If we may, let us imagine a young man sitting on a large but comfortable stone in the middle of an unknown forest. As he contemplates his most cherished beliefs, he realizes that in his analyzation he stumbles upon uncertainties, inconsistencies, and irregularities that he seemed to never have entertained before this moment. He is now facing seemingly irreconcilable problems with his current beliefs. Scrutiny ensues, and still no solutions are constructed. Suddenly, it becomes apparent; the answers to the inquiry of his faith had become crystal clear. All this in an instant. The solutions seem so complex, and yet so incredibly obvious simultaneously. This young fellow has entered into the realm of a new faith, a new way of thinking, a new life. Springing off the stone he leaps to the ground with joyous anticipation to live his life in the way he now sees fit. The somewhat temporally condensed, afore mentioned scenario is the quintessential example of a conversion. Put simply, in the context in which we have studied it, a conversion is a re-orienting of ones beliefs to a newly found, and seemingly truer belief system. We see how, in our scenario, the young boy made a conversion at the instant enlightenment occurred. We have seen and studied multiple examples of conversion that has in some ways shaped the way we interpret conversion, and its worth. How can we fish out the true and positive conversions from the somewhat wavy pool of all conversions? That is, what conditions must be met in order for a true and positive conversion to take place? Presumably, once these conditions are met it would be extremely improbable for that convert to retrogress into their respective beliefs. If this retrogression did in fact take place, it would be highly unlikely that this conversion was a valid one at its birth. Of course if certain conditions were not satisfied for the validation of a conversion, then there would be no conceivable way to derive its worth. Hence, there must be some essential prerequisites that must be satisfied in order for a true and positive conversion to be made, by a given individual. There are many qualities that are, indeed, present during almost all conversions, such as uncertainty, struggle, etc. These properties of conversion are extremely contingent in deference to the conversion. Their occurrence is not necessary in order that the conversion comes to be. There are three conditions that are absolutely imperative for this re-orienting of beliefs to transpire. A conversion must be a product of an insight; the convert must be converting from another belief system, and the conversion must lead that individual to a more objective truth. If the possibility of any one of these particulars not existing in a conversion was realized, then the conversion would not be true. More importantly the conversion would not be positive. Let us commence with the pre-conversion period. If we revisit our young friend sitting...
