How does one go from atheism to religion?

Here is a story on CNN today, "Prominent atheist blogger converts to Catholicism"

So, how does one go from reason and rationality to superstitious nonsense? I know that there are some atheists who are only atheist through not reason and rationality but rather from "hating god" because of something that had happened to them. I term these atheists as fake atheists. But someone commented on the site that in her blog that she was raised in a non-faith household (I am not sure if this is true, but for the sake of argument that it is true) - how the hell does one get brainwashed to go from reason and rationality to superstition and irrationality?

Tags: Atheism, Catholicism, Christianity, religion

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Permalink Reply by Austin Hunt on June 23, 2012 at 9:13pm

"atheists who are only atheist through not reason and rationality but rather from "hating god" because of something that had happened to them. I term these atheists as fake atheists."

Could you please elaborate?

Permalink Reply by Secular Forces 2013 on June 24, 2012 at 7:33am

LOL they hate that they lost all that money ... given.. to god?

Permalink Reply by Loren Miller on June 23, 2012 at 9:24pm

I suspect that those who were atheist and later seduced by religion had poor foundations for their atheism, such as "hating god," or being atheist because a friend or associate or someone they respected were atheist.  My further suspicion is that their understanding of both religion and its attendant dynamics and atheism and the reasons to be atheist were not well understood.

The strongest atheism, from where I stand, is a self-made DEDUCTION, arrived at by looking at the facts (or lack thereof) and working out the logic for oneself.

Permalink Reply by Secular Forces 2013 on June 24, 2012 at 7:33am

seduced u say!? ha.. try living w/o worry and see how much more you're hated
they (fundies) hate that

Permalink Reply by Michael Black on June 23, 2012 at 9:28pm

I wish her the best of luck.  I don't think she will find any lasting peace or be any happier as a result of her choice.  But, who knows?  I think many people are predisposed to religiosity.  She may be just trying it out to see how it fits.

Permalink Reply by Secular Forces 2013 on June 24, 2012 at 7:31am

a. $
b. family (fear of loss of...) praise god! not.
c. real estate (scratch that that's just walstreet 99 percent kinda subj.
d. someone (mole?) in the atheist group turned off the atheist...

I mean. Surely the thing that binds atheists is 'no god' needed.. idea.

I've seen though an atheist (older) said "..we don't deal with that shit in NY" referring to homeless/addict looking guy at museum once.. was an ear opener and realization that just because someone says they're sumthin' does not say much to other agendas nah mean?!

yay! fck the haters!

Permalink Reply by Dean Loring on June 25, 2012 at 9:32pm

According to her, Catholicism provides a moral compass that atheism cannot. A very weak reason. Makes no sense to me other than accepting that it makes sense to her.

Permalink Reply by James M. Martin on June 25, 2012 at 11:16pm

I would actually argue quite the opposite.  I say atheists do right because they want to do right, while a believer does right either from a fear of going to Hell or a wish that his fellows think him a prince for doing right.  I say that a right response to external stimulus that is derived from a commitment to reality instead of metaphysics is a far more valuable right effort.  I say that if the believer fails to do right, they can always say God had other plans, or that He works in mysterious ways, or He's gone fishing (being "a fisher of men," wink, wink).  Anyone who believes that in a world with several billion people each has a personal deity is just plain daffy (as in duck).  In other words, they are Donald Duck crazy.

Permalink Reply by Alex on June 25, 2012 at 10:20pm

Well you have to keep in mind that all people are actually born atheists. I was actually an agnostic until around age twelve to thirteen, and at this age my mom seemed to make a huge push to get me involved in religion; likely in hopes to ensure that my soul was "saved."

Looking back, I should have been able to see through all of Christianity's nonsense, but I was just a young teenager absolutely terrified of anything to do with death, and to me, Christianity filled me with hope and confidence for the future.

As a result, I imagine that most people who were somewhat similar to me and haven't given the concept of god or religion much thought drift to Christianity for these kind of reasons.

Let's face it, even thought it may be nonsensical, Christianity does so much in helping people get through their lives in this often hectic world.

Permalink Reply by James M. Martin on June 25, 2012 at 11:13pm

You got me.

Permalink Reply by booklover on June 26, 2012 at 9:34am

I was raised with no religion.  I tried it for a very short while after I got married, but I knew in the back of my mind I was just trying to believe.  That didn't last very long!

Permalink Reply by bobh on June 26, 2012 at 10:19am

The reason and rationality were never that solid a foundation to begin with.

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