Ayaan Hirsi Ali Converted to Christianity

[Anonymous]

I've always enjoyed her writing. I look forward to reading the article.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m concerned anyone would convert religions based on ‘civilizational war’

As a Christian I'm hopeful that God will work in her heart through the church she attends, reading the Bible, and meeting other Christians (how he works in all our hearts), but I'm inherently suspicious of these kind of political conversions. I've seen them on the left and the right, and I don't often see them develop in the way that I'd hope a Christian would. Her statement is long on politics and short on any kind of encounter with the Christ, which isn't encouraging.

What is a political religious conversion?

You are suspicious of her? Suspicious about what?

DP but read the statement. She's very explicit that this is a political conversion - to defend Western civilization and provide a unifying mindset for the West in the global war against "three different but related forces: the resurgence of great-power authoritarianism and expansionism in the forms of the Chinese Communist Party and Vladimir Putin’s Russia; the rise of global Islamism, which threatens to mobilise a vast population against the West; and the viral spread of woke ideology, which is eating into the moral fibre of the next generation." PPP is not being unfair to call this a political conversion; Ali makes it explicit that the conversion is an outgrowth of, and in service to, her political point of view.

“Yet I would not be truthful if I attributed my embrace of Christianity solely to the realisation that atheism is too weak and divisive a doctrine to fortify us against our menacing foes. I have also turned to Christianity because I ultimately found life without any spiritual solace unendurable — indeed very nearly self-destructive. Atheism failed to answer a simple question: what is the meaning and purpose of life?“

No, she is very clear on her personal perspective about her conversion. You are being intellectually dishonest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m concerned anyone would convert religions based on ‘civilizational war’

As a Christian I'm hopeful that God will work in her heart through the church she attends, reading the Bible, and meeting other Christians (how he works in all our hearts), but I'm inherently suspicious of these kind of political conversions. I've seen them on the left and the right, and I don't often see them develop in the way that I'd hope a Christian would. Her statement is long on politics and short on any kind of encounter with the Christ, which isn't encouraging.

What is a political religious conversion?

You are suspicious of her? Suspicious about what?

A politically motivated religious conversion. Converting to a religion because you think it matches and supports your politics, rather than because you believe that the claims made by the religion are true. I'm suspicious that she's not actually found faith in Christianity but rather that she's decided Christianity is what matches her politics.

What she presents in the article is essentially that she thinks Christianity is a good story that will help Western Civilization survive ("The lesson I learned from my years with the Muslim Brotherhood was the power of a unifying story, embedded in the foundational texts of Islam, to attract, engage and mobilise the Muslim masses. Unless we offer something as meaningful, I fear the erosion of our civilisation will continue.").

Does that mean she thinks the story is *true*? That's the heart of Christianity: believing that God became man in the person of Jesus, who died and was raised, and who promises to share that risen life with us. Right now, I think she talks like someone coopting my faith for political ends that are not what God wants. As Stanley Haurwas says "Jesus is Lord, everything else is bullshit." I want to see her belief in Jesus being Lord, not her belief that a good story can win a civilizational war. That's not what Christianity is for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m concerned anyone would convert religions based on ‘civilizational war’

As a Christian I'm hopeful that God will work in her heart through the church she attends, reading the Bible, and meeting other Christians (how he works in all our hearts), but I'm inherently suspicious of these kind of political conversions. I've seen them on the left and the right, and I don't often see them develop in the way that I'd hope a Christian would. Her statement is long on politics and short on any kind of encounter with the Christ, which isn't encouraging.

What is a political religious conversion?

You are suspicious of her? Suspicious about what?

A politically motivated religious conversion. Converting to a religion because you think it matches and supports your politics, rather than because you believe that the claims made by the religion are true. I'm suspicious that she's not actually found faith in Christianity but rather that she's decided Christianity is what matches her politics.

