CONVERSION

CONVERSION . The nature and definition of conversion elicits enormous controversy. Given the complexity, and to some, the transcendent mystery of conversion, it is no surprise that scholarly consensus has yet to be achieved. For some, conversion is a form of pathology. For others, it is an example of human manipulation and coercive power. It is important at the outset of this article to note that Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam have been traditionally identified as conversionist (or missionary) movements. However, conversion studies necessarily deals with a much broader array of religions and topics than those confined to any of these three religions. The subject of conversion, once the exclusive franchise of evangelical Protestants and psychologists of religion, is now investigated by scholars in anthropology, history, missiology, religious studies, theology, and sociology.

Fundamentally, conversion is religious change. Since the 1980s, however, the very definition of conversion erupted as a zone of contention. What changes? Who changes? How does one change? How much change is necessary for the change to be considered conversion? What is authentic conversion? These debates permeate the extensive and growing literature on the nature of conversion. The word conversion itself is a source of debate. Especially in areas where missionaries from a variety of religious traditions have been active, the specter of forced, or at the very least, manipulated conversions, elicit a desire to reject the word conversion as a symbol of the colonial missionary enterprise.

Two common English definitions of conversion originated from the Greek terms epistrophe, which can mean "conversion" or "turning around," and metanoia, which can mean "repentance" or "to turn around," with an emphasis on the inner transformation of the convert. The term conversion was employed initially within Judeo-Christian circles to describe a believer's self-identification with a religious tradition either through faith in God and/or through commitment to new beliefs, rituals, and a religious community. Comparatively, converts to Buddhism, especially in its earliest Indian environs hundreds of years before the emergence of Christianity, described their own experience not as "converting" but as "enlightenment." To the faithful within monotheistic religious traditions, conversion was seen positively as testimony to the truth of the religion as well as guarantor of salvation. Pejoratively, conversion often meant sacrificing personal or social identity, a rejection of local lifeways and customs, through the "turning to" another religious tradition that may have been associated with a dominant political, social, or religious power.

Constructing theories and interpretations of conversion can be an arduous enterprise. "Insiders" assume that people convert to the insider's religion because the religion is, of course, true. "Outsiders" to a particular religion will not assert that a person converts to another religion because it is true. Moreover, the secular person may use explanations that are related to psychological needs, sociological factors, cultural forces, economic incentives or deprivations, and/or political constraints or inducements to make sense of the phenomena, thereby reducing the concept of conversion to a monocausal force rather than recognizing its pluriform nature. Facile definitions of such robust and dynamic phenomena fail to account for the multifaceted process that affects social, psychological, religious, and political life. Definitions of conversion abound, yet the use of theory helps human beings to begin to intellectually grasp its meaning. Given the inherent complexity of conversion, there exists no single comprehensive theory that successfully disentangles the numerous threads that together give rise to religious change. For instance, not all conversions entail inner transformation—some require adherence to divine laws revealed to human beings. Furthermore, some scholars suggest that conversion entails an abrupt and radical religious reorientation or intensification, while others assert that conversion processes are gradual, with the convert progressively entering a new religious tradition or deepening their commitment to their present tradition.

The study of conversion has dramatically expanded. In addition to numerous articles and monographs, the most common format is the edited book with articles addressing various dimensions of the phenomenon. In some cases the books are organized according to disciplines, in other cases they are focused on a particular religion or a region of the world. Recent contributors to this genre include Robert W. Hefner, Andrew Buckser, and Stephen D. Glazier in anthropology; Christopher Lamb, M. Darrol Bryant, and Peter van der Veer in religious studies; and Rowena Robinson and Sathianathan Clarke in the study of conversion in India. Others have added to the extensive literature in historical studies, including Steve Kaplan, Kenneth Mills, Anthony Graftson, and James Muldoon, while Kenneth J. Collins and John Tyson have written about Wesleyan studies. These studies are valuable in providing rich detail and texture to descriptions of conversion processes. There is a need for students of conversion to work more systematically in interdisciplinary studies in order to build a more coherent, cumulative approach to theory and research.

This article on conversion focuses on a number of theoretical orientations currently deployed in the study of conversion. Various theories elucidate different dimensions and processes involved in the phenomenon of conversion, and each theory grows out of different sets of assumptions and methods of research. No single theory currently dominates the field of conversion studies. By exploring a wide array of conversion theories, the diversity and complexity of conversion will be illumined. The theories are organized according to broad categories that focus on the person, social and cultural approaches, religious and theological approaches, and convergent models; the latter are theoretical approaches that seek to be interdisciplinary and inclusive.

