 'how can an atheist..' in google? One of the suggested searches is 'how can an atheist be happy'. You could possibly use the keyword tool to find other searches people have been submitting.

Anyway, I watched this vid of an atheist-turned-christian (beware, contains disturbing logic):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPnGxeChCiw&list=PLF10DB09AAF081519&index=3&feature=plpp_video

It got me thinking, how the hell does an atheist turn Christian, out of all the other religions, and even more positive religions (like Buddhism)..and yet they find Christ?

Do you have any thoughts on this, or the video above?

 

[Master_Ghost_Knight]

Have you tried to search 'how can an atheist..' in google? One of the suggested searches is 'how can an atheist be happy'. You could possibly use the keyword tool to find other searches people have been submitting.

Anyway, I watched this vid of an atheist-turned-christian (beware, contains disturbing logic):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPnGxeChCiw&list=PLF10DB09AAF081519&index=3&feature=plpp_video

It got me thinking, how the hell does an atheist turn Christian, out of all the other religions, and even more positive religions (like Buddhism)..and yet they find Christ?

Do you have any thoughts on this, or the video above?

Altough it is true that some atheist become christians, ShockofGod is not a good example of it. ShockofGod is the type of christian that likes to claim that he was an atheist to score some points, kind of like "Hey I was an atheist just like you so I understand your position, but then I grew up and I became a christian so take my advice to follow God because I know better", but when you talk to him it is obvious that he is completly oblivious.

 

[Visaki]

Kirk Cameron was a "devout atheist" in his youth. Yes, that Kirk Cameron.

 

[CreativeCrook]

I hadn't suspected him of never having been an atheist, the devious rascal! Thankfully, I'm somewhat of a virgin in this atheist vs theist debate, so I can be ignorant to some of the tricks used.

 

[Laurens]

It got me thinking, how the hell does an atheist turn Christian, out of all the other religions, and even more positive religions (like Buddhism)..and yet they find Christ?

I think it would be different in each individual case, in some cases it might be down to cultural/social circumstances. In other words someone adopts the religion of their family/friends, or one that is prevalent in their local area. Someone might have a vivid religious hallucination and put it into the context of the religion that is prevalent in their culture, or the hallucination itself might be influenced by this religion, thereby causing the person to reconsider their stance on that religion.

There are a myriad of possible reasons why atheists might become Christian, the main thing to remember is that atheism doesn't cause people to be more rational by default. Someone might be an atheist, then read the Bible and think to themselves "this makes perfect sense". Being an atheist does not preclude such irrationality.

 

[Inferno]

I remember the example of Eddy Goomba (can't find the video, seems like they're all gone) who was an atheist and then turned Christian. In his case, he seemed to have suffered a major depression, became slightly delusional and then converted. I liked that guy, he made a few good videos in his time.

 

[Dogma's Demise]

I guess it's possible to "revert" if they became an atheist for purely emotional reasons and had nothing to do with assessing the absurd claims in the Bible or Qur'an or whatever.

 

[Laurens]

I guess it's possible to "revert" if they became an atheist for purely emotional reasons and had nothing to do with assessing the absurd claims in the Bible or Qur'an or whatever.

There is no reason, however, why an atheist wouldn't read the absurd claims in the Bible and think that they make sense. Atheists are not the super rational heroes of the universe. To say that the only reason an atheist would have for converting to a religion would be emotional is to assume that atheists are unable to reason poorly or commit themselves to logical fallacies - yet this is not something from which atheism provides immunity.

 

[CreativeCrook]

Thanks Laurens. I understand your point.

What I find hard to rationalise is how somebody (an atheist) can be in a position of no religion and then, essentially, *choose* a religion like they are shopping in the supermarket, and cannot see that they are making a choice. I suppose it is no different than the sheepish consumers of any age, who transcend all religion, and blindly follow the fashions of today.

 

[The Felonius Pope]

How can an atheist become a Christian? Easy: not all atheists are skeptics. Don't confuse the two. For a prime example of this go to the general discussion thread about Thunderf00t's blog.

 

[Dogma's Demise]

I guess it's possible to "revert" if they became an atheist for purely emotional reasons and had nothing to do with assessing the absurd claims in the Bible or Qur'an or whatever.

There is no reason, however, why an atheist wouldn't read the absurd claims in the Bible and think that they make sense. Atheists are not the super rational heroes of the universe. To say that the only reason an atheist would have for converting to a religion would be emotional is to assume that atheists are unable to reason poorly or commit themselves to logical fallacies - yet this is not something from which atheism provides immunity.

Okay, I see your point.

But it wasn't my intention to paint atheists as the "super rational heroes of the universe". My point was that although some people find it inconceivable that an atheist would switch to theism, it's really not inconceivable.

For example I could speculate several scenarios of how cockofdog, sorry, shockofgod, became Christian.

 

[CommonEnlightenment]

Okay, I see your point.

But it wasn't my intention to paint atheists as the "super rational heroes of the universe". My point was that although some people find it inconceivable that an atheist would switch to theism, it's really not inconceivable.

For example I could speculate several scenarios of how cockofdog, sorry, shockofgod, became Christian.

Also..... don't forget about the people that call themselves "Christians" in name only.

 

[nemesiss]

i think in the term "non-religious" fits the position of people who called themselves "once atheist but now [religious]".

it does beg the questions;
- at what point does one switch from non-religious to atheist?
- is atheism really the default position?
- how much differs non-religiousity from atheism and how much is the same?

 

[Laurens]

Some of those who claim that they were once an atheist might have been closer to what some call "apatheism" i.e. not particularly giving a fuck about religion, and thus not believing, but more through apathy than reasoned logic.

 

[malicious_bloke]

Obviously they weren't a *true* atheist to start with ^_^

 

[mick1le2pick]

They get brainwashed :roll:

 

[Andiferous]

I think today's lesson is: "think for yourself".

The rest doesn't matter a whit.

 

[Avatra1]

I remember the example of Eddy Goomba (can't find the video, seems like they're all gone) who was an atheist and then turned Christian. In his case, he seemed to have suffered a major depression, became slightly delusional and then converted. I liked that guy, he made a few good videos in his time.

The satire video?

This video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2h-NFCYIKU ?

 

[Laurens]

I think today's lesson is: "think for yourself".

The rest doesn't matter a whit.

It is conceivable that "thinking for oneself" might lead someone to conclusions separate from atheism.

It just depends how good they are at thinking

 

[Inferno]

I remember the example of Eddy Goomba (can't find the video, seems like they're all gone) who was an atheist and then turned Christian. In his case, he seemed to have suffered a major depression, became slightly delusional and then converted. I liked that guy, he made a few good videos in his time.

The satire video?

This video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2h-NFCYIKU ?

Wait, that was satire? Holy fuck, that was the best satire video I've ever seen, I totally believed him.