I answered “rarely,” but I should probably qualify that. I’ve been an atheist for about 5 years, and in the last 2 or 3, I don’t recall ever seriously thinking that the basic, factual premises of Christianity were any more likely than Greek myths. But I have had several moments—usually following some major personal failing of mine, or maybe in others close to me—where the Christian idea of man-as-fallen living in a fallen world made sense to me, and where I found myself unconsciously groping for something like the Christian concept of grace.
As I recall, in the first few years after my deconversion, this feeling sometimes led me to think more seriously about Christianity, and I even prayed a few times, just in case. In the past couple years that hasn’t happened; I understand more fully exactly why I’d have those feelings even without anything like the Christian God, and I’ve thought more seriously about how to address them without falling on old habits. But certainly that experience has helped me understand what would motivate someone to either seek or hold onto Christianity, especially if they didn’t have any training in Bayescraft.
I answered “rarely,” but I should probably qualify that. I’ve been an atheist for about 5 years, and in the last 2 or 3, I don’t recall ever seriously thinking that the basic, factual premises of Christianity were any more likely than Greek myths. But I have had several moments—usually following some major personal failing of mine, or maybe in others close to me—where the Christian idea of man-as-fallen living in a fallen world made sense to me, and where I found myself unconsciously groping for something like the Christian concept of grace.
As I recall, in the first few years after my deconversion, this feeling sometimes led me to think more seriously about Christianity, and I even prayed a few times, just in case. In the past couple years that hasn’t happened; I understand more fully exactly why I’d have those feelings even without anything like the Christian God, and I’ve thought more seriously about how to address them without falling on old habits. But certainly that experience has helped me understand what would motivate someone to either seek or hold onto Christianity, especially if they didn’t have any training in Bayescraft.