To the world, Leah Libresco was a prominent atheist blogger for the religion website Patheos. In a single blog post, she had become a Catholic.
Serving as an example that some opinions can still be swayed in the days of partisan divides, Libresco said that after debating for years with “smart Christians,” she’s chosen to become one. She is attending Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) classes to become Roman Catholic.
CNN reports that Libresco, whose blog was formerly titled “Unequally Yoked: A geeky atheist picks fights with her Catholic boyfriend,” made the decision based on questions of morality and how a person finds a moral compass.
“I had one thing that I was most certain of, which is that morality is something we have a duty to,” the former atheist blogger told CNN. ““And it is external from us. And when push came to shove, that is the belief I wouldn’t let go of. And that is something I can’t prove.”
An argument with a friend about religion on Palm Sunday sparked her toward her conversion from atheist blogger to Catholic initiate.
“I believed that the Moral Law wasn’t just a Platonic truth, abstract and distant,” she wrote on her post announcing her conversion. “It turns out I actually believed it was some kind of Person, as well as Truth. And there was one religion that seemed like the most promising way to reach back to that living Truth.”
MSNBC reports that Libresco blogged for the Atheist portion of the Pantheos website. Her blog will now be moved over to the Patheos Catholic channel. The Patheos site is used for discussion and finding information on different faiths.In addition to Patheos, Libresco has also blogged for The Huffington Post.
The former atheist blogger said she wasn’t totally sold on all aspects of Church teaching, such as on homosexuality, but still was preparing for baptism.
While she’s mostly received support, not everyone is happy with her conversion.
Another atheist blogger, Hemant Mehta, said that Libresco’s conversion is a “one-off thing” and not something that signals any trend in atheism.
“The trends are very clear, the conversions from Catholicism to atheism are much more likely to happen than the other way around,” he told CNN.
(Photo courtesy of CNN.com)
The comments made by Hemant Mehta show why people don't like atheists… they claim you can believe what you want, but then they attack you for finding something to believe in.
“The trends are very clear, the conversions from Catholicism to atheism are much more likely to happen than the other way around,” he told CNN.
That's an attack now?
First of all, you don't speak for 'people'. You can only speak of yourself. Secondly, as pointed out, that wasn't an attack. Which points out the real problem, the idea that you are being attacked Lori is only in your head. It is Atheist that should be afraid of Christians, who continue to push their beliefs on unbelievers.
It may not be an "attack", but calling it nothing but a one-off is dismissive to the umpteenth degree. "No one pay attention to this nonsense, it's nothing but a one-off" it screams. I'm a former atheist myself and I know first-hand how atheists work when a person converts from THEIR way of seeing things, to religion… in the end the way atheists react is no better, something worse, than the way religious people act when you first become an atheist. It just goes to prove that it's best not to see a person as atheist or religious… only "human".
@Lynn I recommend that you actually read Hemant Mehta's response to this issue.
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2012/06/25/why-all-the-fascination-with-the-atheist-turned-catholic-blogger/
I'm taking this conversion with a huge grain of salt. Her boyfriend is Catholic. I'm inclined to believe her conversion has everything to do with that. Love makes people do strange things.
front page national news when an atheist concludes that she needs her imagination to act morally.
watch her change her mind when she breaks up. itll give her a convenient excuse to get another 15 mins of fame and a few more hits on her site.
Lynn Siemens : former "atheist"-bollocks. you're a poser.
Seems the atheist blogosphere is really intent on milking this woman's decisions for all they can get. I never even heard of her before last week, so I don't know one way or the other.
This is only in the news since we're facing a GOP presidential candidate that wants nothing more than to appease the extremists who'd put Jesus in the driver's seat of American moral conciousness and policy if they got elected. I'm betting she either has a PR firm or agent who is looking at a book deal that has not yet been revealed, and somewhere along the line some money from a political entity yet unknown that is funding the effort.
It's sad to see logic and reason lost when we need it most. I've never heard this woman ever before but, I am deeply disappointed in her and the media making such a fuss over it. No one cares when a "believer" become atheist.
I tend to believe that we all take our own personal journey when it comes to issues of spirituality and morality. Right now, I'm content with where I am but, some day probably won't be. There is great comfort for many in being able to define their faith through religion. That doesn't mean they accept every tenant of that religion, only that it gives them a framework for their own journey. My own experience has made my shy away from religion for now. Perhaps her experience is such that she needs that framework–especially if she is thinking of settling down with someone who has something he believes in.
I see no difference between Athiests trying to convert people away from religion and extremist religious fanatics trying to convert everyone that doesn't believe as they do.
Atheists often use logic to promote their views that God does not exist. Ironically, it was logic that let Libresco to belief. More on my blog at http://www.jasongriffin.net/blog/2012/6/24/an-atheist-converts-to-christianity-logic-flows-both-ways.html.
BULLSHIT! I CALL CHRISTIAN PLANT, nice MARKETING tactics church.
http://www.hitchslap.blogspot.com
Massive respect to her and I say this as an atheist. Why? Because despite her converting, I admire that she is still questioning religion by de-contructing her new found belief.
Why is it that millions of ex-Christians must go into hiding, but when one atheist converts to Catholicism she makes national news?
As an atheist, I have only one thing to say to Leah Libresco, a former atheist blogger who converted to Catholicism…good for her. Hope she is happen with her beliefs. And if she ever has a change of heart, I won't judge her for that either. =D
your not making any sense,it sais that the arhiest becomrs Catholic not the other eay around.
not the other way around.
Let me say it another way. Atheist becomes catholic = News. Catholic becomes atheist # news. You really shouldn't comment anyway. Your grammar is so poor. It's obvious your reading comprehension is as well. You were even to lazy to cut, delete, paste and fix your own post.