Richard Morgan, active member of RichardDawkins.net and self-professed “Dawkensian atheist” converted to Christianity in 2008 after a long search for social acceptance and truth. Will he stop there?
He felt like Richard Dawkins ‘saved’ him from his many tries at finding meaning in faith. His story is interesting. He converted to Mormonism at age 16, but as a Mormon missionary, he lost his faith. He then tried many religions, including positive thinking, numerology, and Hinduism.
Check out the interview at Premier Christian Radio. This hour long interview covers Morgan’s Journey, as well as the journey of Ed Turner, an atheist who was also converted to atheism by Dawkins et al., and remains atheist.
Morgan began arguing with Christian apologist David Robertson, and even wrote a song making fun of him (look for the song D.R.). But what happened was is that Morgan saw other atheists calling Robertson a liar and a jerk, and Morgan thought that this was untrue and unfair. Of course, there are unintelligent trolls in every camp, but this pushed Morgan into a friendship with Robertson.
But what made him convert? Two things. First, Robertson asked him two simple questions. Why are you an atheist? What would it take to convince you that God is real? Morgan, who was used to philosophical arguments rather than more personal, emotional arguments, was taken aback. He realized that he was not open to actually being convinced otherwise. Second, he remembered the following scripture, which led to his conversion experience, an experience of love which made him a believer:
We love Him because He first loved us. (1 John 4:19)
This conversion, and discussion in the interview, bring out a few interesting things that Christians might want to observe in their outreach:
- We should pray before posting responses when arguing with unbelievers
- Often, simple repetition of the truth of God’s love go around philosophical barriers that opponents have in their mind
- We must engage respectfully and kindly (argh!) and consistently
- The *experience* of God in genuine conversion is critical