August 16, 2009
The faith to convert: Stories of switching faiths a 'very common occurrence'
by Doug Erickson
Wisconsin State Journal
Willie Hall wasn't seeking a new religion that summer day in 1986, but one came knocking anyway.
The Madison resident had just bought a house when a Jehovah's Witness stopped by. Hall, disillusioned by the poverty he'd seen on a recent military stint overseas, was open to explanations for the world's suffering.
He began weekly Bible study meetings with a Jehovah's Witness, and within six years converted to the faith, leaving behind the Catholicism of his youth.
While Hall's spiritual path has its unique aspects, switching religious affiliations is not unusual, according to a new study by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. About 44 percent of American adults belong to a faith tradition or religious denomination different from the one in which they were raised. Another 9 percent have returned to their religion of birth after trying something else.
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