List of former atheists

This is a list of notable persons who formerly accepted atheism, then abandoned it for a different philosophical orientation. The rate of occurrence of people abandoning atheism is to some extent uncertain. In one study of the United States 0.3% of Americans were listed as people who were former atheists. The same study indicated that 1.4% of Americans from non-atheist homes adopted atheism and that in total 1.6% of Americans described themselves as atheists. [ [http://religions.pewforum.org/pdf/report-religious-landscape-study-chapter-2.pdf Changes in American religious affiliation - Pew] ]

Converts to Christianity

*Steve Beren - Former member of the Socialist Workers Party (United States) who became a Christian conservative politician. [ [http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2003184531_rams09.html Seattle Times] "In 1975, he threw off his atheism and became a Christian."]
*Anders Borg - Sweden's Minister for Finance. [ [http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118434936941966055.html?mod=home_we_banner_left Wall Street Journal] ]
*Whittaker Chambers - Former Communist turned conservative writer. [ [http://www.heritage.org/Research/PoliticalPhilosophy/hl832.cfm Heritage Foundation] ] [ [http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/terrorists_spies/spies/hiss/8.html TruTV] : "He had been an atheist and had been kicked out of Columbia University for writing a play considered blasphemous."]
*Francis Collins - Geneticist who was an atheist until age 27, but then converted to Christianity. [ [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-2220484,00.html Sunday Times] "Collins was an atheist until the age of 27, when as a young doctor he was impressed by the strength that faith gave to some of his most critical patients."]
*Joy Davidman - Poet and wife of C. S. Lewis. [ [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/01/01/RVGQFGC5DO1.DTL San Francisco Chronicle] : At 8, she read H. G. Wells' "The Outline of History" and pronounced herself an atheist.]
*André Frossard - French journalist who was atheist, but converted to Catholicism in 1935. [ [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,982508,00.html?promoid=googlep Time Magazine obituary] ]
*Eugene D. Genovese - Historian who went from Stalinist to conservative. [ [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1282/is_n3_v49/ai_19170058 Interview in the National Review] : FMG:You've mentioned that you now believe in God. How recent is that?
*Eugene Genovese: It's in the last two years. You know, in The Southern Front I still spoke as an atheist; one reviewer said that I protest too much. When the book came off the press and I had to reread it, I started wrestling with the problem philosophically, and I lost.]
*Nicky Gumbel - Raised atheist and became an Evangelical Anglican. He is known for his work with the Alpha course. [ [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2001/12/26/nvic26.xml The Telegraph] ]
*Keir Hardie - Raised atheist and became a Christian socialist. [ [http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/PRhardie.htm Spartacus Schoolnet] ]
*Anna Haycraft - Raised as a member of Britain's Comtist and atheistic "Church of Humanity", but became a conservative Catholic in adulthood. [ [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&targetRule=10&xml=/news/2005/03/10/db1001.xml Telegraph] "She reacted strongly against her parents' beliefs and became a Catholic at 19, because she 'no longer found it possible to disbelieve in God.'" (pg 2)]
*Ignace Lepp - French psychiatrist whose parents were freethinkers and who joined the Communist party at age fifteen. He broke with the party in 1937 and eventually became a Catholic priest. [ [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,896909,00.html Time Magazine from July 19, 1963] "Lepp has the credentials to explain the mind of the atheist: he was one himself for 27 years."]
*Félix Leseur - Doctor turned priest. His conversion, in part, came by efforts of his wife who was declared a Servant of God by the Catholic Church. [ [http://www.catholic.net/rcc/Periodicals/Faith/0102-97/bio.html Catholic Net] ]
*C. S. Lewis - writer who became an atheist as a young man but returned to Christianity and wrote many books about his faith. [ [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/questionofgod/twolives/lewisbio.html PBS special] "His pre-university tour of duty in World War I only solidified his atheism,"]
* Alister McGrath - Biochemist and Christian theologian. Founder of 'Scientific theology' and critic of Richard Dawkins in books like "" and The Dawkins Delusion?. [ [http://www.beliefnet.com/story/172/story_17216_1.html Beliefnet article by McGrath] Quote "When I was growing up in Belfast, Northern Ireland, during the 1960s, I came to the view that God was an infantile illusion, suitable for the elderly, the intellectually feeble, and the fraudulently religious"] [ [http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2006/11/03/faith/19_10_3711_2_06.txt North County Times] ]