What she presents in the article is essentially that she thinks Christianity is a good story that will help Western Civilization survive ("The lesson I learned from my years with the Muslim Brotherhood was the power of a unifying story, embedded in the foundational texts of Islam, to attract, engage and mobilise the Muslim masses. Unless we offer something as meaningful, I fear the erosion of our civilisation will continue.").

Does that mean she thinks the story is *true*? That's the heart of Christianity: believing that God became man in the person of Jesus, who died and was raised, and who promises to share that risen life with us. Right now, I think she talks like someone coopting my faith for political ends that are not what God wants. As Stanley Haurwas says "Jesus is Lord, everything else is bullshit." I want to see her belief in Jesus being Lord, not her belief that a good story can win a civilizational war. That's not what Christianity is for.

“Yet I would not be truthful if I attributed my embrace of Christianity solely to the realisation that atheism is too weak and divisive a doctrine to fortify us against our menacing foes. I have also turned to Christianity because I ultimately found life without any spiritual solace unendurable — indeed very nearly self-destructive. Atheism failed to answer a simple question: what is the meaning and purpose of life?“

So what about this part?

There are no political religious conversions. That’s something you made up. That’s really (for the lack of a better term) dumb.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m concerned anyone would convert religions based on ‘civilizational war’

As a Christian I'm hopeful that God will work in her heart through the church she attends, reading the Bible, and meeting other Christians (how he works in all our hearts), but I'm inherently suspicious of these kind of political conversions. I've seen them on the left and the right, and I don't often see them develop in the way that I'd hope a Christian would. Her statement is long on politics and short on any kind of encounter with the Christ, which isn't encouraging.

What is a political religious conversion?

You are suspicious of her? Suspicious about what?

DP but read the statement. She's very explicit that this is a political conversion - to defend Western civilization and provide a unifying mindset for the West in the global war against "three different but related forces: the resurgence of great-power authoritarianism and expansionism in the forms of the Chinese Communist Party and Vladimir Putin’s Russia; the rise of global Islamism, which threatens to mobilise a vast population against the West; and the viral spread of woke ideology, which is eating into the moral fibre of the next generation." PPP is not being unfair to call this a political conversion; Ali makes it explicit that the conversion is an outgrowth of, and in service to, her political point of view.

“Yet I would not be truthful if I attributed my embrace of Christianity solely to the realisation that atheism is too weak and divisive a doctrine to fortify us against our menacing foes. I have also turned to Christianity because I ultimately found life without any spiritual solace unendurable — indeed very nearly self-destructive. Atheism failed to answer a simple question: what is the meaning and purpose of life?“

No, she is very clear on her personal perspective about her conversion. You are being intellectually dishonest.

She wanted to believe in something, and she feels that Christianity is the something that most closely supports her political beliefs. It's silly to pretend that the argument she leads off with, and spends most of the article laying out in detail, is a subpoint to the "I needed something to believe" angle. She doesn't even say that. She says it's not solely about politics, it's also about spiritual solace. The idea that you could read that, and then be offended that someone calls it a political conversion, is what's intellectually dishonest.

I am surprised by people who are surprised by her rightward drift though. She was shaped by very extreme religious dogma that made no distinction between religion and politics from a young age, she's used to that mindset. She rebelled against it when a huge line was crossed (9/11), and got a lot of public acclaim (and attacks, to be fair) for staking out that position. But you can see by her argument about war of civilizations that she still buys in very deeply to the ideas taught by the Muslim Brotherhood, she's just switched teams. It's a comfortable argument for her, she knows it inside and out, she can make a convincing case for it from the Muslim, atheist West, and now Christian West POVs. It's like watching a really talented mock trial participant at this point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m concerned anyone would convert religions based on ‘civilizational war’

As a Christian I'm hopeful that God will work in her heart through the church she attends, reading the Bible, and meeting other Christians (how he works in all our hearts), but I'm inherently suspicious of these kind of political conversions. I've seen them on the left and the right, and I don't often see them develop in the way that I'd hope a Christian would. Her statement is long on politics and short on any kind of encounter with the Christ, which isn't encouraging.

