Are Believers Ever Argued Into Faith, or Argued Out of It?

Eric asked some interesting questions in the com-box of a post of mine. Read my response below.

John, you seem to be implying that it would be easier to persuade a theist who was 'argued' into his faith that theism is false than it would be to persuade a theist who accepted his faith for reasons unconnected with arguments. Is this accurate? If so, it would follow that it would be easier to persuade, say, Professor Ed Feser, who has said that it was his study of philosophy that moved him from atheism to theism, than your average believing churchgoer. But this doesn't strike me as true. In fact, it seems to me that it's precisely the rational ground of the faith of a Feser that would make 'deconverting' him all the more difficult (since he would most likely have already have considered in great detail the sorts of objections you could raise).

Also, do you think it's the case that it's easier to persuade an atheist who was 'argued' into his position than an atheist who lacks belief for reasons unconnected with arguments? (In this latter case I'm thinking about an ardent atheist whose atheism is an important part of his life, but not in any serious intellectual sense. I've certainly met atheists of this 'type.')

I think that conversions and 'deconversions' do frequently come about *by way* of argument, but not *during* discussions (reading, etc.) in which these arguments are addressed. That is, while it's not the case that you're likely to hear, "Wow, you're right! I'm going to accept/reject [ ] now," it is the case that the arguments we make 'plant seeds' in the minds of others, and may often play (whether one knows it or not) crucial roles in with respect to conversion/deconversion. I don't expect to persuade anyone *during a discussion* that my position is true, but I do hope to get them to think in ways that will allow them to see its truth (or tenability, or whatever) for themselves.

My response follows:

Eric, you raise some interesting and even complex issues. When it comes to faith questions is anyone really argued into believing, or away from it? I do not think human beings are logical machines. Our passions get in the way all of the time. The evidential weight of believing one way or another is judged by our experiences. We live in a Christian culture so it stands to reason that given these experiences we have a strong tendency to judge the evidence in favor of Christian theism. Furthermore, if a person was raised by snake handlers then he will become a snake handler, while if he’s raised in Massachusetts by a Catholic family will become a Catholic. Why is that? And don’t you agree that it would be hard to argue these people out of what they believe?

The issue of education as in the case of Professor Feser is interesting as well. Human beings have a strong tendency to find confirming evidence for what they believe, so just because he’s educated doesn’t mean he didn’t do this. I doubt very much that he changed his mind purely for epistemic reasons. Why is it that when confronted with this sociological, cultural and psychological data nearly everyone agrees that people adopt the faith of their culture but then to a man they all say, but that’s not what happened in my case? In other words, they will all agree that, say, 95% of people adopt the faith of their culture but then at the same time they will also say, but that’s not me? How can 95% of the people say this, when they are part of the 95%? It becomes crystal clear that 95% of the people who say this are in denial. So no, I don’t think any theist is ever truly argued into his faith.

I think less indoctrinated, less educated, and disenfranchised believers would be easier to deconvert. And I think that it’s difficult, very difficult, to argue anyone out of their faith, because it’s faith. So the reason it would be harder to argue Feser out of his faith is not only because he was not truly argued into it, but also because he has sought to confirm it at the highest levels, just as a Muslim or a Mormon scholar would be harder to be argued out of his faith. Remember, in my book it was a crisis, plus new information, minus a lack of a loving Christian community that were the three factors in my life that led me away from what I believed. I suspect that in most cases those same factors are required for others.

So yes, all we can do is present the arguments and make each other think. Whether the other factors are there to help facilitate this conversion are not up to us to provide. Link