Finding and losing faith : studies in conversion

Conversion committing oneself to a faith or ideology has played a significant role in the history of religions.

History is peppered with examples of how conversion can considerably alter the religious quot;landscapequot; and understandings of faith communities.

Often as a consequence of this process the meaning and experience of conversion is refined and defined within societies and faith communities.

This volume is a religiocultural exploration of conversion which overall raises key issues relating to conversion and life in religiously plural societies.

One such key issue concerns the very nature of quot;conversionquot; itself.

In the context of multifaith communities religious conversion is usually understood to be the changing of affiliation from one faith to another.

Taken as a whole however this collection of studies reexamines the assumption that conversion only takes place between different faith communities and considers whether a conversion experience might also happen between different traditions within a single faith whether individuals can be described as converting out of faith mdash; in effect quot;deconvertingquot;mdash;and the possibility of individuals converting to a dual identity and belonging.