Conversion

When people change their beliefs, do they become more mature? This was a discussion I was having with someone today.

There are all sorts of converts in the world. There are atheists who become fundamentalists, and there are fundamentalists who become atheists. And some people convert to Buddhism, or Islam, or Judaism, or from one brand of Christianity to another.

In many cases, conversion can lead to greater maturity. Atheists who converted from fundamentalism may look at their fundie days as times when they were dogmatic, closed-minded, naive, enslaved, afraid of life, manipulative of others in their attempts to proselytize, hateful, deluded, superstitious, and maybe even inauthentic or just plain hypocritical. Christian converts may look at their non-Christian pasts as times when they were self-centered, hedonistic, aimless, bitter, devoid of hope, and empty.

If any one religion or philosophy provided all of the answers and satisfaction to life, then why is there such a variety of conversions? Not all Christians are satisfied with Christianity, not all Jews are content with Judaism, etc. What about their previous belief system are they leaving behind, and what are they hoping to get in their new belief system?

Sometimes, people become better people when they convert from one belief system to another. At other times, they remain the same, as they carry their personal strengths and weaknesses into their new way of looking at things. And then there are times when converts become even worse than they were before (e.g., Matthew 23:15).