Popular Atheist Blogger Announces Conversion to Catholicism
A well-known atheist blogger made a shocking announcement on Monday: after careful consideration, she has concluded that God exists and she has converted to Catholicism.
Previously, Leah Libresco maintained a blog on the Patheos blogging network's Atheist Portal. But on the day of her announcement her blog, which is now titled "Unequally Yoked: A geeky convert picks fights in good faith," moved to the network's Catholic Channel.
According to her blog post from Monday, as an atheist she couldn't fully explain where human's obtained their understanding of moral law, despite the many non-theistic theories that are out there. The day before Palm Sunday, she says, she got into a discussion with a Christian friend, who asked her what she believed was the source of moral law.
After some thought, she realized that morality comes from neither evolution nor philosophy, but from God.
"I believed that the Moral Law wasn't just a Platonic truth, abstract and distant," she wrote. "It turns out I actually believed it was some kind of Person, as well as Truth. And there was one religion that seemed like the most promising way to reach back to that living Truth. I asked my friend what he suggest we do now, and we prayed the night office of the Liturgy of the Hours together (I've kept up with that since)."
Libresco, who is currently enrolled in Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) classes at a parish in Washington D.C., also says she has been writing in a "crypto-Catholic style" on her blog for the last month and a half.
But believing in God is just the beginning for her, because she still questions the Church's view on certain issues, including its stance on homosexuality.
"This post isn't the final word on my conversion," she wrote. "I'm sure there's a lot more explaining and arguing to do, so be a little charitable in your read of this post and try to give me a little time to expand my ideas over the next few weeks."
A fellow Patheos Catholic Channel blogger, Thomas L. McDonald, says his journey to the faith was similar to Libresco's, and he also had some reservations about certain Christian teachings when he first became a believer.
"My advice to Leah would be: push and work through and reason, argue every point, but accept that there will always be limits to what you will be able to resolve...And some things will never be resolved, not this side of heaven. I have accepted that a few things will remain unknown and unknowable, and in doing so rendered everything else comprehensible. It was the best deal I ever made," wrote McDonald on his "God and the Machine" blog.
Since her announcement, Libresco has thanked those who have offered her support and says she is working to respond to the questions and comments of those who don't understand or are angry over her conversion. She appreciates "argumentative comments," she says, and is welcoming the opportunity to answer her critics.