What is a political religious conversion?

You are suspicious of her? Suspicious about what?

A politically motivated religious conversion. Converting to a religion because you think it matches and supports your politics, rather than because you believe that the claims made by the religion are true. I'm suspicious that she's not actually found faith in Christianity but rather that she's decided Christianity is what matches her politics.

What she presents in the article is essentially that she thinks Christianity is a good story that will help Western Civilization survive ("The lesson I learned from my years with the Muslim Brotherhood was the power of a unifying story, embedded in the foundational texts of Islam, to attract, engage and mobilise the Muslim masses. Unless we offer something as meaningful, I fear the erosion of our civilisation will continue.").

Does that mean she thinks the story is *true*? That's the heart of Christianity: believing that God became man in the person of Jesus, who died and was raised, and who promises to share that risen life with us. Right now, I think she talks like someone coopting my faith for political ends that are not what God wants. As Stanley Haurwas says "Jesus is Lord, everything else is bullshit." I want to see her belief in Jesus being Lord, not her belief that a good story can win a civilizational war. That's not what Christianity is for.

Ok- no one has to show you anything! Wtf is wrong with you? You want to see her belief in Jesus being Lord? She publicly declared she’s converted to Christianity.

You don’t get to approve Christians. Something is really wrong on your head if you think you have any authority to judge this woman.

[Anonymous]

Conversion is a major step. It's like saying she got married to score political points for heterosexual marriage with her husband. She's probably not against heterosexual marriage, but there's no way it's the major reason.

I've read her book about Somalia and she comes across as emotionally healthy and level headed

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Conversion is a major step. It's like saying she got married to score political points for heterosexual marriage with her husband. She's probably not against heterosexual marriage, but there's no way it's the major reason.

I've read her book about Somalia and she comes across as emotionally healthy and level headed

+1 I agree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m concerned anyone would convert religions based on ‘civilizational war’

As a Christian I'm hopeful that God will work in her heart through the church she attends, reading the Bible, and meeting other Christians (how he works in all our hearts), but I'm inherently suspicious of these kind of political conversions. I've seen them on the left and the right, and I don't often see them develop in the way that I'd hope a Christian would. Her statement is long on politics and short on any kind of encounter with the Christ, which isn't encouraging.

What is a political religious conversion?

You are suspicious of her? Suspicious about what?

A politically motivated religious conversion. Converting to a religion because you think it matches and supports your politics, rather than because you believe that the claims made by the religion are true. I'm suspicious that she's not actually found faith in Christianity but rather that she's decided Christianity is what matches her politics.

What she presents in the article is essentially that she thinks Christianity is a good story that will help Western Civilization survive ("The lesson I learned from my years with the Muslim Brotherhood was the power of a unifying story, embedded in the foundational texts of Islam, to attract, engage and mobilise the Muslim masses. Unless we offer something as meaningful, I fear the erosion of our civilisation will continue.").

Does that mean she thinks the story is *true*? That's the heart of Christianity: believing that God became man in the person of Jesus, who died and was raised, and who promises to share that risen life with us. Right now, I think she talks like someone coopting my faith for political ends that are not what God wants. As Stanley Haurwas says "Jesus is Lord, everything else is bullshit." I want to see her belief in Jesus being Lord, not her belief that a good story can win a civilizational war. That's not what Christianity is for.

“Yet I would not be truthful if I attributed my embrace of Christianity solely to the realisation that atheism is too weak and divisive a doctrine to fortify us against our menacing foes. I have also turned to Christianity because I ultimately found life without any spiritual solace unendurable — indeed very nearly self-destructive. Atheism failed to answer a simple question: what is the meaning and purpose of life?“

So what about this part?

There are no political religious conversions. That’s something you made up. That’s really (for the lack of a better term) dumb.

