I have to admit I have never understood this... How does a conversion to anything mean a thing if your forced into it?
-— I have to admit I have never understood this... How does a conversion to anything mean a thing if your forced into it? ——
It makes no sense to Christians. But Mohammedism has only spread by force, and forced conversions.
An analogy might be to life under communism. Everyone was compelled to give lip service to the “gods,” i.e.,Lenin and Stalin, but few believed in them.
Pretense to impose a death sentence upon those who recant.
There was a psychological study a few years ago that showed that if people pretended as if they believed a certain thing when they really didn’t, they often ended up really believing it.
I’ve seen it happen in LARPing groups sometimes. A shy, insecure young woman, fresh out of an abusive relationship, joined a LARP where she pretended to be a strong, confident elven warrior every other Saturday. After 2 months that confidence crept into her everyday life, and suddenly she was nobody’s punching bag anymore.
Maybe the same thing happens with forced conversions? Sort of a variation on Stockholm Syndrome?