Personalistic Theories

Personalistic theories include:

Psychoanalytic theory

According to the psychoanalytically oriented scholar, the phenomena of conversion is driven and shaped by the primal forces within the personality. Sigmund Freud suggested that the id, ego, and superego engage in constant conflict, giving rise to the human urgency to seek gratification of powerful desires, where culture, religion, and conscience (superego) serve to constrain. In Freud's view, conversion processes are fragile compromises in the ongoing conflict of the life and death instinct, where the drama of infant, mother, and father are mirrored in the dynamics of conversion. Religious rituals, beliefs, and relationships are motivated by such powerful emotions as guilt, grief, terror, emotional deprivations, and all kinds of suffering that propels the person into religion. Adherents of psychoanalytic theory interpret conversion as inherently pathological, interpreting it as a means to overcome childhood fears and conflicts rooted deep within the personality.

Archetypical theory

Carl G. Jung developed the archetypical theory that asserts that there are fundamental, universal patterns within the human psyche that give form to human experience. Based upon his work, scholars of archetypical theory postulate that conversion takes place when a person is captivated by a powerful religious symbol or experience that meets profound needs within that person's psyche. Scholars following archetypical theories take seriously the symbol systems of religion in order to understand the attraction and impact upon a convert.

Attachment theory

Some scholars of conversion assert that human beings form emotional ties reflecting the connection of an individual with their original primary caregiver. Building on some of the foundational notions of Freud and evolutionary theory, John Bowlby's work asserts that conversion in part compensates for severely deprived and distorted parenting patterns or it can be congruent with parental modes of relating to the dependent child. Attachment theory emphasizes the primacy of affective and emotional relationships as formative.

Attribution theory

Attribution theory is based on the universal human need to create and/or find meaning in life, including meaning for inexplicable daily events as well as more profound issues of the human predicament, such as undeserved suffering and death. Adopting a new system of attributions about the nature of self, others, and God is a significant aspect of what happens for many converts. Attribution theory asserts that religion or a religious perspective provides meaning and a sense of purpose to those issues that haunt human consciousness. This theory stresses the cognitive and intellectual spheres of conversion processes.

Social/Cultural Theories

Social and cultural theories include:

Multicultural theory

Increasingly, scholars of conversion recognize the importance of the cultural dimensions of the conversion process. Previously the bulk of theoretical work on conversion was derived from people of European racial and cultural heritage. Unquestioned assumptions about patterns of family life, modes of selfhood, and norms of mental health were either ignored or were assumed to be superior to people of other racial, ethnic, and national origins. While most Euro-American scholars previously tended to universalize their perceptions of self, personality, and motivation, more recently there has been growing interest in researching non-Western settings or people with Asian, Latin American, African, or Pacific Island backgrounds.

Alan Roland's self theory postulates variable dimensions of self that are virtually universal but have different valence or importance in various cultures. Roland suggests that the five dimensions constituting the whole self are the individual self, the family self, the spiritual self, the developing self, and the private self. For instance, in India and Japan, the family self is more developed and most people in those countries tend to be focused on the family aspect of selfhood. Multicultural theories of conversion take into account, for instance, the norms of individual self and family self in their assessment of conversion dynamics. Whereas in the West, where the norm is the isolated, autonomous convert, people from some non-Western cultures may convert "en masse," as a group mirrors their contours of selfhood. A viable theory of conversion requires recognition of different forms of selfhood in the person and group and the contours of selfhood subsequent to conversion. Likewise, other social scientific theories of conversion, namely those from anthropological and sociological perspectives, require sensitivity to the perspective of the Western or non-Western assumptions regarding the role of culture and society in the motivations to convert. Conversion theories will be enhanced significantly when people from various parts of the world develop theories reflective of and relevant to indigenous cultures and religions.

Postcolonial theory

This approach seeks to investigate the experience of Africans, Asians, and Latin Americans with imperialism and colonialization. Scholars working in post-colonial theory examine the processes by which the presence of military, economic, and cultural power have shaped the infrastructures and superstructures of societies, cultures, economies, and subjectivities of people in post-colonial nation states. Conversion to a world religion, such as Islam or Christianity, is interpreted as a part of the "colonization of the mind and spirits" of the dominated peoples. Submission and resistance of the colonized in the conversion process are important themes for postcolonial theorists. Furthermore, the blending of the local religious tradition with the world religion, sometimes understood as syncretism, often creates a robust and creative religious experience. That is to say, understanding conversion in a postcolonial context involves recognizing human actors as actively engaged in negotiating strategies and tactics of submission as well as resistance and innovation.