None of that professes a belief in the truth of Christianity. It simply doesn't. She doesn't mention Jesus, she doesn't mention a single article of the Christian faith. she doesn't profess any established creed. She talks about what atheism isn't, not what Christianity is. Does she believe Jesus is Lord? I'd love to her say that, I love to hear anyone say that, but she doesn't. I hope that's coming.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Muslim, Atheist, or Christian... Ayaan Hirsi Ali is a psycho mental case and complete opportunist.

I’ve found her writing to be surprisingly thoughtful but I’ve watched her tilt further and further to the political right and it does seem opportunistic.

Oh, so the whole spiel about trying out different religions and seeing what makes sense to you isn’t really what we should do? Now it’s politically motivated and opportunistic?

+1. She's got enough temporal (media, whatever) power that she doesn't need to add religion to the mix to get more power, certainly not in Europe, and Americans accept her as an atheist because she left a different religion. Unless she's thinking of running for office or something, but there's zero indication of that.

I read her post as saying that Christianity vibes best with what she appreciates about western liberal values--and that's why, when she was looking to reconnect with God, out of some need she described in that post, she settled on Christianity. Her quoting Tom Holland underscores that. Not that she sees herself as the vanguard of a newly militant Christianity or something.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m concerned anyone would convert religions based on ‘civilizational war’

As a Christian I'm hopeful that God will work in her heart through the church she attends, reading the Bible, and meeting other Christians (how he works in all our hearts), but I'm inherently suspicious of these kind of political conversions. I've seen them on the left and the right, and I don't often see them develop in the way that I'd hope a Christian would. Her statement is long on politics and short on any kind of encounter with the Christ, which isn't encouraging.

What is a political religious conversion?

You are suspicious of her? Suspicious about what?

A politically motivated religious conversion. Converting to a religion because you think it matches and supports your politics, rather than because you believe that the claims made by the religion are true. I'm suspicious that she's not actually found faith in Christianity but rather that she's decided Christianity is what matches her politics.

What she presents in the article is essentially that she thinks Christianity is a good story that will help Western Civilization survive ("The lesson I learned from my years with the Muslim Brotherhood was the power of a unifying story, embedded in the foundational texts of Islam, to attract, engage and mobilise the Muslim masses. Unless we offer something as meaningful, I fear the erosion of our civilisation will continue.").

Does that mean she thinks the story is *true*? That's the heart of Christianity: believing that God became man in the person of Jesus, who died and was raised, and who promises to share that risen life with us. Right now, I think she talks like someone coopting my faith for political ends that are not what God wants. As Stanley Haurwas says "Jesus is Lord, everything else is bullshit." I want to see her belief in Jesus being Lord, not her belief that a good story can win a civilizational war. That's not what Christianity is for.

“Yet I would not be truthful if I attributed my embrace of Christianity solely to the realisation that atheism is too weak and divisive a doctrine to fortify us against our menacing foes. I have also turned to Christianity because I ultimately found life without any spiritual solace unendurable — indeed very nearly self-destructive. Atheism failed to answer a simple question: what is the meaning and purpose of life?“

So what about this part?

There are no political religious conversions. That’s something you made up. That’s really (for the lack of a better term) dumb.

None of that professes a belief in the truth of Christianity. It simply doesn't. She doesn't mention Jesus, she doesn't mention a single article of the Christian faith. she doesn't profess any established creed. She talks about what atheism isn't, not what Christianity is. Does she believe Jesus is Lord? I'd love to her say that, I love to hear anyone say that, but she doesn't. I hope that's coming.

You wanted her first announcement about this to come out swinging for her belief in the Nicene Creed or something? Belief is a pretty personal thing. Personally I'd be put off by somebody saying something trite like, "I converted and now Jesus loves me!" in her very first post. We'll see what else she says in due time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m concerned anyone would convert religions based on ‘civilizational war’

As a Christian I'm hopeful that God will work in her heart through the church she attends, reading the Bible, and meeting other Christians (how he works in all our hearts), but I'm inherently suspicious of these kind of political conversions. I've seen them on the left and the right, and I don't often see them develop in the way that I'd hope a Christian would. Her statement is long on politics and short on any kind of encounter with the Christ, which isn't encouraging.

