Source: Christian Headlines, November 14, 2023
A well-known scholar and author who grew up Muslim before turning to atheism says she now considers herself a Christian and believes her new faith provides the best answers to the purpose and meaning of life.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a research fellow for the Stanford University Hoover Institution, previously was considered a member of the New Atheist movement alongside authors such as Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins, and Christopher Hitchens.
But in a new column at UnHerd, she says she has become a Christian.
Hirsi Ali attributes her conversion to global reasons—she believes atheism doesn’t have the answers for a clash of civilizations—but also to spiritual reasons.
“I have also turned to Christianity because I ultimately found life without any spiritual solace unendurable—indeed very nearly self-destructive. Atheism failed to answer a simple question: what is the meaning and purpose of life?”
Hirsi Ali’s 2006 book Infidel recounted her early years in Somalia and her eventual rejection of Islam.
Read the full story. You might also appreciate a commentary on the conversion of former atheists and agnostics in The Empire Strikes Back (Ted Esler).
See also Artificial Intelligence Researcher Became “Billy Graham of Iran” (God Reports).