Atheism and rational thinking do not go hand in hand. Being an atheist does not guarantee that you possess above average critical thinking skills. This was confirmed to me twice last Friday after speaking with two former atheists.

The first is now a Mormon missionary trying to sell me the religious product offered by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He explained to me that he was an atheist until he was 16 years old. After searching out a few religions, he got a good feeling about Mormonism (I can’t imagine what about Mormonism made him feel good) – one that filled him from head to toe. Then he read the Book of Mormon and became convinced that it could not have possibly been made up by Joseph Smith (even though there is no independent external evidence for Hebrews living in the Americas). After much praying, he felt like God answered him in some indescribable manner and he is now 100% certain of the truth of his religious beliefs.

The second is a Christian of Protestant persuasion (and a close friend of Ray Comfort if that helps you imagine just what I mean) that was preaching on the main drag of my campus. I drew him into a conversation and he explained to me how he use to be a hardcore atheist. Of course, he was also an adulterer who was about to ruin his marriage when, during a New Age seminar of some sort, he became overwhelmed with emotion and had a born-again Christian experience – also virtually indescribable.  And the Bible must be the True Word of God because he is able to read it with Holy Spirit Eyes. That must be a neat trick.

What both of these personal testimonies illustrate is how the process of converting from an atheist to a particular religion in my experience and interactions – whether that is Christianity or Mormonism – is an emotional experience not an intellectual or rational one. Sure, both of these individuals could give me a host of seemingly ‘rational’ arguments to support their religious beliefs – but this is all a rationalization after the fact. Examined closely and critically they all fail to be convincing to a non-believer. Push these converts far enough and you will see precisely what I did – the conversion depended on a moment or even a period of intellectual weakness – a failure to think critically.

Rational thinking, therefore, is not something that comes automatically just because a person has decided that he or she does not believe in a god. It must be learned and nurtured. During the course of my conversation with these two individuals I tried to emphasize the importance of actual evidence while they were emphasizing the importance of ‘faith’. The Christian preacher reminded me of the many ‘absurdities’ that Mormons believed but was incapable of seeing how believing in virgin births, resurrecting bodies, and many of the other preposterous tales in the Old Testament were equally ‘absurd’.  The latter made sense theologically because he already bought into the absurd theology.

There is, therefore, some value in ‘preaching to the choir’. Do  not take it for granted that just because someone you know claims to be an atheist that he or she can think clearly and logically about religious claims or can separate the emotional pull of religion from its evidential value.