# Prominent atheist, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, converts to Christianity **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 16, 2023, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prominent-atheist-ayaan-hirsi-ali-converts-to-christianity/993260 "2023-11-16T19:32:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2023, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prominent-atheist-ayaan-hirsi-ali-converts-to-christianity/993260/21 "2023-11-16T22:15:43Z")
I identify as Christian, and the values mentioned by Running Coach are the major reason. I don’t believe in a literal resurrection, virgin birth, ect. ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2023, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prominent-atheist-ayaan-hirsi-ali-converts-to-christianity/993260/22 "2023-11-16T22:20:43Z")
Yeah, they can be found in many religions. And who knows what Jesus actually said? The gospels were written decades after he walked the earth. I realize that many say I’m not Christian, and that really doesn’t concern me. There are many of us who don’t take the Bible literally. ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2023, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prominent-atheist-ayaan-hirsi-ali-converts-to-christianity/993260/23 "2023-11-16T22:36:00Z")
Weird article, When she says “Christianity outgrew its dogmatic stage” I thought WTF? And her complaining about “woke” also seemed strange, and as others have noted, has nothing to do with whether you believe in Christianity. I’ve known various people in my lifetime who have had repeated and radical changes in worldview – capitalism to communism then back again, or nontheist to dogmatically religious, etc. – and I think some of these people are just searching for something. When they think they’ve found it they latch onto it strongly and dogmatically. Eventually they stumble onto a different view and they latch onto that just as dogmatically. They are eternally searching but choose their path without adequate thought. Sometimes it’s just because of the people they happen to be hanging out with. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2023, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prominent-atheist-ayaan-hirsi-ali-converts-to-christianity/993260/24 "2023-11-16T22:43:38Z")
Those values have nothing to do with Christianity. I’m not a Christian and I think those are all fine values. The core of Christianity is the worship of Christ. Without it, you’re just someone who thinks Jesus said some nice things. Which he did, IMO. But so did a lot of other people. ETA: I missed your second post while typing this. I mean, you can call yourself what you want, but I’d feel I was disrespecting Christianity if I called myself a Christian. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2023, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prominent-atheist-ayaan-hirsi-ali-converts-to-christianity/993260/25 "2023-11-16T22:49:49Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > IMHO, most conversions are for social reasons, not religious ones Yep: > **[Recently Born-Again Christian Finally Has Social Life](https://www.theonion.com/recently-born-again-christian-finally-has-social-life-1819565901)** > > GASTONIA, SC–Eight months ago, Larry Dunne was alone. He didn't have a friend in the world. But all that changed with his baptism at the New Hearts Fundamentalist Church. Ever since becoming a born-again Christian, Dunne has a friend through Jesus.... ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2023, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prominent-atheist-ayaan-hirsi-ali-converts-to-christianity/993260/26 "2023-11-17T00:23:25Z")
Sounds reminiscent of Milo Yiannopolis declaring himself Catholic in order to continue chasing the alt-right grift. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2023, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prominent-atheist-ayaan-hirsi-ali-converts-to-christianity/993260/27 "2023-11-17T00:28:22Z")
> [@Larry\_Borgia](#): > > I will go to my grave baffled by this. Both Jesus and St. Paul repeatedly stress that Christianity is nothing without Faith in Christ as the savior. All the values @running_coach listed can be found in many religions, and don’t require any belief in God. I don’t know what baffles you. Some people believe in Christianity - that is, that Jesus is the son of God, etc., etc… At its best, Christianity exemplifies values of tolerance, love, and compassion. Many other religions also stress such values - they aren’t exclusive to Christianity, for sure. Or even exclusive to religion; atheists such as me often also espouse such values. I doubt you disagree with anything in my previous paragraph. And I don’t feel particularly argumentative, just curious. I’m just baffled by what baffles you! ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2023, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prominent-atheist-ayaan-hirsi-ali-converts-to-christianity/993260/28 "2023-11-17T00:31:14Z")
To quote the prominent theologian Popeye, “I yam what I yam”. What other people think doesn’t matter too much to me. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2023, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prominent-atheist-ayaan-hirsi-ali-converts-to-christianity/993260/29 "2023-11-17T00:40:26Z")
Ok, that’s cool. I still don’t understand and I doubt I ever will, but if identifying as a Christian who doesn’t believe in the divinity of Christ makes you happy, knock yourself out. In other surprising celebrity reversal news, Snoop Dogg says he’s quit smoking weed. ---
**Author:** ![Chingon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chingon/32/17645_2.png) [@Chingon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chingon)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2023, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prominent-atheist-ayaan-hirsi-ali-converts-to-christianity/993260/30 "2023-11-17T00:43:52Z")
Anti-woke is it’s own religion. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2023, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prominent-atheist-ayaan-hirsi-ali-converts-to-christianity/993260/31 "2023-11-17T00:49:41Z")