What is a political religious conversion?

You are suspicious of her? Suspicious about what?

DP but read the statement. She's very explicit that this is a political conversion - to defend Western civilization and provide a unifying mindset for the West in the global war against "three different but related forces: the resurgence of great-power authoritarianism and expansionism in the forms of the Chinese Communist Party and Vladimir Putin’s Russia; the rise of global Islamism, which threatens to mobilise a vast population against the West; and the viral spread of woke ideology, which is eating into the moral fibre of the next generation." PPP is not being unfair to call this a political conversion; Ali makes it explicit that the conversion is an outgrowth of, and in service to, her political point of view.

“Yet I would not be truthful if I attributed my embrace of Christianity solely to the realisation that atheism is too weak and divisive a doctrine to fortify us against our menacing foes. I have also turned to Christianity because I ultimately found life without any spiritual solace unendurable — indeed very nearly self-destructive. Atheism failed to answer a simple question: what is the meaning and purpose of life?“

No, she is very clear on her personal perspective about her conversion. You are being intellectually dishonest.

She wanted to believe in something, and she feels that Christianity is the something that most closely supports her political beliefs. It's silly to pretend that the argument she leads off with, and spends most of the article laying out in detail, is a subpoint to the "I needed something to believe" angle. She doesn't even say that. She says it's not solely about politics, it's also about spiritual solace. The idea that you could read that, and then be offended that someone calls it a political conversion, is what's intellectually dishonest.

I am surprised by people who are surprised by her rightward drift though. She was shaped by very extreme religious dogma that made no distinction between religion and politics from a young age, she's used to that mindset. She rebelled against it when a huge line was crossed (9/11), and got a lot of public acclaim (and attacks, to be fair) for staking out that position. But you can see by her argument about war of civilizations that she still buys in very deeply to the ideas taught by the Muslim Brotherhood, she's just switched teams. It's a comfortable argument for her, she knows it inside and out, she can make a convincing case for it from the Muslim, atheist West, and now Christian West POVs. It's like watching a really talented mock trial participant at this point.

"I still have a great deal to learn about Christianity," she wrote in an essay published this week. "I discover a little more at church each Sunday. But I have recognized, in my own long journey through a wilderness of fear and self-doubt, that there is a better way to manage the challenges of existence than either Islam or unbelief had to offer.”

She’s a new Christian. She has publicly declared she is a Christian, admits she has much to learn about Christianity, attends church, and openly admits Christianity is helping her through her LONG JOURNEY of FEAR and SELF-DOUBT.

Each person develops a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

I can’t believe you are a Christian and demanding this woman meet your expectations. Get over yourself, my goodness. That’s crazy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m concerned anyone would convert religions based on ‘civilizational war’

As a Christian I'm hopeful that God will work in her heart through the church she attends, reading the Bible, and meeting other Christians (how he works in all our hearts), but I'm inherently suspicious of these kind of political conversions. I've seen them on the left and the right, and I don't often see them develop in the way that I'd hope a Christian would. Her statement is long on politics and short on any kind of encounter with the Christ, which isn't encouraging.

What is a political religious conversion?

You are suspicious of her? Suspicious about what?

A politically motivated religious conversion. Converting to a religion because you think it matches and supports your politics, rather than because you believe that the claims made by the religion are true. I'm suspicious that she's not actually found faith in Christianity but rather that she's decided Christianity is what matches her politics.

What she presents in the article is essentially that she thinks Christianity is a good story that will help Western Civilization survive ("The lesson I learned from my years with the Muslim Brotherhood was the power of a unifying story, embedded in the foundational texts of Islam, to attract, engage and mobilise the Muslim masses. Unless we offer something as meaningful, I fear the erosion of our civilisation will continue.").