Identity theory

With increased urbanization and modernization, along with ethnic and religious pluralism, old notions of self, communities, relationships, and convictions are changing. In social psychology and sociology, identity theory suggests that conversion is a process of gaining convictions and values that consolidate understandings of the self to structure the relationships with others and to provide a sense of continuity in a fragmented world. In this sense, conversion consolidates identity and helps to maintain it through time, providing a sense of meaning in a world characterized by social mobility and anomie.

Intellectualist theory

According to Robin Horton, human actors seek to understand, predict, and control space-time events. Horton proffered a theory of microcosm and macrocosm based on his work in Africa. In the African context, the microcosm consisted of the quotidian world occupying most of a community's daily activities. Their religious life concerned the explanation, prediction, and control of their concrete world. However, virtually all groups, according to Horton, had a macrocosm—the wider world—that was only minimally developed because their daily energy was focused on the microcosm. With increasing social mobility small-scale African communities interacted with people from a wider social world, which expanded the myths, rituals, and symbols of the small-scale societies to include the macrocosm—a broader world of a high god, rationalized religion, and often a formal scripture. Horton's theory reflects evolutionary motifs, since the theory assumes that conversion entails a movement from microcosm to macrocosm based on active cognitive decision-making.

Narrative theory

Some scholars assert that conversion involves, among other things, learning a new narrative that reconstructs a person's biography in light of a new allegiance, a new theology, and a new set of rituals. Biographical reconstruction and the resulting narrative provides new meaning to a person's self, God (or other transcendent reality of a particular tradition), relationships, community, and world. Conversion in this sense means adopting a new story that resonates with the convert, finding connections between "my" story and "the" story, and incorporating the story into one's own life narrative. Conversion stories among evangelical Christian traditions frequently present themselves as personal testimonies, often weaving biblical stories and themes into the convert's own narrative, and thus making past biblical truths contemporaneous with the current believer's own experience. Likewise, a convert to Buddhism can speak of a personal experience of awakening along the lines as prescribed in the Buddhist scriptures.

Globalization theory

The increasing interconnectedness and ease of global communication systems, such as television, radio, and the Internet, and ease of mobility through airlines, automobiles, and trains have invigorated and, in some cases, made possible the growth of new religious movements, the spread and intensification of world religions, and the global revitalization of such movements. Globalization has enabled unprecedented mass communication, through which the yearnings for spiritual renewal and transformation are contacted and cultivated. For example, through globalized media even hinterland villages may have access to religious programming and watch images of the Muslim pilgrimage (ḥājj), Christian televangelists healing the sick, or Hindu devotees chanting sacred text, all beamed in from distant locations. Scholars of the globalization theory of conversion stress not only the content of the message but the form of the communication.

Religious/Spiritual Theories

Religious and spiritual theories include:

Theological theories

Whenever scholars employ theory to illuminate their data, it is important to keep in mind that all attempts at understanding complex phenomena are inherently reductionist. Theoretical biases and perspectives come into play in all theory construction. As such, some scholars of conversion note the normative issues within each religion. Historically, earlier discussions of the theologies of conversion were dominated by evangelical Christians, whereas liberal Christians emphasized social concerns. The Roman Catholic Church, following the reforms of the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965), also began to reexamine the phenomena of conversion. Historically, Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam have been the "missionary religions" aimed explicitly at converting others. Newer religious movements, such as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Unification Church, each have their own set of normative guidelines for what constitutes authentic conversions. For one, conversion may entail accepting a God as revealed by a prophet (e.g., Joseph Smith and Mormonism), but for others, conversion may consist in accepting the prophetic insight of a founder that may be focused less on a transcendent being than on an immediate experience of belonging and community.

Whether scholars write from within a particular religious tradition or from a variety of theoretical perspectives, many recognize the crucial role of religious experience, divine intervention, and transcendence. They apply descriptions and definitions of the process of conversion according to their theological anthropology, their doctrine of human nature. These normative theologies disclose their assumptions regarding the deep structures of the human being and focus on the way in which human beings were created, their desires and aspirations, the human predicament, and, in some traditions, the urgent need for a relationship with a transcendent being or law that gives meaning, orientation, and, indeed, even their salvation.

