Amazing Conversions: Why Some Turn to Faith and Others Abandon Religion

by Bob Altemeyer, Bruce Hunsberger

This groundbreaking study uncovers fascinating new data on sudden shifts in religious and nonreligious belief. Amazing Conversions explores, for the first time ever, the reasons why converts join, and apostates go. The focus of this absorbing study is on some amazing people, with unique stories to tell those who join a religious group in spite of being raised in nonreligious (or even antireligious) families, and those who, at great personal cost, choose to leave religion in spite of having a deeply religious background. Why would an atheist's son become a Christian fundamentalist? Why would a "good Catholic girl" decide that she really is an atheist?The authors of Amazing Conversions, both social psychologists, surveyed thousands of young adults to find that small number who were "amazing believers" or "amazing apostates." These rare individuals tell their stories, which are supplemented by their responses to a detailed questionnaire. The resulting picture shows that amazing believers and amazing apostates are dramatically different groups of people, in spite of the fact that their lives now stand in opposition to previous (non)religious training. You, too, can complete the same questionnaire to learn more about yourself and your beliefs. Have you experienced an amazing conversion?

Genres: Religion, Philosophy, Nonfiction, Atheism

268 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 1997

About the author

Robert "Bob" Altemeyer is a retired Professor of Psychology at the University of Manitoba. Born in St. Louis, he earned a B.S. at Yale University in 1962 and a Ph.D at Carnegie-Mellon in 1966.

He has written extensively on authoritarianism and refined the theory into the concept (and measure) of Right Wing Authoritarianism. His first book, Right-Wing Authoritarianism, was published in 1981 and reports the results of fifteen years of research on the 'pre-Fascist personality' in North American society.

Reviews

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book on why non-believers turn to religion and very religious people turn away. Both are very small minorities--most people stay with the religion (or lack of religion) that they were raised with. And when conversions do take place, it's not usually such a radical change; small changes are more common (i.e., slightly religious people become non-religious or moderately religious people become strongly religious). In the instances that Altemeyer and Hunsberger found, highly religious people who became non-religious often converted for intellectual reasons, after a long period of searching, questioning, and doubting, and considerable guilt and fear over their conversion. They often explored both sides of belief and although their apostasy usually cost them a lot (i.e., in terms of conflict with family and friends), they felt they couldn't live a lie. As for the positive effects of apostasy, nearly all mentioned that they could now decide their own fates and didn't have to blindly follow anybody else's ideas. As for the non-religious people who became highly religious, they weren't usually committed atheists beforehand, but rather they were just indifferent toward religion. They usually converted more for social reasons (e.g., a friend or potential romantic interest was religious and invited them to a church social gathering) or because of traumatic, emotional events (e.g., deaths of loved ones). Their conversions took less time and tended to be rather sudden once they occurred. Generally, the religious converts did not feel guilt or fear about their conversions and they did not usually suffer any consequences in terms of relationships with family and friends. In terms of what they gained from the conversion, most talked about how they were more secure because they knew why they were here, that God had a plan for their lives, and that they would continue to exist after death, and they really valued that security.

[Meri · Rating 4 out of 5]

The most surprising thing to me was when they compared very religious people who left their faith (AAs) and non-believers who turned to religion (ABs) on a Right-Wing Authoritarianism scale and it turned out that AAs scored considerably lower (93.7) than the sample mean of 123.8, while ABs avareged 141.7.

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Quotes:

"You can make a pretty good prediction of how much a university student, raised as a Christian, will still accept Christianity if you know how much the family religion was emphasized while he was growing up. For example, in the study under discussion, about 80 percent of the students raised Christians said they were still Christians, while the other 20 percent were now “nothing.” The biggest difference we could find between these two groups appeared in how much the home religion had been stressed."

"Sometimes when I go to bed, when I have only myself there, because I am so close to my parents, I realize that when they die I’m never going to have them again. It was better before. Ignorance is bliss. Maybe that’s why religion was developed, so there wasn’t this huge hole.

"The solid majority of our AAs felt their apostasy had cost them a great deal. Most frequently (sixteen cases), they cited a painful deterioration in relationships with their parents. This commonly extended to others as well, as grandparents, aunts, siblings, and cousins now viewed them as traitors “in the grip of Satan.” Almost as often (twelve cases), Amazing Apostates noted they had lost their compass in life, “their answer to everything,” and now had to wrestle with all the issues that their religion had previously decided for them. These students spoke of feeling isolated and confused; they had lost the comfort and security that firmly held religious beliefs can bring."

"If it boils down to faith, how do you know which religion to put your faith in? Do not most people just assume they were luckily born into the right one? Most people have to be wrong then. Maybe they all are, they said."

"Many ABs needed an anchor to stabilize their lives. Others felt, after finding life in the “fast lane” unsatisfying, that there had to be more meaning to existence, that something was missing."

"The Amazing Believers were fearful, and their religion brought them security. They were unhappy, and now they are overjoyed. Their lives were purposeless, going nowhere, sometimes almost out of control, and religion gave them direction and discipline. They were lonely, and they found friendship and love. In short, the ABs usually had serious emotional difficulties and shortfalls, and conversion solved their problems."

"Amazing Apostates undoubtedly had their regrets. They had often paid a heavy price for their apostasy: alienation from their families and loss of friends. We also noted that they almost never volunteered they were happier. Instead they observed—often wistfully—that they had thrown away their guide to life, a way of understanding everything. Now they were on their own, having to find a meaning in life and facing inevitable death at the end. But most AAs thought the upside to this situation justified all. They were their own person now, they could stake out their own identity, they were freer, more open-minded, and they had been strong enough to do a very difficult thing.
Interestingly, virtually none of the ABs counted such psychological achievements among their new blessings. If AAs rejoiced in being independent, ABs were glad to be part of a strong group. If AAs cherished control over their own destiny, ABs depended on their religion to help control them. If AAs now felt selfconfident, ABs placed their confidence in the Lord. If AAs felt strong, ABs knew they were weak on their own.
In retrospect, we can see that the AAs knowingly abandoned the very things that appealed most to the ABs, such as security, guidance, fellowship, and especially a promise of life after death."

[Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most people stick, more or less, with the religion (or lack thereof) they were raised in. But a small minority of people with very religious upbringing turn atheist, and a small minority of people with a non-religious background become devoutly religious. Altemeyer and Hunsberger studied Canadian university students (I think this point is important: most people studied were between 18-22 although there were some outliers) who went through these experiences in a lot of depth. What they found was interesting, but not necessarily a huge surprise--people tend to become non-religous/atheist for reasons of intellectual integrity (the same integrity a religious background most likely encourages them to pursue), while people tend to become passionate converts to religion because religion gives them a solution to their social/psychological problems and needs (for example, it comes with built-in moral standards, reassurance of existence after/beyond this life, a sense of meaning/purpose, and community/friends). I think it might have been more interesting if they'd also explored why people stay with their religions, or additionally studied people at midlife and beyond, but that was beyond the scope of what they were studying, alas.