Zeal of the convert

{{religion}}{{Sources needed}}
The '''zeal of the convert''' is a phrase describing the typically fierce devotion of someone whose belief system has changed because of personal experience or argument, especially as compared to someone who has held their beliefs since childhood.  In addition to some empirical support of the phenomenon, the occasionally excessive fervency of converts has long been proverbial.<ref>[http://www.pewforum.org/The-Zeal-of-the-Convert-Is-It-the-Real-Deal.aspx "Zeal of the Convert": Is It the Real Deal?"], ''Pew Research Forum.''</ref>

While typically spoken of in reference to [[religion|religious]] beliefs, it is not uncommon to hear this phrase used to describe those with newly-held [[politics|political]] ideology.

==Examples==
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*[[Paul of Tarsus]], a [[Pharisee]]<ref>[[RationalWiki:Annotated_Bible/Acts#23:6|See Acts 23:6]]</ref> [[Jew]] who persecuted [[Christianity|Christians]], would go on to be one of the most devout and pivotal figures among the early Christians. However, given that he is the only source for his supposed anti-Christian zealotry prior to converting, he may well have exaggerated it to make a point, which is surprisingly common in Christian apologetics.<ref>See our article on "[[I used to be an atheist]]".</ref>
*[[Martin Luther]], leading figure and theologian of the [[Protestant Reformation]] in [[Germany]], and former [[Roman Catholicism|Roman Catholic]] [[Monasticism|monk]] who denounced corruption and opulence in the [[Catholic Church]], and, among other things, violence towards Jews to be against [[God]]'s plan; he was initially somewhat sympathetic to Jews, but ended up inspiring the [[Nazism|Nazi]]s' policies with his pamphlet ''[[On the Jews and Their Lies]]''.
*[[Conservative|Ultraconservative]] [[America]]n radio host [[Michael Savage]] was once a [[Liberalism|liberal]] consort of hippies, only to [[Horseshoe theory|later become]] one of the angriest of all the media's opponents of liberalism.
*[[Salem Radio Network|Salem Radio hosts]] [[Michael Medved]] and [[Dennis Prager]] both claim to be former [[liberal]]s prior to taking a [[hard-right]], anti-liberal turn.
*Professor Ronald Radosh went from being a [[radical]] [[Marxist]] (arguably pro-[[Maoism|Maoist]] even) to an ardent [[neoconservative]]. Similarly, former [[Trotsky]]ist leader James Burnham eventually became regarded as the original neoconservative, and many former [[Communist]]s such as [[David Horowitz]] have taken similar shifts in their positions (from [[far-left]] to arch-conservative). 
*Many former [[British]] [[socialist]]s such as [[Melanie Phillips]] and [[Peter Hitchens]] would later become [[nationalist]]ic [[wingnut]]s. 
*[[Benito Mussolini]] going from a Democratic Socialist to an anti-socialist [[fascist]]. 
*[[Thomas Sowell]] going from being a Marxist sympathizer to a very right-wing [[libertarian]].
*[[Maajid Nawaz]] going from being a recruiter for extreme [[Islamist]] group [[Hizb ut-Tahrir]] to speech writer for [[David Cameron]], collaborator with [[Sam Harris]], and becoming a moderate Muslim, only for him to become a [[Conspiracy theory|conspiracy theorist]] in recent years and sympathised with the [[2021 U.S. Capitol riot]] insurrectionists.
*[[Manny Pacquiao]], a Filipino former boxer turned politician. Used to carry a [[rosary]] and make the sign of the cross before and after each fight, prior to being swayed into [[Evangelical Christianity]] and base his sociopolitical views on right-wing theocracy.
*[[Neoconservatism]] originated in the US among leftist, Trotskyite, Marxist, and Maoist circles when they argued that the US should use its military might "for good", i.e. to "[[Imperialism|spread democracy]]".{{cn}}

