Conversion

Attempts have been made to convert me on several occasions.

The first attempt, within memory, was by a group of Christians I had out of curiosity attached myself to. They used every opportunity to convince me of the error of my ways and the wonders of Jesus. Apparently their version of Christ was just waiting to pounce upon me and fill me with-well, I guess the holy spirit. They gave me books about gangsters who had accepted Jesus and turned their lives around. I found the narratives simple and superficial.

The worst part perhaps was their right-wing politics.

Most of their stories fitted in with my hypothesis on fabrication. Celebrities who had embraced Christianity, which I knew were untrue tales of conversion. Atheists who on their death beds had embraced the Lord, assented to by clerics who had pushed themselves towards the death bed and were alone when they heard the apparent turnarounds, or who made such claims years latter.

Their doubts niggle to such a degree that they cannot believe people may not believe and have thereby to fabricate conversions!

Mostly I remember the kind of playground bullying to make me convert and the silliness of their arguments.

Two Moslems have attempted the same. Both employed the same arguments, no doubt picked up in Mosques. There is no contradiction in the Koran (there is plenty but anyway such an assertion proves nothing), the words of the Koran cannot be found elsewhere (they can, in the Torah, but such an assertion proves nothing), and present day Science can be found in the Koran-just of course both obscurely narrated and difficult to find.

Like the Christians, they tried to beat me down and bully me until I submitted. One used insults and highly dubious frames of reference which in hindsight made me understand why some people give in and convert. The process can be very intimidating, using verifiable brainwashing techniques, falsifications and aggression.