Ok, one last post. Jesus said a lot of cool things. I agree with a lot of them, though I disagree with some. Yoda and uncle Ben Parker said cool things too. But the core message of Christ, the message that permeates the New Testament, is to have faith in Jesus as God incarnate. If you believe Christ said good things but not that faith in him will save you, you aren’t a Christian, any more than I’m a Buddhist because there are a lot of cool things in Buddhist scriptures. I can’t stop you from identifying as such, and I wouldn’t want to, but it’s contradictory. It’s like if I called myself a baseball fan, despite finding the game boring and avoiding it. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2023, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prominent-atheist-ayaan-hirsi-ali-converts-to-christianity/993260/32 "2023-11-17T00:55:15Z")
> [@Larry\_Borgia](#): > > It’s like if I called myself a baseball fan, despite finding the game boring and avoiding it. In my experience, most baseball fans do find it a little boring. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2023, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prominent-atheist-ayaan-hirsi-ali-converts-to-christianity/993260/33 "2023-11-17T01:02:45Z")
The only downside is that hyper-Christian types will be going nuts blabbering about this conversion, but they can be tuned out. In general I view people who do such complete about-faces (whether it has to do with abortion rights, GMOs, vaccines or whatever) with a degree of skepticism. It’s nice when a convert aligns with my thinking, but you wonder how much the announced change reflects genuine beliefs as opposed to getting love and attention from their new allies. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2023, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prominent-atheist-ayaan-hirsi-ali-converts-to-christianity/993260/34 "2023-11-17T01:04:37Z")
I never said that agreeing with Christian values makes a person a Christian. I personally don’t think it does. I don’t think we disagree on anything, do we? ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2023, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prominent-atheist-ayaan-hirsi-ali-converts-to-christianity/993260/35 "2023-11-17T01:09:18Z")
As an atheist, I’m more than happy to lose Ayaan Hirsi Ali to the “other side.” ---
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2023, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prominent-atheist-ayaan-hirsi-ali-converts-to-christianity/993260/36 "2023-11-17T01:17:43Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > ownside is that hyper-Christian types will be going nuts blabbering about this conversion, but they can be tuned out. > > In general I view people who do such complete about-faces (whether it has to do with abortion rights, GMOs, vaccines or whatever) with a degree of skepticism. It’s nice when a convert aligns with my thinking, but you wonder how much the announced change reflects genuine beliefs as oppose What do you think makes you a Christian? ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2023, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prominent-atheist-ayaan-hirsi-ali-converts-to-christianity/993260/37 "2023-11-17T02:18:52Z")
As someone who grew up in an environment of believers and even went to religious schools through part of my education, I fully understand how a lot of people choose to change religious affiliations **not** out of an endorsement of a specific theological/soteriological school or doctrine but because it provides them _subjectively_ with a greater and/or better sense of spiritual fellowship and community than what they had before and fits better **their** value principles. Just from the linked article we do not learn what tradition of Christianity has Ayaan Hirsi Ali adopted. The article itself seems to signify that her choice is because she believes Western values can use being backed up by a spiritual tradition of belief beyond the material, and because _subjectively_ she “found life without any spiritual solace unendurable” so she looked around and found a source that coincided with that preexisting value judgement. So it is a case of a sociopolitical and self-validation motivations. (Meanwhile for sure it’s always fascinating to watch _both_ committed believers _and_ nonbelievers “gatekeeping” a religious identity.) ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2023, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prominent-atheist-ayaan-hirsi-ali-converts-to-christianity/993260/38 "2023-11-17T02:44:05Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > (Meanwhile for sure it’s always fascinating to watch _both_ committed believers _and_ nonbelievers “gatekeeping” a religious identity.) Hey, I’m with you there. I stopped using scare-quotes, qualifiers, and the like to refer to Christians with repugnant beliefs because I came to accept that… there’s a lot about Christianity that’s repugnant. Who am I, as an atheist, to deny anyone their identity, especially when it seems to actually cohere pretty well to what’s in the damn book (and after all, the book is kind of a “choose your own adventure” affair anyway)? ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2023, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prominent-atheist-ayaan-hirsi-ali-converts-to-christianity/993260/39 "2023-11-17T02:57:46Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > In my experience, most baseball fans do find it a little boring. It’s the perfect sport to watch _while_ you get in some good book reading time. Back when I had cable, I “watched” a lot Mariners while I was concurrently reading a lot of books. That’s the biggest thing I miss not having cable. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2023, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prominent-atheist-ayaan-hirsi-ali-converts-to-christianity/993260/40 "2023-11-17T04:23:57Z")
> [@MyFootsZZZ](#): > > What do you think makes you a Christian? Is that question directed to me (as the reply icon suggests) or at @Jackmannii, who you quoted? Anyway, I can answer: My definition of a Christian is someone who believes that Jesus Christ is the son of God, that he died for people’s sins, and that he was resurrected. If you have Christian-influenced values but don’t believe that, to me you are not literally a Christian. But if someone wants to call themselves a Christian because they share the ethical values of Christianity, it’s no skin off my nose. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prominent-atheist-ayaan-hirsi-ali-converts-to-christianity/993260.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prominent-atheist-ayaan-hirsi-ali-converts-to-christianity/993260.md?page=3)