Atheist/Christian Conversions?

Question

Isn't it safe to say that there are people who have 'converted' both directions between christianity and atheism? Isnt it also reasonable to assume we could find people of equal IQ having done so? So.. what does intelligence and reason have to do with anything or ... would we need to COUNT the number that go each way and THAT would determine what is true?

I suspect that we believe what we believe 'cause we just do.

Answer 1

I agree.

Religious beliefs have nothing to do with intelligence.

I believe that many people who would like to believe they are smart will always attempt to prove that their decision is the "smart" decision while people are smart have no need to attempt to prove this to anyone.

Congratulations on the most intelligent question I have read all night.

PS: IQ means Intelligence Quotient, IQ does measure intelligence. Creativity is a subset of the ability to solve problems. You have to create a solution to solve a problem.

Answer 2

First let me say that Satan didn't make me do it and is not responsible for my being an Atheist. No Satan exists except in the minds of religious believers.

I am not sure if IQ enters into the picture, however, tt is true educated people tend to lean towards Atheistism, Personally I studied enough theology to understand that something was not quite what it should be. It took allot of investigative work and years of studying to find out that there is no god, rather an amalgamation of many into one.

Personally speaking if there is a doubt then that doubt should be challenged. Once challenged you make up your mind which way is best. It is truly easier to believe then not to believe. You stand alone in your disbelief [unless you find a website that accommodates you]. Amazingly though, even the believers disagree on what they believe, which makes me think that there is a flicker of doubt hidden in the back of their minds and, unfortunately that goes unchallenged. To simply accept a standard of thought is self annihilation - it allows the unholy preachers to pressure someone into their views. Fear stops the challenge, fear of the possibility of the rejection of a god. Where does that fear come from? Religion! Religion is a man made concept. If there were a god he did not make religion, and probably would not have made so many, with so many distortions [at least I would hope not].

"Cause we just do" ? What we do not know and do not understand is not an excuse - and. saying 'we just do' is a lazy foolish statement - its like a priest or minister saying its a mystery and does not need not be questioned. Anything worth its salt should be questioned, and answers can be found. Answers are there - you simply need to look for them.

Answer 3

Many people are turned off by the fact that many Christians are extremely hypocritical. I accept this, and being a Christian myself, have to say that that is just them- not what we believe. But many times this can be what repels people, whether they are atheists to begin with or were raised in a hypocritical church family.
However, I do know more than one person who wanted to know the truth, and after much research, they turned to Christianity. It is the only faith that does not require you to do good deeds to get into heaven, and the Bible is the only "holy book" that has never been proven false, and always been proven correct. So to answer your question, it depends on the person. Someone may have a high IQ by normal standards, but never have even looked into it.

--edit--
To madnoelle:
I said that an atheist of high IQ who has never looked into it could be one reason for their rejection- not the only reason for ANYONE'S rejection- you can't say that this isn't true.
Second, you mention people in your church that were "devout" and "holier-than-thou". This is EXACTLY what I am talking about: the Bible does not teach that Christians should act like this- on the contrary- that we should be humble and kind. You have interpreted their attitudes as something that they are not: they way a Christian is supposed to be, and you are opposed to it. This is what I was originally talking about. Christians who are falsely representing the Christian faith and thus turning people off from it

Answer 4

I'm sure that there are probably people who have been converted in both directions. But I would never say that those who have turned from Christianity to becoming an atheist are right in any way; but they have been deceived by the devil into believing that Christianity is not real. It doesn't matter what the numbers say. What does the Word of God say? That is what is truly important. The shedding of the blood of Jesus is what is truly important. It was for the forgiveness of your sins, for my sins, and for the sins of the whole world. It doesn't matter if 90% of the whole world believes in being athiest; that does not make it right. And we do not just believe what we believe for no reason at all. If we believe wrong, it is because we have been taught wrong, or we have deliberately chosen to believe wrong. But maybe God is trying to open up your eyes. The Bible tells us to believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ, and we shall be saved. Not maybe, but for certain. (Rom. 10:13) I suggest that you do so immediately. Begin reading the Word of God and believing it. For it is the only real truth.

