Have you ever converted someone to Atheism?`

My friend came up to me two days ago (March 25) and said that it was me that converted her to atheism. I showed her a couple of books, websites, and some of my favorites on youtube about a month ago, when she asked me about Atheism. I didn't really intend to convert her purposely, we were just casually yapping in my house about nothing and the subject came up. She thanked me too! This is the first person I ever converted!

If anyone has similar or great stories, please share.

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Permalink Reply by JayBarti on March 27, 2009 at 12:24pm
Well I haven't converted anyone yet (though I don't like the term converted), rather I enjoy the concept of opening up their points of view instead. I try to promote the fact that I am the same person that I was before and after they find out I am an Atheist.

I have been speaking with a friend on line now for a the last month about my Atheism. We play the same online game (WoW), and she had a parent die in the last year and she is orthodox Jewish, living in a large community of the same. Its was and still is a sad time for her. She turned to a lot of her on-line friends at this time (of which I am one), all she really wanted to do in this was talk and have people listen. Which we did as a group, it one of the reason I still play the game is because I fell into this wonderful group of warm caring people there.

Anyhow she recently asked me about my religion and discovered that I am an Atheist. She has now been having to reconciling the fact that I am also a kind person at the same time. I think she might have been given the idea that Atheists are immoral monsters (lol). She has begun peppering me with some questions about me and what I think and little anecdotal phrases from her religious texts. I have answered as many of them as best I can, and have also been taking great care to present and redirect her to better sources sometimes then I might be able to provide from my own personal knowledge. Alot of her more recent questions are now about my morality and such, and how I define myself as a person without "GOD".

I can see the wheels turning in her head, she's is a very smart person but has lived a sheltered, and for lack of a better word outwardly controlled life. One of our discussions was actually about how to ask the right kind of questions. Like I said very smart, probably smarter them me as she is now going into area's I am still learning/figuring out about myself. I am not sure if she will become an Atheist/Agnostic or anything different, but at least she has a slightly larger world view and a better understanding that Atheists are just people like everyone else.
Permalink Reply by Rev Hellbound Alleee on March 28, 2009 at 10:35am
I talked my Mom into converting away from Christianity, because I knew it was in her all the time. But she'll never call herself an atheist. She always said "agnostic" was a nicer term. At least she did back in her church days. Agnostic Christian, I guess you could call her. I know she's an atheist, and she will enthusiastically speak out against Christianity and God-Belief, and she totally quit church, but nowadays I wonder if she would call herself an agnostic given the renewed connotations.
Permalink Reply by Daniel Villadsen on April 5, 2009 at 11:40am
She is not an atheist. You can never convert christians to atheists 100%, they will always be some christian in them or at least some agnostic left in them.
I guess they have just seen stuff and experienced stuff that atheism can't explain.
Permalink Reply by Femina Irata on April 16, 2009 at 11:29pm
Excuse me? I'm sure there are plenty of atheists on this site that were once christian, myself included. I assure you that there is absolutely NO bit of christian faith that I still cling to, and while I won't speak for others, I'm sure it wouldn't be too difficult to find another that would say the same thing.

This may be the case for you (I looked at your page and noticed you're a christian), and certainly for some atheists, but that does not provide any foundation whatsoever for the wild assumption that this idea would apply to ALL ex-christian atheists. Remember, you can't prove that an assertion applies to all people in a given group if even one can be produced that does not conform. In other words, I disprove your statement. And you're going to need a mega-heap of evidence if you even want to say that MOST christians can't fully become atheists. Evidence, of course, that you have not produced even a little bit of.

I'm all for the idea of a critical christian coming to talk to atheists, but making sweeping, unsupported claims about us is not a good way to start. :)
Permalink Reply by susan f on June 29, 2010 at 4:49pm
Thanks Femina! That's exactly what I would have said. :)
Permalink Reply by Mr Dank on April 24, 2009 at 1:41pm
You have no idea what you are talking about. I've been through the christian wringer and come out 100% atheist. Maybe I'm he only one, but I highly doubt it.
Permalink Reply by Dr. April Dorsey-Tyler on April 24, 2009 at 5:54pm
Nonsense. First of all, *I* went from being a VERY devout Christian to being a totally convinced atheist. And there are many others, some relatively famous, who can attest to the same. Dan Barker, Farrell Till to name two.
Permalink Reply by Angie Jackson on April 28, 2009 at 7:53pm
Uh, I gotta disagree - vehemently. I was totally "born again". And now I'm 100% atheist. So, ya know, shove it. (but nicely)

Check out the community here - Recovering from Fundamentalism. Nathan Phelps is a member (you've heard of his dad, I'm sure).
Permalink Reply by Angie Jackson on April 28, 2009 at 7:55pm
(suddenly I wish Atheist Nexus had the thumbs up/thumbs down feature of YouTube comments...)
Permalink Reply by nick altman on June 22, 2010 at 4:20am
Uh, I was raised as a Christian, and respectfully and totally disagree.
Permalink Reply by Trey Miller on June 23, 2010 at 9:52am
Former christian...100% atheist. Evidence is piling up against your opinion.
Permalink Reply by Cher Mason on June 25, 2010 at 11:55pm
Daniel, I have to join in and contend against your statement, "You can never convert christians to atheists 100%". Some young people claim the term "atheist" as just a way to rebel against their parents? Or because they were mad at a god that they still really believed in? But that's not atheism. People who are really atheists are people who have a very enlightening realization of how ridiculous religion really is (no offense), and furthermore, the idea of God or gods also seems equally ridiculous, or at least highly unconvincing. It's like finding out that Santa Clause doesn't exist. It would be very hard to fathom a true atheist going back on something like that. Can you convince yourself to believe in Santa again??

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