Top 5 reasons why people convert to a faith.

Having met a lot of religious folks in my lifetime, I would like to post my observations on the reasons why people follow or "convert" to a certain faith. Most of the time it's Christianity but I think the general principal holds true for all faiths. I'm not saying that any of these reasons are wrong, they are just what I have noticed.

1. The individual was raised to follow a certain religion by his parents. He may follow this well into adulthood even if he questions the tenants, because it is like a security blanket and he may be afraid of dissappointing his parents.

2. THe individual converts because a close friend or family memeber converts. Most of this time I see this play out as a person converting shortly after a spouse does.

3. The individual has suffered trauma within his lifetime, and he is attracted to the black and white views of religion as a way to rationalize this.

4. The individual has an experience with a malevolent or beneficial paranormal entity and assumes this as proof that a certain religious pantheon is true.

5. The individual converts because he feels the need to belong to a certain group identity.

Any more that come to mind ATS?

[edit on 6-12-2008 by asmeone2]

it looks like you rested on the 3rd and 4th day. just kidding, i've never liked those numbers anyway. and while we're at it lets get rid of that stupid letter Q.

i think you've pretty much nailed it. other reasons could be fear of the unknown/death or watching people in action as the profess their own faith. some people can be very convincing.

i was "raised" christian. not in any high pressure kind of way or anything. i don't believe in it much these days but sometimes it still presses on the back of my mind. will probably never be compeletly free of it.

reply to post by Mozzy


Somehow those got erased when I posted, but I've edited them in now.

I've experienced a lot of people become born- again Christians...

Lived a life of complete debauchery eg. drugs, crime and sexual promiscuity.

Religion offered them complete forgiveness, without penance or retribution so that they may have "salvation".

Then of course they will preach to me "to accept Jeeezussss" or I will burn in hell.

Buncha rubes...

Originally posted by wrathchild
I've experienced a lot of people become born- again Christians...

Lived a life of complete debauchery eg. drugs, crime and sexual promiscuity.

Religion offered them complete forgiveness, without penance or retribution so that they may have "salvation".

Then of course they will preach to me "to accept Jeeezussss" or I will burn in hell.

Buncha rubes...

Perhaps that is a reason for some, it makes them feel like they aren't responsible for what they have done.

These top 5 reasons, are these reasons verifiable or are they just your personal opinion?

I can throw 5 reasons why people move away from religion, and those would just be guesses.

Could you provide a verifiable source that would be considered credible, say from religious organizations or some university study that is also verifiable for us?

I would be interested in knowing if these are taken from such a source, or if they are just a personal opinion.



Cheers!!!!

Originally posted by RFBurns
These top 5 reasons, are these reasons verifiable or are they just your personal opinion?

I can throw 5 reasons why people move away from religion, and those would just be guesses.

Could you provide a verifiable source that would be considered credible, say from religious organizations or some university study that is also verifiable for us?

I would be interested in knowing if these are taken from such a source, or if they are just a personal opinion.



Cheers!!!!

My personal opinion, I put that in the first line of the OP. So no source for you.

If you made a thread about the top 5 reasons that people left, that would be fascinating as well.

What about a person who is simply "lost".

You know the ones...they flounder around dabbling in different religions, trying to find something that makes sense. The ones that NEED to have a force larger than themselves or their fellow humans to explain and justify why things are as they are.

There are people I know who have pretty much made a career out of spiritual searching. never satisfied and always left with the proverbial "god shaped hole".

Originally posted by justgeneric
What about a person who is simply "lost".

You know the ones...they flounder around dabbling in different religions, trying to find something that makes sense. The ones that NEED to have a force larger than themselves or their fellow humans to explain and justify why things are as they are.

There are people I know who have pretty much made a career out of spiritual searching. never satisfied and always left with the proverbial "god shaped hole".

When I was a Christian I used to hear so many people who went on and on about how they went through every other religion and felt good in it for a while, then it burned out, and finally they came to Christianity. I wondered how they knew that wouldn't wear off too?

Nice list, the most common one I've seen is that the person is raised with the religion- that was even me. The next most common one is that the person has friends who have that religion and they sort of just "give over".

