It’s easy to run into conversion and deconversion narratives: atheist becomes Christian, Christian loses faith, so on and so forth. Where nonbelief is involved, however, I’m probably too partisan. Maybe looking at conversions between different religions is a better way to get a handle on what is going on.

Here’s an interesting example: Jerald F. Dirks, a Minister of the United Methodist Church who converted to Islam. It seems he became very impressed with what he perceived as the moral integrity of the Muslims around him. It’s fascinating to me, as it seems Dirks’s mentality and mine, where supernatural beliefs are concerned, has very little overlap. I don’t know if we would have anything relevant to say to one another. That’s disconcerting.

Such “reversion to Islam” narratives are very popular among Muslims, as you might imagine. But then again, that’s true for just about any group with opinions about religion.