*Lacey Mosley - Vocalist and lyricist for Alternative metal band Flyleaf. [ [http://www.christianitytoday.com/teens/special/flyleaf.html Interview for Christianity Today] : I was so outspoken about not believing in God. I had real problems with Christians.] ]
*William J. Murray - Son of Madalyn Murray O'Hair who became a Born again preacher. [ [http://www.austinchronicle.com/issues/vol15/issue35/pols.atheists.side2.html Austin Chronicle] ]
*Bernard Nathanson - A founder of NARAL Pro-Choice America who dubbed himself a "Jewish atheist", but later became a Pro-life activist who converted to Catholicism. [ [http://www.catholicherald.com/articles/00articles/nathan.htm Catholic Herald] ]
*Marvin Olasky - Former Marxist turned Christian conservative, he edits the Christian World (magazine). [ [http://www.boundless.org/1999/features/a0000097.html Marxism and Me by Marvin Olasky] : My communism was based on atheism, and when I could no longer be an atheist, I resigned from the party.] [ [http://www.creators.com/opinion/marvin-olasky-about.html Creators Syndicate Profile] ]
*Enoch Powell - Conservative Party (UK) member who converted to Anglicanism. [ [http://politics.guardian.co.uk/politicsobituaries/story/0,1441,563473,00.html The Guardian's obituary of Powell] ]
*George R. Price - Geneticist who became an Evangelical Christian and wrote about the New Testament. Later he moderated his evangelistic tendencies and switched from religious writing to working with the homeless. [ [http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:ke0BNb4bV6UJ:wwwhomes.uni-bielefeld.de/gjaeger/slidesGiC.pdf+%22&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=4 University of Bielefeld] ] [ [http://www.gametheory.net/News/Items/009.html Chronicle of Higher Education article obituary(Copied by Gametheory.net)] has the following "Because George was a fire-spitting atheist and Julia a devout Christian, their relationship was contentious from the beginning. After eight years, the marriage ended in acrimony." "On June 7th [1970] I gave in and admitted that God existed," he explained to friends.]
*Gerald Priestland - News correspondent who discusses having once been the "school atheist" in Something Understood: An Autobiography. He became a Quaker after an emotional breakdown. [ [http://www.antiqbook.co.uk/boox/bgo/9292.shtml Antiqbook] ]
*Dame Cicely Saunders - Templeton Prize and Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize winning nurse known for palliative care. She converted to Christianity as a young woman. [ [http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:0F2Yj0XdD3QJ:chsd.uow.edu.au/Publications/2003_pubs/Ian%2520CCP%2520Workshop.pdf+%22cicely+saunders%22+atheism&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=6&gl=us Article from the University of Wollongong] ]
*Edith Stein - Phenomenologist philosopher who converted to Catholicism and became a Discalced Carmelite nun; declared a saint by John Paul II. [ [http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/hfs.cgi/00/231663.ctl University of Chicago] "made a spiritual journey from atheism to agnosticism before eventually converting to Catholicism"]
*Peter Steele - Lead singer of Type O Negative. [ [http://www.decibelmagazine.com/features/apr2007/typeonegative.aspx Decibel Magazine] ]
*Stewart Traill - Founder of the Church of Bible Understanding. [ [http://books.google.com/books?id=vnAk9WefhfwC&pg=PA109&lpg=PA109&dq=%22stewart+traill%22+cobu&source=web&ots=OceZTkw5o_&sig=95dP_nY6p6X4OshY8o2hQ2jBoMo Larson's Book of World Religions and Alternative Spirituality By Bob Larson, pg 109] ]
*Fay Weldon - British novelist and feminist. [ [http://www.guardian.co.uk/religion/Story/0,,1865034,00.html The Guardian] Quote: Even though she was raised an atheist, in the past three or four years she has been going to church. In her eighth decade, she has even submitted to being baptised.]
*John C. Wright - Science fiction author [ [http://www.theadvocates.org/celebrities/john-c-wright.html Advocates for self-government (A Libertarian site)] says of him "A lifelong 'vehement, argumentative, proselytizing atheist,' Wright suffered a heart attack in 2003 and soon afterwards had a 'supernatural' religious experience that made him, he wrote, 'aware of a spiritual dimension of reality of which I had hitherto been unaware... I was altered down to the root of my being.' Wright became a Christian] ,now a Catholic. [ [http://johncwright.livejournal.com/155936.html John C. Wright's livejournal] "After three years of prayer, thought, and debate, and an honest attempt to follow where the spirit leads me, I am joining the Roman Catholic Church this Easter."]

