The most ardent atheist can seek out God at death’s door as evidenced by the April 8, 2010 death of atheist-turned-deist Dr. Anthony Flew. Preeminent philosophers, theologians, and scholars are paying tribute to the world-renowned British intellectual. At age 81, he converted to a broad theism because he said, “the case for an Aristotelian God who has the characteristics of power and also intelligence, is now much stronger than it ever was before.” At 87, Mr. Flew was called home to his maker.
Mr. Flew was born February 11, 1923 in London, England the son of a Methodist minister. For decades, the philosopher and unbeliever was the paragon for atheists. He had a lifetime of intellectual, rational and professional achievement. He nonetheless remained a committed atheist until just six years before his death.
Mr. Flew’s conversion is astounding due to his ardent defense of his disbelief for a quarter of a century. In 1985, Mr. Flew met Dr. Gary Habermas, a professor of Philosophy and Theology who specialized in the subject of Jesus’ resurrection. Through correspondence and discussion, a friendship developed over the course of 20 years.
In 2003, Mr. Flew informed Dr. Habermas he was considering becoming a theist because “his position stood in tension with several huge question marks.” Then in January 2004, maintaining rejection of selective revelation be it Christian, Jewish, or Islamic, Dr. Flew told Habermas he “had to go where the evidence lead(s).” Dr. Flew’s pilgrimage led him to deism.
Dr. Flew’s journey demonstrates that conversion is continuous and needs to be cultivated; it is not a one-time event.
Late-in-life or deathbed conversions of famous historical figures are captivating and often cultivated over a lifetime. Oscar Wilde, Buffalo Bill, King Charles II, John Wayne and Jean-Paul Sartre are some of these well-known converts.
In the biography The Unmasking of Oscar Wilde by Joseph Pearce, we learn that Victorian author and playwright Oscar Wilde (1854 -1900) waited until his deathbed to convert. His father opposed Roman Catholicism. And though Wilde “ was emotionally attracted to faith” he was “temperamentally tempted to doubt” throughout his life. But the most onerous obstacle to an earlier conversion was Wilde’s own awareness that any serious entrance into the Church of Rome would require him to give up his promiscuity. For these reasons, he resisted conversion until days before his death in 1900.
The Old Western American icon William “Buffalo Bill” Cody (1846 -1917) gained fame for his cowboy theme shows and colorful life. However, in 1905 upon arrival in France, his personal problems were overwhelming. His reputation was damaged by the dismissal of his anticipated divorce; both his long-time partner and his third child had recently died; and he was left to take inventory of his lifestyle. It was at this low point that Buffalo Bill wrote to his sister Julia, “It’s in my old age I have found God—and realize how easy it is to abandon sin and serve him. When one stops to think how little they have to give up — to serve God. It’s a wonder so many more don’t do it.” Twelve years later, the day before his death, Cody was baptized into the Roman Catholic faith.
Born in 1630 Charles II of England, Scotland, and Ireland ruled as an Anglican for political purposes. He spent his reign sympathetic to the Catholic faith and lessened the persecution of its faithful throughout his kingdom. On February 2, 1685 he suffered a stroke. At age 54, following the relief of his monarchical duties, he was received into the Catholic Church and died four days after his stroke.
American actor John Wayne (1907- 1979) was raised a Protestant, married a Catholic in a Catholic ceremony, and his children were raised as Catholics. The icon of masculinity divorced twice and married three times. John Wayne's son Patrick Wayne has stated that his father converted to Catholicism two days before he died.
Jean-Paul Sartre (1905 - 1980) a French novelist, playwright, existentialist philosopher, and literary critic was awarded but declined the Nobel Prize for literature in 1964. His lifelong companion Simone de Beauvoir wrote the culturally altering feminist manifesto The Second Sex in1949. Existentialism tends to be atheistic. Yet, through Sartre’s study of Jewish history he gained an interest in messianic tradition. In 1980, shortly before his death, he converted to Judaism.
Today, atheists are in the minority in most countries while becoming more common in Oceania and Europe, especially in nations that were previously or are currently communist. In 2006, 24 percent of Australians said they were atheists or agnostics; New Zealand had 21 percent. In 2005, the Eurobarometer Poll, performed since 1973 by the Public Opinion Analysis Sector of the European Commission, found 18 percent of the population in Spain did not believe in either a god or life force; 20 percent in the United Kingdom; 25 percent in Germany; 27 percent in the Netherlands; and 33 percent in France.
According to the American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS) done by The Graduate Center of The City University of New York in 2001, 14.1 percent of the citizens of the United States said they did not have a religion; while 0.4 percent stated they were absolute atheists and 0.5 percent identified themselves as agnostic. In 2008, these same figures trended upward: 15 percent said they subscribed to no religion and 1.6 percent declared they were agnostic or did not believe in the existence of God. Geographically, deism decreases westward in the United States with Vermont as a lodestone in the east of nonbelievers at 34 percent.
With the gradual decline of the traditional nuclear and extended family since World War II, there are increasing numbers of atheists and agnostics. The ARIS also shows that secularization increases with rise in income, left-leaning politics and youth; while marriage, age and experience boost religiosity.
In 2005, Dr. Christian Smith of University of Notre Dame and Dr. Lisa Pearce of University of North Carolina Chapel Hill identified a new ideology as Moralistic Therapeutic Deism (MTD) in a study titled “The National Study of Youth and Religion.” Dr. Smith and Dr. Pearce compiled interviews of 3,000 teenagers and established five moral statutes of MTD. These teens believe that a deity exists that created and ordered the world and watches over us. They think this god wants people to be nice to each other as taught in the Bible and most religions. Also, they believe that life’s central goal is to be happy and to feel good about oneself. They suppose that this divine being does not need to be particularly involved in one’s life except in problem resolution. Finally, they expect good people to go to heaven.
American youth lack the strong intergenerational faith traditions instilled by their forefathers. Dr. Smith says "a significant part of Christianity in the United States is actually only tenuously Christian in any sense that is seriously connected to the actual historical Christian tradition.” MTD is the liberal cousin of existentialism; a philosophy of indifference to tradition riddled with false promises.
Like those of the past, the souls of today’s non-believers and believers are on a journey. Conversion is more attractive as life comes to a close and on one’s deathbed. The assurances of liberal philosophies do not provide answers as life on earth wanes. The time to look for meaning beyond becomes imminent. And as with Sartre, Wilde, Flew and others, the human response is often found in the light of conversion.
-Kelly Kathryn Llobet is a writer living in Baltimore, a veteran Navy spouse and a proud mother of five.