Answer 5

Religious belief is acquired in adolescence. The brain actually develops structures and connections to accommodate that belief. This makes it extremely difficult and wrenching to later become an atheist and can only be done by someone with superior intelligence and critical thinking ability. It's even more difficult for an atheist to acquire belief because religion consists of so many absurdities and contradictions only the immature mind can accept it from scratch.

IQ most certainly is a measure of intelligence and there is a strong correlation between IQ and success in life in all endeavors.

Answer 6

One converts to a religion, not to a lack of religion. Therefore, going from Christian to atheist is merely abandoning a belief rather than adopting a new one. This assumes though, that you mean by "atheism" the lack of religion, and not merely the disbelief in a god.

One could convert from Christianity to a church of humanism or to Buddhism, in which case one would still belong to a religion.

As far as people converting to Christianity, I've met some rather intelligent people who have done so. I don't believe that a lack of intelligence is a requisite for theistic or Christian inclinations. In fact, most people who enter cults tend to be rather intelligent, and most would consider membership in such to be even less sane than membership in an established religion.

Answer 7

IQ is debatable, but faith stands directly opposite to reason and logic. Anytime we take an argument and we say, "I think it's true because I believe it is" that is reversing cause and effect. Instead of making the conclusion depend on a premise, we make a premise depend on a conclusion. In effect, we are saying: "I'd like this to be true, therefore it is true." That kind of reasoning is the essence of the sentiment of faith.

Sentiments, emotions, cannot be used as premises because they are ALWAYS feelings that we have as conclusions to our way of thinking. If instead of reasoning logically, we just wish something to be true, the conclusion and the premise are indistinguishable and the result is an emotion such as faith completely devoid of knowledge. Such is the mental process that faith without evidence requires. I cannot imagine that such instruction imparted to children help them develop a critical and logical mind. And what is intelligence without logic?

Answer 8

Joshua, you are so wrong. I grew up in a 'Christian' family. It's funny but they're really stubborn about their belief yet I was the one who insisted on going to church. I was an ideal child in that I wanted to go, of my own desire, for years. I ran into a few hypocrites but I met many who I believed were as devout and holier-than-thou and I constantly wondered if I was not 'good enough' by their standards. Even to this day, I believe they really believe what they do and believe they follow the rules they've set themselves up to follow.
I've read several answers from atheists who've read the Bible x amount of times and I started reading a book (Misquoting Jesus) by a guy who spent over ten years at college, some of them Bible courses and even memorized the Book of Mark in it's original Greek and he finally admitted to himself that he was an atheist. So, saying 'they' haven't looked into it is absurd!
In America, many grow up in Christian environments but for some, reason finally overcomes their early religious training.

Answer 9

Conversion usually in basic terms happens to marginal believers. In economics, marginal purchasers are people who're very on the brink of fixing their minds some habit. If a hundred human beings prefer to purchase a shirt, yet a million man or woman extraordinarily much feels the shirt is in basic terms too costly to purchase, that man or woman is a "marginal" client of the shirt. it particularly is an significant concept in economics because of the fact the marginal purchasers are the 1st to alter their minds while something transformations, like if the value of the shirt is going up. further, people who're nostril-deep of their faith or loss of religion usually are not getting switched over. that's the marginal believers -- people who're already having doubts -- who get switched over one way or yet another. once you are going to attempt to transform every person, concentration on marginal believers. do no longer waste everybody's time attempting to transform deep believers. enable the descendants of your marginal converts in turn convert the zealot's marginal grandchildren.

Answer 10

Intelligence and IQ have nothing to do with what you believe about God.

I have PERSONALLY (so don't all you atheists get your panties in a knot over this) spoken to several atheists at length through emails about questions on YA and EVERY ONE of them has made it clear they think more intelligent people are atheists.....


maybe it's just pride.

"A young man who wishes to remain a sound atheist cannot be too careful of his reading. "

"Education without values, as useful as it is, seems rather to make man a more clever devil. "