Translation

Another feature of the phenomenon of conversion is the relationship between sacred texts and the convert. Some religions affirm the sacred quality of a particular language as it is used for prayer, worship, and reading, while others emphasize the inherent translatability of scriptures, with the assumption that the Divine endorses mother-tongue communication. Islam, which affirms the distinctively sacred role of Arabic, exemplifies the former and Christianity and Buddhism, which has since their beginnings emphasized translation into vernacular languages, the latter. The translatability and untranslatability of sacred texts plays a significant role in understanding the conversion process as lives of converts are shaped and guided in part by sacred texts and the cultural and revelatory traditions that in part gave rise to them.

Convergence Models

Convergence models include:

Process theory

Lewis R. Rambo developed a stage model of conversion as a heuristic device that attempts to illuminate the phenomena by highlighting crucial dynamics and elements of religious change. It is important to note that while Rambo's theory is neither unilinear nor universal, the usefulness of his model lies in its ability to systematically organize the complex phenomena of religious change as well as some of the technical issues emerging in conversion scholarship. It should be noted that this stage model does not assume a discrete, unidirectional movement through the stages, but rather a dynamic process of interplay between the stages.

Rambo lays out seven stages of the converting process. Stage one identifies the context in which converting takes place, which functions as the matrix of conversion. Stage two is crisis, where disordering and disrupting experiences call into question a person's or group's taken-for-granted world. This crisis is often triggered by the interaction of external or internal forces, exemplified by colonial contact in the former case and the words of a charismatic religious leader in the latter. Stage three is quest, which encompasses different ways people actively respond to crises. Stage four is encounter, which describes the contact between the potential convert and the advocate of a new religious option. Stage five is interaction, in which the converting person or group learns more about the teachings, lifestyle, and expectations of the group, and is required to begin making alterations in beliefs, rituals, and relationships that are consistent with the prescriptions and proscriptions of a new religious community. Stage six is commitment, where a decision is required and, in many cases, a public demonstration of the status change is expected. Stage seven is consequences. Given the fact that converts are in the process of changing many different aspects of their life, discernment of the nature of these changes is important. Indeed, some religious traditions seek to assess the authenticity of a conversion based on these changes. The criteria are based on the expectations of specific religious communities, including such dimensions of affective, intellectual, ethical, religious, and social/political domains. Scholars of conversion assess the consequences based on criteria derived from their own disciplines, whether from history, social sciences, religious studies, or otherwise. Many scholars of conversion believe that authentic conversion is a continuous process of transformation.

Feminist theory

Feminist theory elucidates the influence of gender inequality in all aspects of life. In Western society, patriarchy has generally dominated society, culture, and religion, giving priority to male perspectives in religious, social, cultural, and economic domains. As a result, feminist studies of conversion have only recently emerged. Feminist theory points to issues that need to be addressed in the study of religious change. For instance, do women experience conversion differently from men, and, if so, in what ways? Do religious models of conversion constrict and distort women's motivations, needs, and desires? Is religious conversion healing and helpful to women, or just another mode of domination? Preliminary studies indicate that, indeed, women do experience conversion differently than men, have significantly different motivations for conversion, and often approach the process of religious change in different ways. Future conversion studies must incorporate feminists' concerns in research and writing.

Christianization and Islamization theory

In the conversion studies literature there is a growing body of work that falls under the broad headings of Christianization and Islamization theories. These studies explore the religious, historical, cultural, social, political, economic, and ideological factors and forces that create and sustain comprehensive processes by which religions, in these cases Christianity and Islam, are disseminated, cultivated, consolidated, and sustained by a wide range of forces that create an environment in which individual religious change takes place. These processes have parallels in discussions of other inclusive processes called Sankritization, Buddhization, Confucianization, Hellenization, modernization, and secularization. Some scholars of conversion would reject this all-embracing process as being called conversion. It is, however, accurate to say that in many studies of conversion and in the ordinary use of the term, it is common to speak of the conversion of Armenia, the Roman Empire, the Philippines, Syria, and so forth. Conversion must be seen as more than merely individual religious change because it usually entails the transformation of political, social, and cultural environments that create what might be described as an ecology of conversion that makes individual conversion possible.

