Why do some people convert so easily?
Reply #2 - January 31, 2013, 06:41 AM
Some people convert because they are easily psychologically manipulated.
Some people convert because they got emotionally manipulated. (e.g. for marriage)
Some people convert because they genuinely believed that Islam holds truths they can't find anywhere else.
Some people convert because evangelical Islam (Da'wah) is an insidious tactic that targets the most vulnerable, those with low self esteem and a lack of identity or direction in life. (e.g. in prisons or gangs)
Some people convert because they believed the propaganda that "Islam is a religion of peace" and they wanted something to be permanent, divine, infallible and somehow, for a while at least, ignored and/or were kept ignorant of the ways Islam (its mainstream versions especially) keeps people imprisoned and threatens apostates.
Some people (some younger women especially) convert because they are trying to escape "Western" gender roles and the extreme consumerist culture in some places that pressures women to conform to ridiculous beauty standards, and they believed, for a short while at least, that Islam values them more by insisting that they cover up instead of get naked.
Some people convert because that is what will piss off their parents, or other people who they'd like to piss off.
Some people convert because they conflate spirituality, or a sense of connection with the universe, as being the presence of a supernatural deity.
Some people convert because it's trendy.
Some people convert because they support "Muslim causes" (usually Palestine), and to become Muslim is just the next step for them (especially since they receive some kinds of subtle but powerful peer pressure to convert the more they get involved in those causes).
Some people convert because they believe they can adapt Islam to be more liberal, secular etc. That they can "reinterpret" it to be the "religion of peace" they want it to be. (e.g. often the LGBT people who convert can be understood to do it for this reason)
Some people convert because they start to be afraid of the images and ideas about "hell" they are told await non-believers, and they feel that something they did before can be forgiven/erased/pardoned if they seek out forgiveness from Allah who is a vicious and vindictive figure in Islamic mythology.
Some people convert because, at least for a little while, they believed Islam was truth.
All of the above can be applied to people born into Muslim families too, especially those who grow up to become more and more dogmatic about Islam. In a sense they also "convert" to become more Muslim than before.
I'm sure there are other reasons that I haven't articulated here.
There is not just one kind of convert to Islam.
"Blessed are they who can laugh at themselves, for they shall never cease to be amused."
Topic: Why do some people convert so easily?