Does that mean she thinks the story is *true*? That's the heart of Christianity: believing that God became man in the person of Jesus, who died and was raised, and who promises to share that risen life with us. Right now, I think she talks like someone coopting my faith for political ends that are not what God wants. As Stanley Haurwas says "Jesus is Lord, everything else is bullshit." I want to see her belief in Jesus being Lord, not her belief that a good story can win a civilizational war. That's not what Christianity is for.

“Yet I would not be truthful if I attributed my embrace of Christianity solely to the realisation that atheism is too weak and divisive a doctrine to fortify us against our menacing foes. I have also turned to Christianity because I ultimately found life without any spiritual solace unendurable — indeed very nearly self-destructive. Atheism failed to answer a simple question: what is the meaning and purpose of life?“

So what about this part?

There are no political religious conversions. That’s something you made up. That’s really (for the lack of a better term) dumb.

None of that professes a belief in the truth of Christianity. It simply doesn't. She doesn't mention Jesus, she doesn't mention a single article of the Christian faith. she doesn't profess any established creed. She talks about what atheism isn't, not what Christianity is. Does she believe Jesus is Lord? I'd love to her say that, I love to hear anyone say that, but she doesn't. I hope that's coming.

You wanted her first announcement about this to come out swinging for her belief in the Nicene Creed or something? Belief is a pretty personal thing. Personally I'd be put off by somebody saying something trite like, "I converted and now Jesus loves me!" in her very first post. We'll see what else she says in due time.

+1 apparently now dcum wants her to pray publicly and put God in her social media bio. 🙄 It’s suddenly not “performative.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m concerned anyone would convert religions based on ‘civilizational war’

As a Christian I'm hopeful that God will work in her heart through the church she attends, reading the Bible, and meeting other Christians (how he works in all our hearts), but I'm inherently suspicious of these kind of political conversions. I've seen them on the left and the right, and I don't often see them develop in the way that I'd hope a Christian would. Her statement is long on politics and short on any kind of encounter with the Christ, which isn't encouraging.

What is a political religious conversion?

You are suspicious of her? Suspicious about what?

A politically motivated religious conversion. Converting to a religion because you think it matches and supports your politics, rather than because you believe that the claims made by the religion are true. I'm suspicious that she's not actually found faith in Christianity but rather that she's decided Christianity is what matches her politics.

What she presents in the article is essentially that she thinks Christianity is a good story that will help Western Civilization survive ("The lesson I learned from my years with the Muslim Brotherhood was the power of a unifying story, embedded in the foundational texts of Islam, to attract, engage and mobilise the Muslim masses. Unless we offer something as meaningful, I fear the erosion of our civilisation will continue.").

Does that mean she thinks the story is *true*? That's the heart of Christianity: believing that God became man in the person of Jesus, who died and was raised, and who promises to share that risen life with us. Right now, I think she talks like someone coopting my faith for political ends that are not what God wants. As Stanley Haurwas says "Jesus is Lord, everything else is bullshit." I want to see her belief in Jesus being Lord, not her belief that a good story can win a civilizational war. That's not what Christianity is for.

“Yet I would not be truthful if I attributed my embrace of Christianity solely to the realisation that atheism is too weak and divisive a doctrine to fortify us against our menacing foes. I have also turned to Christianity because I ultimately found life without any spiritual solace unendurable — indeed very nearly self-destructive. Atheism failed to answer a simple question: what is the meaning and purpose of life?“

So what about this part?

There are no political religious conversions. That’s something you made up. That’s really (for the lack of a better term) dumb.

None of that professes a belief in the truth of Christianity. It simply doesn't. She doesn't mention Jesus, she doesn't mention a single article of the Christian faith. she doesn't profess any established creed. She talks about what atheism isn't, not what Christianity is. Does she believe Jesus is Lord? I'd love to her say that, I love to hear anyone say that, but she doesn't. I hope that's coming.