"See also:" List of notable people who converted to Christianity from agnosticism or atheism

Converts to Islam

* A. R. Rahman "(Initially raised Hindu, but was atheist as a teenager until conversion to Islam)" - Indian music composer [ [http://members.tripod.com/gopalhome/arrbio.html The Complete Biography of A.R.Rahman - The A.R.Rahman Page ] ]
*Zhang Chengzhi - contemporary Hui Chinese author; raised as an atheist. [* ]
*Charles le Gai Eaton - British diplomat and writer. [ [http://www.radicalmiddleway.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=26&Itemid=43 The Radical Middle Way - Hasan Le Gai Eaton ] ]
* Yusuf Islam "(Cat Stevens") - British musician and singer (had a nominally Christian upbringing, but never was a believer) [ [http://www.majicat.com/yusufislam/dailymail1998.htm Daily Times article reposted at his site] ]
* Jeffrey Lang - American, Professor in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Kansas. (Raised Catholic, but atheist from age 18 to conversion) [ [http://www.welcome-back.org/profile/jeffrey_lang.shtml Profile at a page for converts] ] ["Struggling to Surrender, Some Impressions of an American Convert to Islam " by Dr. Jeffrey Lang, [http://www.amana-publications.com/amana_bestsellers.shtml] ]
* Martin Lings - a widely acclaimed British scholar. He was raised as a Protestant, became an atheist, and later converted to Islam. [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/29/obituaries/29Lings.html?ex=1183521600&en=60d8e19089ae58a7&ei=5070 Martin Lings, a Sufi Writer on Islamic Ideas, Dies at 96 - New York Times ] ]
*Mos Def - American rapper and actor. [ [http://www.beliefnet.com/story/75/story_7526_1.html You're Gonna Serve Somebody] ]

Converts to Judaism

*Will Herberg - A posthumous collection of his writing is "From Marxism to Judaism" [ [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0748-0814(1989)7%3A1%3C247%3AFMTJCE%3E2.0.CO%3B2-5 Journal of Law and Religion] Described his Jewish family as "passionate atheists" and he was active in Marxist groups until the 1930s.]
*Hilary Putnam - Philosopher raised in a Jewish-atheist home. [ [http://www.boston.com/news/globe/magazine/articles/2006/07/30/finding_my_religion/?page=3 "Finding My Religion" Boston Globe (July 30, 2006)] ]
*Mary Doria Russell - An author who'd been baptized Catholic before being atheist for 20 years. [ [http://www.cyberhaven.com/books/sciencefiction/marydoriarussell.html Amazon.com interview] : Amazon interviewer: What brought you to Judaism after 20 years of being an atheist?
*Russell: I became a mom...I became aware of the fact that my ethics and my morality were rooted in religion, and yet I could not bring myself to go back to Christianity.]

Converts to Hinduism

*John Dobson - Atheist who joined the Hindu Vedanta Society. [ [http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/astronomy/dobson_astronomer_000507.html Interview at Space.com] Quote: "So I became an atheist, a belligerent atheist. If anybody started a conversation about the subject, I was a belligerent atheist."]

Other ex-atheists

*Gabrielle Carey - Australian author of Puberty Blues who was raised atheist but converted to Catholicism and then explored other theologies. [ [http://www.abc.net.au/austory/transcripts/s685468.htm ABC Australia] .] [ [http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20717523-5003900,00.html The Australian] ]
*Antony Flew - Philosopher who has become a non-religious deist. [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/programmes/belief/scripts/antony_flew.html BBC Interview] Quote: "What I was converted to was the existence of an Aristotelian God, and Aristotle's God had no interest in human affairs at all."]
*Moses Hess - Socialist philosopher and Left Hegelian who first influenced Karl Marx in his criticism of religion, but who later tried to combine the pantheism of Baruch Spinoza with Hegelianism. [ [http://72.14.209.104/search?q=cache:Nw2ymWM1ZxkJ:assets.cambridge.org/97805213/87569/frontmatter/9780521387569_frontmatter.pdf+%22moses+hess%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=7&gl=us Moses Hess: The Holy History of Mankind and other writings] ]
*J. Neil Schulman - Libertarian science fiction writer who states he met, or experienced, God and that this ended his atheism. The first such experience would have occurred when he was 35. That stated he remains skeptical of "the church" and does not belong to any religion. [ [http://www.pulpless.com/jneil/libertarianprophet.html Interview with Schulman] : "After a thorough analysis of my previous life's experiences, and later experiences that lent validation, I concluded that the reality was that what had happened to me were really encounters with God -- therefore proving God's existence to me."]
*Dave Sim - Comics writer and anti-feminist. He converted to, or created, his own mixture of Abrahamic religions. [ [http://www.villagevoice.com/books/0413,hendrix,52244,10.html Village Voice] ] [ [http://www.suncomics.com/cerebus%20fans/cerebite.htm Sun Comics] ]
*Ted Turner - Media mogul who has stated that he is no longer an atheist or an agnostic and prays for sick friends because he considers it harmless to do so. At the same time he has not embraced any specific religion. [ [http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5g-_lS3AwrTr4kze0GffhZEkkvFsQD8VP85880 Associated Press] ] Dead link|date=August 2008

Notes

ee also

* List of atheists
*List of former Muslims
*List of former Protestants
*List of former Roman Catholics
*Former Latter-day Saints
*List of former Christians