-Though I've told, very,very few people (perhaps three or less), the ones I have told find it surprising to learn that at one time, I was an atheist. 

From what I've heard, many people who become atheists do not convert back.

Once they become atheist, they stick with it until evidence comes forth that proves the existence of a God.

As atheists, they put all of their focus on facts, knowledge and science.

Ironically enough, however, it was my trust and connection to science that lead me back to God.

At first, I thought I was tricking myself. I thought that I was just going through a phase that would soon come to an end. However, what I though was a phase soon turned out to be much, much more. I soon found myself beginning to question my atheism. Here are some of the things that lead me back to belief:

I. Anthony Flew changed his mind:
-This one may have been obvious to anyone reading this. When Flew, the man who gained the title as the "World's most Notorious Atheist" changed his mind, and became a deist, I was both shocked and intrigued. How could the man who was known to hold huge debates against theists on their belief in God convert to belief? 

 For a while, I held off on doing research. I decided to wait because I still wasn't sure about what I was feeling. I did some reading on the internet about different viewpoints, but still was 100 percent convinced. It was then that I heard about Flew's book There is a God: How the World's most Notorious Atheist changed his Mind. At the time, school was my main priority, so I didn't have that much time to read it. However, thanks to the marvels of the internet, I was able to find a lot of good details and information regarding the chapters in the book.

 As I read about the book, I became very, very interested. One chapter that really grabbed me was Chapter 6 ("Did the Universe Know We Were Coming?&quot. When I read information and details (people were kind enough to highlight the important bits of information), it made me wonder, "how did the universe know we would be here?" Think about it, why is it that this universe, our universe, is so, SO finely tuned for us? Out of any universe that we could of gotten (multiverse), why did we get this one?
As I researched, and became more affilated with books highlighting this issue (i.e. Why the Universe Is the Way It Is by Hugh Ross), I became....more skeptical of my atheist beliefs.

 However, the real bombshell, the one thing that really shot me away from atheism is when I became famaliar with Micheal Dowd. At first, I had know idea who Dowd was. When I first became familiar with Dowd, I thought that he was a little off the deep-end. "A preacher who believes in evolution?" "Is this guy for real?" Were the first thoughts that entered my brain. I heard some things about his book Thank God for Evolution, but wasn't really sure about it. However, being an open-minded indivdual, I decided to dive into the book. What I found floored me like no other book had. Here was a book that was not trying to use science to support ID, or make claims that science could connect with ID etc, etc, etc. Here was a book that was not just supporting evolution, but showing how evolution could be seen as God's greatest gift to us. As I said above, I was floored. Never, ever did I ever imagine I would come across a book like TGFE.

 To be honest, before I became an atheist, I did believe it possible for science and religion could co-exist. The problem is that I could never find anyone in the science or religious world that thought the same way as I did. The more I found disconnection, the more I began to realize that the idea of a God was becoming less and less believable. This is one of the factors that led me to atheism.

 However, what TGFE was doing was showing me that not only was it okay to believe in both things, it was something that had to be done. Micheal shows that if religion and science can finally bridge the gap between them, the world can be a much, much better place. More than that, Micheal shows how evolution is God's greaest gift, and how it defines the true creationism that so many conservative, die hard believers speal about. I won't go into many more details, but even though my time with the book was short, by the time I had put it down, I was, whether you believe it or not, no longer an atheist. That's right, I converted from atheism. TGFE had done for me what the The God Delusion had done for so many people doubting their faith. I am now proud to say that I am an evolution theist (or theistic evolution as you like to call it).

II. A message to the new atheist.

 Since the arrival of atheists like Dawkins and Harris, a new breed of atheist has come forth. What I have seen from this atheist is nothing good. Atheism has become just as violent, haeful, and spiteful as the religious fanatics that we see in today's world. The new atheists, as they're being called, has become a group that has, in my opinion, made it their mission to label anyone with beliefs as delusional nutcases. I am disgusted at what atheism has become in this country. What's worse, is that it seems to me that people who are part of this bandwagon to not even recongnize the fact that they have become just as hateful as the people that they're fighting against. As far as I'm concerned, atheism and theism is wasting its time with all of this needless fighting. They need to learn that even though they have different beliefs, they can, in fact, work together to achieve the same goals.

This is like rolling 50,000 dice, and stating that the result was divinely orchestrated because of how improbable it was that the dice would land how they did.

 First, I would like to say that I am NOT trying to convert atheists here. I respect atheists...but only until they start disrespecting people for their beliefs.

As I read about the book, I became very, very interested. One chapter that really grabbed me was Chapter 6 ("Did the Universe Know We Were Coming?&quot. When I read information and details (people were kind enough to highlight the important bits of information), it made me wonder, "how did the universe know we would be here?" Think about it, why is it that this universe, our universe, is so, SO finely tuned for us? Out of any universe that we could of gotten (multiverse), why did we get this one?

Micheal shows that if religion and science can finally bridge the gap between them, the world can be a much, much better place.

Atheism has become just as violent, haeful, and spiteful as the religious fanatics that we see in today's world.

The new atheists, as they're being called, has become a group that has, in my opinion, made it their mission to label anyone with beliefs as delusional nutcases. I am disgusted at what atheism has become in this country. What's worse, is that it seems to me that people who are part of this bandwagon to not even recongnize the fact that they have become just as hateful as the people that they're fighting against.

As far as I'm concerned, atheism and theism is wasting its time with all of this needless fighting. They need to learn that even though they have different beliefs, they can, in fact, work together to achieve the same goals.

 From what I've heard, many people who become atheists do not convert back. Once they become atheist, they stick with it until evidence comes forth that proves the existence of a God. As atheists, they put all of their focus on facts, knowledge and science. I did the exact same thing.

(I heard they have neat underwear)