Scottish Atheist Lady Finds Islam at the Age of 65 .

[rug]

My name is Maryam Noor, that is my Islamic name, and my original name is Margaret Templeton.

I was born in Scotland to a house which was atheist. In our house, we were not allowed ever to speak about God, and even if we learned something in school, we were not allowed to say anything or we would be punished.

For as long as I can remember, I have been seeking the Truth about why I am here in this world, what I'm here for, what am I supposed to do.

As soon as I became old enough, I began to search for some information about this "person called God", that people mention, and all through my life, I have been seeking the Truth, not a particular religion. The Truth, something which made sense to me, something which opened my heart and which made my life worthwhile. I have been practically in every church in the kingdom, both here and at home, it never occurred to me to think about Islam.

http://www.onislam.net/english/reading-islam/my-journey-to-islam/contemporary-stories/453276-65-year-scottish-finds-islam-.html

If you're tempted to state she was not a true atheist, I remind you she's from Scotland.

[msongs]

1. was Islam lost? nt

[DesertFlower]

2. as an atheist and former catholic

i think discussion of god and/or religion is healthy.

[rug]

7. Me too.

[trotsky]

21. Completely agree.

If you don't discuss and analyze religion, you set kids up to uncritically accept it later. My wife and I have taken our kids to several church services and taught them the stories and myths of different religions.

[Vehl]

34. ^^ This!

Spot on!. People who are Atheists without arriving at Atheism after rigorous questioning and thorough application of logic and reason run the risk of falling prey to God-isms later on. The more informed an atheist is about the religions of the world, the stronger his/her position will be.

Most of the so called "Atheists" who "find" religion overwhelmingly tend to be those who were Atheists only cos they could not be bothered to/too lazy to learn about anything.

I applaud your decision.

[enlightenment]

3. What does her nationality have to do with it?

Sounds to me that while she grew up in an 'atheist' household, she was never an atheist herself.

"For as long as I can remember, I have been seeking the Truth . . ."
"As soon as I became old enough, I began to search for some information . . ."
"I have been practically in every church in the kingdom . . ."

Atheism is not a religion; you don't 'join'. Clearly she was never comfortable with the environment in which she grew up, and makes it sound as unpleasant as possible - perhaps it was that harsh, but it might also be another example of the standard hyperbole that converts to anything, religious or not, use to help justify their conversion.

By the way, you seem to be looking for an argument, which I will not supply you - but you really should leave her nationality out of it. That's rude.

[rug]

6. I agree. But the mention of the No True Scotsman Fallacy is inevitable in here.

[enlightenment]

8. Umm. Right, then.

Not quite clever enough, rug.

Besides, why try to deflect the criticism before it arrives?

[rug]

10. It's a hypothesis based on the evidence to date.

[darkstar3]

13. You could always stop using the fallacy, thereby eliminating the need for others to point it out.

[rug]

17. Ah, there you are.

The master of misapplied argument.

What took you so long?

[physioex]

4. I don't get it....

Why does one have to be atheist for a lifetime? People do have the right to choose as far as I am concerned. The beauty about most religions and atheism is that people are not coerced to join.

[CJCRANE]

5. She isn't a true Scotsman...

because she's a Scotswoman.

:P

[ZombieHorde]

9. "In our house, we were not allowed ever to speak about God,"

I tell my kids to avoid talking about God outside of the home, but we do talk about religion in private. I tell them this to help protect them from Christians.

[rug]

11. Have you tried garlic necklaces?

[ZombieHorde]

15. Yes, but only on the children I put in my soup.

Jokes aside, my children have been targets before, and I want to protect them with the most peaceful means I have at my disposal. Telling them not to discuss God with others, especially when at a friend's house, has been mostly successful so far. I don't like it, but what else can I do?

[rug]

19. That's a tough one.

The subjects of religion and God are as inevitable as the subjects of war and sex. All I can say is what I told my daughter in fourth grade when she told us her teacher was telling her she had to stand up for the Pledge of Allegiance. "They can't make you." We went through all the reasons why they couldn't and all the reasons she wouldn't. I told her we'd call the teacher the next day. Then we had ice cream.

When we spole to the teacher and she saw we were serious, she backed off and became quite supportive of her when the other kids questioned her.

If it's at your friend's house mainly, that might be the person to talk to.

All I know for sure is that ignoring it or relegating it as a taboo subject isn't good, at least in my view. Good luck.

[ZombieHorde]

24. I have spoken to parents about behavior, but never the behavior's antecedent. nt

[HysteryDiagnosis]

14. I was watching a travel show about Spain this weekend and it was stated that in Spain

at one time, Muslims, Jews and Christians lived in peace amongst each other. Then the Catholicism hit and the Jews and Muslims were invited to leave sort of.

[Warren Stupidity]

18. al-andalus was a very interesting place.

yes for the time it was very tolerant and also a bright light of western civilization in a time when almost everywhere else those lights were rather dim.

[darkstar3]

12. People change their ideas all the time.

Mentalities are not absolute. You'll find many an atheist, even on this board, who will admit the following:

1. There is some sort of proof we would accept for a God.
2. We would "convert" to the religion that showed us that proof.

Of course, for me, I don't see either one of those things happening, but anything is possible.

As for NTS, do you realize you're attempting to bait people here into providing quotes for you to use in ANOTHER fallacy called ad hom tu qoque?

[rug]

20. I get a thrill up my leg when you type Latin.

However, I agree that people change their minds frequently. That's why I consider atheism to be more an intellectual conclusion than anything else.

[Warren Stupidity]

16. apparently also at age 60 as per the googler

anyway good for her. I hope she is real happy with her new sky being and the hajib she now wears that goes with her new faith.

[laconicsax]

22. In other news, people change their minds.

Good for her. I hope she's happy.

[Iggo]

23. Weirdo.

[ZombieHorde]

25. Immature, but I laughed. nt

[Odin2005]

26. Sounds like senility.

[Silent3]

27. Just what I needed

One more thing to fear about aging. :)

[dmallind]

28. Nobody ever claimed atheists were !00% gullibility free

At thst age I have no doubt the thought of impending death opens a crack or two in many people's rational detachment.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

31. This is the correct answer. -nt

[Taverner]

29. Converting from Atheism to Theism is not proof of anything

Except that there will always be salesmen in this world...

[edhopper]

30. My reading is that she was brought up

in an atheist household but was not an atheist as an adult.
She has been seeking the "Truth" about this person called God her whole adult life.
I think this says more about Christianity than atheism since she choose Islam of Christianity, not over atheism.

[muriel_volestrangler]

32. As "at that time I was a Roman Catholic" also indicates

So clearly she formally joined at least one other religion before Islam. The headline might be more accurate if it said "Former Atheist"; but even that implies she had considered herself an atheist at some point. In fact, she seems to have been a theist for all her adult life: 'As soon as I became old enough, I began to search for some information about this "person called God", that people mention ...'. This seems to show the problems with classifying children as having the opinions of their parents.

[Azooz]

33. I blame Rupert Murdoch

" I have been practically in every church in the kingdom, both here and at home, it never occurred to me to think about Islam. "

A Scottish atheist would not hear the word "Islam" on a daily basis before Mr. Murdoch's media empire started advertising Islam. Islamic Terrorism, Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic radicals, Islamofascists - in any TV show of his that she watches, any of his papers she reads or radio - in the end it just means "Pick Up Your Free Brochure", "Read All About It", in this sister's case that is all it took :)

[provis99]

35. feh. I'd rather join a bowling league.

and since she never at any time called herself an atheist, why all this True Scotsman blather from you?