Graham Greene converted to Catholicism when he was in his twenties, not late in his life (he lived into his eighties).

I don't know what's sadder: holding on to a fairy tale you were told in childhood as the truth, or believing a fairy tale you are told as an adult when you should be able sustain a rational line of thought.

Conversion fascinates me - any conversion. But, having been raised a Roman Catholic, I'm particularly interested when adults turn to Rome.I well remember the epic intellectual battles during religion classes in school, debating the infallibility of the Pope, Mary's Immaculate Conception and Ascension, the belief in Transubstantiation and other tenets I could never quite believe. It is hard for me to understand how people could ACCEPT such ideas, let alone come to them.

hermese... I am with you 100%.

While there is some wisdom contained in the teachings of various churches and religions, faith (belief beyond reason) just doesn't wash today.

Religion is a club that only certain people belong to. Religion tears society apart.

Perhaps someone can identify the source of this statement:

Good people will do good things, and evil people will do evil things.
But in order for good people to do evil things, you need religion.

It's actually good news to see social-political figures have an encounter with the living God. An encounter with his Holy Spirit whose love superpasses human words to describe. An encounter with Truth itself..Jesus and the fount of his Grace given to the world in his church, the Catholic Church...filled with sinners but sustained by his Grace and Mercy. I remember after encountering Jesus in the Eucharist I wanted to run out of the chapel and tell all my friends: It's All True!!!

Faith is a gift and it has to be nourished, prayed for, and safe-guarded. "God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him" (1 Jn 4:16)
My whole Christian experience can be summed up in the Gospel passage qouting Jesus at the last supper: "If a man loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our home in him." (Jn 14:23)

If you have an open heart you should read this document...it's so true and pertinent to our culture

http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/encyclicals/documents/hf _ben-xvi_enc_20051225_deus-caritas-est_en.html

"With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion."
--Steven Weinberg--

one of my faves

T.S. Eliot was an Anglo-Catholic member of the Church of England, not a Roman Catholic.

"I believe in this, and its been tested by research: He who f---s nuns, will later join the church." --The Clash

"It often seemed to me that religious precepts were being put in place of the will of God-which could be so unexpected and so alarming-for the sole purpose of sparing people the necessity for understanding God's will." -Carl Jung

T.S. Eliot was an Anglican of the High Church variety. Greene as the other post said became a Catholic early in life. I am a convert myself but I must say it is getting harder and harder. I will take either Baltimore Catechism no. 3 or Vatican II but this strange stuff from the Vatican and the blogs gets me.

Saying, "for good people to do evil things, that takes religion." is a bad rap. George Bernard Shaw said: "The road to hell is paved with good intentions." Cleobulous, Pre-Homeric Greek philosopher, said "The chief source of evil among men is excessive good." Perverted morality is not limited to religious motivation.

Who cares what anyone's religion is.

Sigh, I guess the only acceptable bias now is against people who choose to practice a faith. I was surprised and disappointed that people whom I considered fellow liberals suddenly tore me a new one after I revealed I was church-going RC. Whatever happened to tolerance?

Newt Gingrich will go to hell no matter how he prays.

I too choose to practice my faith-I am a card carrying member of the Roman Catholic Church, and PROUD of it! It matters not what others say, it matters what I believe and how I live my life. I will be judged at the gates like everyone else, Church or no church.

@ yellowhammer, Lalachrn, et al.:

Sorry, but I have no tolerance for ignorance and stupidity. It's a choice for you to believe in a religion, and you could also make the more practical and rational choice to not believe in what amounts to a bunch of fairy tales meant to scare an ignorant populace into submission. When there's no evidence, logical line of thought, or any real reason whatsoever to believe in those fairy tales the only thing that makes you believe in them is your own willingness to believe. That's intellectual laziness on the grandest scale - we're talking about ultimate meaning and purpose, and you're okay with accepting whatever makes you most comfortable, with complete disregard for the truth of the matter. If this is not the case and you feel I'm portraying you unfairly, then present your argument for why your faith is a FACT and not simply a belief. If it IS only a belief, then the only reason for fully committing yourself to this one *particular* belief is, again, your own willingness to believe. I, for one, can never tolerate such disdain for the truth when it affects your entire world-view; the decisions you make based off of these fallacious beliefs can ultimately affect me and everyone else in this democratic society, and that is nothing but selfishness to me.

@hermese: Dude! You need to wipe your chin. You're foaming a bit at the mouth!

hermese-what you believe matters not to me. What I believe, and the way I choose to live my life is what matters to me. I doubt any of the decisions I make based off my beliefs will ever affect you, since I will never know you. I don't need to present an argument for my faith, it is MINE, and therefore, non of your business.

FrankleeMiDeer: I may be foaming, but you all are drooling like a bunch of dim-wits.

Lalachrn: You personally likely won't affect me directly, but the sum of the people like you in the world who base decisions off of superstition will.

This comment has been removed by The Daily Beast's editors.

Lalachrn if you feel that belief in religion has caused no harm then please review your history....man is more than willing to kill/rape/maim/etc in the name of God/faith/doctrine/etc. In fact the more 'right' you are is almost in direct proportion to the amount of evil you 'allowed' to rain on those who oppose.

I believe everyone should be free to pursue their chosen spiritual path -- be that a formalized religion or 'rational thinking' just as long as 'faith' (or intellectualism) isn't used as a weapon to divide and persecute

aaabbb...where in any of my posts did I say that belief in religion has caused no harm? I have never said that. I agree that "everyone should be free to pursue their chosen spiritual path". I have no doubt that many horrific things have been done in the name of God/faith/doctrine etc.

hermese-wow-for not knowing me you are basing a lot on the unknown. Just because I choose to attend a Church that I believe in doesn't mean you have to agree with me, anymore than I agree with superstitions. "May you be in heaven 1/2 hour before the devil knows your dead"

Sigh. See what I mean about biting my head off? Despite all the things that the RC or any other organised religion is accused of, rightly or wrongfully (and I must say that I have had quite a few WTF moments with representatives of my faith lately), simply saying that religion is the cause of all ill is not only reductionist, it's just plain ignorant. What about the various social support structures invented and instituted by organised religion that protected and enabled vulnerable people (children, widows, orphans) to contribute to society? It's just like saying all governments are inherently evil because they start wars, so lets do away with governments all together. Huh?

And for the record, I don't understand why we can't all respectfully disagree and tolerate one another. I'm happily married to an avowed atheist and while we have lively debates, he has never called me or my beliefs stupid. You know what's intellectually lazy? Deciding that that you're right and shouting down everyone else who disagrees with you.