Then there is a myriad of others, a few you mention.

reply to post by asmeone2


6) the person suffers from severe disease and crasps the "last straw" that is faith.

7) lazyness of thought, the person wants easy solutions and settles with readily chewed thoughts.

8) "a miracilous event" that is explained by local religion and therefore got converted.

9) got brainwashed.

10) understanding

I think #1(family) is the reason why most people believe in a religion. religion is passed on like a genetic trait from generation to generation. I very much doubt any of these people have legitimate reasons to believe in the religion that they believe in,

You forgot to include fear.

Originally posted by Good Wolf
Nice list, the most common one I've seen is that the person is raised with the religion- that was even me. The next most common one is that the person has friends who have that religion and they sort of just "give over".

Then there is a myriad of others, a few you mention.

I have seen that too, with someone I knew who had a lot of Morman friends and in the end converted. I think that falls into #2 as well.

Originally posted by Geemor
reply to post by asmeone2

 

6) the person suffers from severe disease and crasps the "last straw" that is faith.

Somebody already brought up fear of death, that shoudl be up there too---

Yourse reminds me of the people that are "healed" and they beleive it to be miracules and become religious.

Originally posted by ThePiemaker
I think #1(family) is the reason why most people believe in a religion. religion is passed on like a genetic trait from generation to generation. I very much doubt any of these people have legitimate reasons to believe in the religion that they believe in,

Probably. One of the hardest things I had to deal with when I became less religeous was worrying what my family would think.

Originally posted by Anonymous ATS
You forgot to include fear.

My reasons all deal with fear,silly, in one way or another.

The first reason isn't really a reason for 'conversion', it is more a reason to NOT convert.

One reason you missed was 'rebellion'. I've seen that A LOT. Some teenager decides (in a typically teenage rebellious way) to switch religions (or become atheists) because they're parents are religious, sometimes compounded by family with a very strict religious upbringing.

I dunno, I have tremendous respect for people who convert to another religion. It shows that they actually thought through their beliefs and decided something was wrong. I dunno about you, but almost all 'converts' I've seen are of this type.

Originally posted by babloyi
The first reason isn't really a reason for 'conversion', it is more a reason to NOT convert.

One reason you missed was 'rebellion'. I've seen that A LOT. Some teenager decides (in a typically teenage rebellious way) to switch religions (or become atheists) because they're parents are religious, sometimes compounded by family with a very strict religious upbringing.

I dunno, I have tremendous respect for people who convert to another religion. It shows that they actually thought through their beliefs and decided something was wrong. I dunno about you, but almost all 'converts' I've seen are of this type.

Interesting perspective. Usually I observed people falling away from religion around the teenage years, so I did not include that.

I did not mean these as a slight towards anyone's character, just some of my observations about the psycology of religios conversion.

Originally posted by wrathchild
I've experienced a lot of people become born- again Christians...

Lived a life of complete debauchery eg. drugs, crime and sexual promiscuity.

Religion offered them complete forgiveness, without penance or retribution so that they may have "salvation".

Then of course they will preach to me "to accept Jeeezussss" or I will burn in hell.

Buncha rubes...

There is only one problem with that ....although you get forgiven ..the consequences for your actions still come and you still pay for what you did.(in many ways )
In fact once you do give your life to the Lord everything you do from then on out actually the consequences get worse and more harsh than they were before because even the Lord knows man will keep doing what he does and just forgiving them and fixing all their messes does not teach them anything ..Like a parent with a child ...if you just keep forgiveing that child and cleaning up his messes he never learns a darn thing except that you will keep forgiving them and keep cleaning up their messes ..
God is not stupid and he sure as heck is not as stupid as some parents are .
(Like me I am one of those stupid parents who tried to do that with my kids).

So it is not near as cut and dried as you make it out to be ..

I mean really do you really think that God is stupid ?

Jesus is not a get out of hell or jail free card ...
It is a LIFE CHANGING EXPERIENCE that over time with him working from within you ..YOU WONT KEEP DOING THE SAME STUPID BS you did before you knew him ...you will feel conviction for the things you do and you will change them ..where before you just jumped on doing whatever not careing about anything ...once you know the Lord you will CARE for a change ..and will change for a change ....for the better ...




[edit on 7-12-2008 by Simplynoone]