Conversion

How to convince an atheist to become a Christian

Given my experience of youth-targeted evangelism, I was happy to see a relatively benign guide to converting atheists. In my experience, evangelists go for the quick conversion by applying, for instance, typical mass persuasion techniques that get emotions running high, then asking for conversion at a person’s most vulnerable point. These conversions are largely meaningless events that are quickly forgotten under cooler circumstances. The other method I know for convincing people to be Christian is for them to be raised and pressured by their community.

What I liked most about this guide was the emphasis on living an excellent life and providing “your secret” to anyone who seems interested. I think this is optimal, it doesn’t attack the other person or their beliefs, it just shows another option. In fact, I’ve wondered about how to convert Christians, specifically the Christians who are as miserable as I was under that regime. I think this is something like the way, to show them how happy I finally was to stop believing in contradictions, to stop quelling doubts, and to stop going through motions that were either without meaning or hypocritical.

This is one of the reasons I don’t discount religion entirely: if it helps someone lead an excellent life, a life they really want, then it’s a valuable tool.