agchristie, although I’ve known non-believers to adopt religion as a result of what they perceive to be extraordinary experiences, extraordinary experiences aren’t a requirement for conversion from one religion to another. In the minds of the faithful the seed of fundamental belief is already sown. Whilst resolute irrationality is the foundation stone of enduring and steadfast faith, the faithful (well, those who don’t convert solely to suit their marriage partners at least) alter their allegiance based upon their own version of rationality. In short, their deliberations lead them to discover what, to their minds, is a more valid philosophy than the one they previously accepted (albeit one usually requiring similarly sycophantic subservience to the same imaginary ‘God’), and moreover, one that claims to offer them, personally, a greater likelihood of cheating death - which is what it’s really all about – and that is how and why another ideology trumps their first choice.