The political conversions in recent years, especially from "liberal to wingnut", are a little dubious at times, with some cynical liberals and [[moderate]] conservatives (such as Mike Lofgren) pointing out that the concept of "redemption" has become a big feature among the [[religious right]], so claiming to be a liberal who has "opened their eyes" and seen the "truth" can be a good way to get sympathy from their target audience. That being said, the "conversion" is often genuine, and in recent years [[:Category:Leftists who turned right with age|has tended towards a hard-lefty going to the hard-right]], perhaps because the fall of Communism and rise of reactionary politics in the western world gave a more appealing "black-and-white" [[political philosophy]] tending toward the political right.<ref group=note>The poor fools don't seem to realize that if ''any'' political philosophy ''truly is'' '''pure unfettered evil with no hints of benevolence whatsoever''', it's [[fascism]]. Communism, at its ''very'' worst, is just horrifically naïve and poorly thought-out, which makes it prone to backfiring and/or abuse (though when communism is abused, it's often abused ''hard''; see [[Josef Stalin]] and [[North Korea]] for examples).</ref>

==Dubious examples, or the repentant sinner==
A variant of the zealous convert is what may be called the repentant sinner, also known as '''''argumentum ad [[William Schnoebelen|Schnoebelenum]]''''' or '''''argumentum ad [[Mike Warnke|Warnkeum]]'''''.<ref>[[https://fstdt.com/Q.GQRCXSY_VPC#101631 | SpukiKitty]], [[Fundies Say the Darndest Things]]</ref> Here, someone is claiming to have been completely opposed to the views they have now converted to, which is of course a good way to make the conversion story seem all the greater. The problem is that the depiction of the convert's prior life of sin is either unsubstantiated or can be conclusively shown to be wrong and is in any case simply implausible. Paul of Tarsus may have been an early example (we only have his word for his prior anti-Christian fervor, after all), but more recent cases include:
*[[Lee Strobel]], who claims to have been a staunch atheist before becoming a born again Christian — the problem is that his supposed atheism is not only completely undocumented until ''after'' he launched his career as an apologist, but his depiction of his atheism in ''The Case for Christ'' sounds an awful lot like the fundamentalist Christian atheist [[straw man]] (e.g. that Strobel [[Atheists hate god|actually knew that God existed, but simply denied Him to be able to sin freely]]).
*[[Mike Warnke]] and several other fabricators who helped start the [[Satanic ritual abuse]] phase of the 1980s' [[Satanic Panic]]. They all made up sensational [[bullshit]] stories about their past in [[Satanism|Satanic]] [[cult]]s and each and every story was shown to be demonstrably false.
*[[Kirk Cameron]] claims to have been an atheist while younger. The fact that his conversion to far-right evangelical Christianity happened at the age of 17 makes one wonder just how deeply entrenched his atheism actually was.  
*[[C.S. Lewis]] who, similar to Lee Strobel, claimed to be an atheist convert to Christianity but whose description of atheism seemed to include the idea that he always ''knew'' God existed, and only denied it. In his autobiography ''Surprised by Joy,'' Lewis states: 

:''"You must picture me alone in that room in Magdalen, night after night, feeling, whenever my mind lifted even for a second from my work, the steady, unrelenting approach of Him whom I so earnestly desired not to meet. That which I greatly feared had at last come upon me. In the Trinity Term of 1929 I gave in, and admitted that God was God, and knelt and prayed: perhaps, that night, the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England."'' 

:Although, unlike Strobel, Lewis seems to have genuinely rejected Christianity at some point, as opposed to inventing a false backstory.
*Too many people to count, not a few of them Fundamentalists, who claim to have been a former atheist, [[homosexual]], etc. until they discovered Jesus and that it led them to a righteous life. However, if you dig into their claims, you'll most likely find that things are more or less sketchy.

==See also==
*[[Horseshoe theory]]
*[[I used to be an atheist]], a similar line of argument

==External links==
*[http://www.pewforum.org/The-Zeal-of-the-Convert-Is-It-the-Real-Deal.aspx Pew Research Forum survey] on the different levels of devotion between converts and childhood believers, by religion. 
*[http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2012/08/confessions_of_an_ex-liberal.html A blog post] from the reactionary right-wing ''American Thinker'' where a crazed author explains how they went from being an extreme liberal to an extreme conservative

==References==
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==Notes==
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[[Category:Religion]]
[[Category:apologetics and counter-apologetics]]

Categories: Religion, apologetics and counter-apologetics