Atheist converting to religion? - Page 3 - Religion, God, and Theology

Mm, like John Wilmot. <3 The Libertine.

Wasn't there a famous atheist "thought leader" who converted to some form of theism in the later stages of his life recently? I can't find anything about it on Google, but I could swear I read about it not too long ago

prob talking about anthony flew, or francis collins...

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06-11-2010 , 07:15 PM

#52

keanosdog

adept

Join Date: Apr 2010 Posts: 865

Quote:

Originally Posted by thirddan

prob talking about anthony flew, or francis collins...

thats the guy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNkxpTIbCIw

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06-11-2010 , 07:21 PM

#53

11t

Bo Pelini's #1 Fan

Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 31,420

Quote:

Originally Posted by MindOnMind

Well we have different types of atheists. But the ones I'm going to talk about now are the atheists that understand there is no proof for there being a God. And basically the ones who have great reason to desmiss the possiblity for there actually being a God.

So, are there any such atheists on this forum that converted to a religion or became theists on PURPOSE just to make life easier to bare?

I've had a long grind session tonight so I got a hard time getting my point across... but what I mean is, has anyone ever done their best to actually fool themselves into believing again?

i work in a small town in southwest kansas and while i am not a full blown atheist, i simply can neither prove/disprove religion so i don't waste my time on it, i just am very ambiguous about my religious beliefs and tend to try to lead people to believe i am a christian.

why make my life more difficult for no reason

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06-11-2010 , 07:51 PM

#54

SixT4

veteran

Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 2,924

Quote:

Originally Posted by wants

Anthony Flew?

Strangely I just stumbled across his Wikipedia page today and had never heard of him before (if that's who you're talking about). He was an atheist philosopher who became a deist in the final few years of his life.

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06-11-2010 , 08:09 PM

#55

Lestat

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Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 10,998

Quote:

Originally Posted by wants

Wasn't there a famous atheist "thought leader" who converted to some form of theism in the later stages of his life recently? I can't find anything about it on Google, but I could swear I read about it not too long ago

Yes, I'm sure you're talking about Anthony Flew. I don't think he counts. He could have became senile in his later years. But I'll stick by my point. Very few atheists who have seriously thought it through convert to to being religious.

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06-12-2010 , 12:33 AM

#56

gmcarroll33

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Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 6,571

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lestat

Why does he not count? Because of his age? He looks pretty much as all there as he can be discussing his newfound beliefs about the world in that video. My grandfather had a shingle seep through his eye directly into his brain, pretty much putting him in the mid to late stages of Alzheimers from the get go. He was a senile man from then on, resembling nothing like what you watch in this video.

And I think he thought it out as much as he possibly could in a human life. He spent his life writing, debating, and criticizing things against what he'd figured out about the world. He admitted to a deity in the end. No major checkmate win for either side