Omg how do you see yourself as part of her life and her story? She has nothing to prove to you. Main character syndrome out of control, you aren’t in this. It’s her life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m concerned anyone would convert religions based on ‘civilizational war’

As a Christian I'm hopeful that God will work in her heart through the church she attends, reading the Bible, and meeting other Christians (how he works in all our hearts), but I'm inherently suspicious of these kind of political conversions. I've seen them on the left and the right, and I don't often see them develop in the way that I'd hope a Christian would. Her statement is long on politics and short on any kind of encounter with the Christ, which isn't encouraging.

What is a political religious conversion?

You are suspicious of her? Suspicious about what?

DP but read the statement. She's very explicit that this is a political conversion - to defend Western civilization and provide a unifying mindset for the West in the global war against "three different but related forces: the resurgence of great-power authoritarianism and expansionism in the forms of the Chinese Communist Party and Vladimir Putin’s Russia; the rise of global Islamism, which threatens to mobilise a vast population against the West; and the viral spread of woke ideology, which is eating into the moral fibre of the next generation." PPP is not being unfair to call this a political conversion; Ali makes it explicit that the conversion is an outgrowth of, and in service to, her political point of view.

“Yet I would not be truthful if I attributed my embrace of Christianity solely to the realisation that atheism is too weak and divisive a doctrine to fortify us against our menacing foes. I have also turned to Christianity because I ultimately found life without any spiritual solace unendurable — indeed very nearly self-destructive. Atheism failed to answer a simple question: what is the meaning and purpose of life?“

No, she is very clear on her personal perspective about her conversion. You are being intellectually dishonest.

She wanted to believe in something, and she feels that Christianity is the something that most closely supports her political beliefs. It's silly to pretend that the argument she leads off with, and spends most of the article laying out in detail, is a subpoint to the "I needed something to believe" angle. She doesn't even say that. She says it's not solely about politics, it's also about spiritual solace. The idea that you could read that, and then be offended that someone calls it a political conversion, is what's intellectually dishonest.

I am surprised by people who are surprised by her rightward drift though. She was shaped by very extreme religious dogma that made no distinction between religion and politics from a young age, she's used to that mindset. She rebelled against it when a huge line was crossed (9/11), and got a lot of public acclaim (and attacks, to be fair) for staking out that position. But you can see by her argument about war of civilizations that she still buys in very deeply to the ideas taught by the Muslim Brotherhood, she's just switched teams. It's a comfortable argument for her, she knows it inside and out, she can make a convincing case for it from the Muslim, atheist West, and now Christian West POVs. It's like watching a really talented mock trial participant at this point.

"I still have a great deal to learn about Christianity," she wrote in an essay published this week. "I discover a little more at church each Sunday. But I have recognized, in my own long journey through a wilderness of fear and self-doubt, that there is a better way to manage the challenges of existence than either Islam or unbelief had to offer.”

She’s a new Christian. She has publicly declared she is a Christian, admits she has much to learn about Christianity, attends church, and openly admits Christianity is helping her through her LONG JOURNEY of FEAR and SELF-DOUBT.

Each person develops a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

I can’t believe you are a Christian and demanding this woman meet your expectations. Get over yourself, my goodness. That’s crazy.

I'm not a Christian. There are more than two people in this thread. Someone upthread got offended that a person would dare, DARE I say, call this a political conversion. I'm simply pointing out that she herself extols the political side of her conversion far more, and in much greater detail, than the pretty glossed-over "I missed having faith" and "I go to Church now" and "atheism and Islam didn't cut it for me." I don't care why she does what she does, but I do care that people are calling anybody "intellectually dishonest" for the most honest reading of this announcement. She details for like 3 pages the geopolitical and personal political reasoning of her foray into Christianity, then throws in some soft vagueness around how she's learning and she's sure it will be great when she understands it. That's a political conversion, however offended you are by the terminology. And maybe she'll develop a personal relationship with JC, like you presume she will, and that's swell. But it's not the basis of her conversion, in her own words, and you deciding that you're Head Christian In Charge of Not Being Allowed to Notice the Obvious is . . . well, it feels political.