All-inclusive studies often focus on geographical areas in which Christianity or Islam gain ascendancy. In the case of Christianity, these include explorations of the Christianization of the Roman Empire, British Isles, Europe, Russia, Latin America, the Philippines, and Korea. Studies of conversion to Islam include such geographical areas as Arabia, Iran, Egypt, Africa, Southeast Asia, India, the Malay Archipelago, Britain, Europe, and so forth. Few of these studies emphasize individual experience but rather the roles persons might play as missionaries, emissaries, leaders (charismatic or otherwise), or traders. Most focus on Christianization or Islamization, in other words, the creation of social, cultural, religious, and political environments in which individuals, families, communities, and societies flourish as Christian or Muslim zones of influence and power. Many such studies are, of course, historical, but there are also examinations of the processes of Christian or Islamic conversion using various interpretative models such as the diffusion of innovation theory by Richard W. Bulliet.

In the study of Islamization, other theoretical explanations for Islamic conversion include the use of force, attractiveness of Islam as a movement for the liberation of slaves and soldiers, compliance with new political regimes, desire for the privileges of Islamic political power (e.g. tax relief), influence of traders (through intermarriage and patronage relationships), attractiveness of monotheism (especially for those from "pagan" and "primal" religions), and the provision of mystical and transcendent experiences through such things as Ṣūfī modes of spirituality. In the case of Christianization, explanations for conversion, in addition to some of the same interpretations as those used for Islam, include experiences of healing, the attraction of communities of grace and fellowship, the appeal to women of new understandings of the role of women, and the deployment of various forms of persuasion, coercion, and force.

Brief Illustrations

Conversion to Christianity in the archipelagic nation of Indonesia, the largest Muslim country in the world, during the mid-1960s illustrates the complexity of the phenomena, combining elements of globalization, postcolonial, and identity theories. Since its independence on August 17, 1945, Indonesia, with more than 13,000 islands, has experienced a series of social, political, and economic crises that threaten to pull the country apart. September 30, 1965, marks the failed coup attempt on President Sukarno by left-wing officers. The Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) was held responsible for the coup attempt, and military and Muslim organizations responded by purging the communist threat in the nation. Most reports estimate that about 500,000 people were killed. Some converted to Hinduism. More striking is the fact that roughly two million Javanists and Chinese converted to Christianity to quickly unite themselves with a government-recognized religion and thereby distance themselves from any association with the PKI. Social and political realities, along with personal concerns, play an important role in understanding conversion. Conversion patterns in Indonesia during the unstable period of 1965–1966 suggest that sometimes conversion may be appealing because it distances the convert from the larger population. For instance, in the Indonesian case, Javanist and Chinese converts became Christians rather than Muslims, who were part of the punishing forces.

Throughout the history of conversion worldwide there have been moments where conversions were imposed by force or, at least, strongly encouraged in order for people to prosper in a newly established social order. The use of military force, social pressure, and economic incentives has been employed by followers of world religions at least at some point in their histories to bring people into the fold. These external forces of conversion can be potent motivators for religious change, and sometimes the fundamentalist interpretation of a religion can in part provide legitimation for such aggression. The history of colonialism is replete with instances of forcible conversions, where external forces played a significant role in conversion patterns.

While it is true that all conversions are both contextual and personal, scholars can also discern whether a conversion is caused and experienced primarily within in the personal sphere and which are influenced primarily by contextual dynamics. Another way to state this issue is to what degree is a conversion primarily internal and which is fundamentally contextual? Moreover, many theistic traditions would simply suggest that conversion is the result of a god who calls people to join the community of faithful followers of truth, thus recognizing a force (i.e., God) that is beyond both personal and contextual domains. It must be expressed, however, that all personal conversions are influenced by the context and all contextual conversions are experienced personally.

The contemporary social and political world is shaped in part by the pervasive influence of conversion. Buddhism pervades Thailand, Burma, Cambodia, Vietnam, and continues to have an important impact on China, Korea, Japan, and much of Asia. Islam is the dominant religion of the Middle East, Indonesia, parts of south Asia, and in many areas of Africa. Christianity is predominant in Europe, the Americas, Australia, and the Philippines, and has experienced significant resurgence in the non-Western world. The presence of world religions on all six continents represents members from diaspora communities but also converts to those religions. Latin America exemplifies a region where conversion within a religion, that is, from Roman Catholicism to Pentecostalism, has given way to significant social change, with about half of Latin America's Pentecostals living in Brazil. The religious world is a dynamic force field of dissemination, conflict, establishment, decline, renewal, and reversals of various religious movements, institutions, and ideologies. Conversion is integral to these transformations. The cultural geography of the world continues to be shaped by the dynamics of religious change.

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