While the Christians above debate amongst themselves what their God never seems to be able to convey, I'll try to roll this thread back on topic.
I promised an analysis of the a conversion process. I'll use a revivalist baptism with glossolalia:
As I stated, IMO, there is no non-emotive (intellectual) path to belief, so the emotional conversion experience is essential to convert an informed sceptical intellectual. My catch phrase has always been "enlightenment transcends intellect". I have personally never discussed Christianity with or read apologetics of an intelligent person without that individual resorting to describing an emotive conversion experience or an emotional need for faith.
IMO this is because there is no intellectual path to God only an emotive appeal which fulfils the human belief desire condition perfectly and allows the trancendment of intellect. It is fundamental to understand in advance the human desire to want to believe in a higher purpose and deny mortality. This is arguably an evolutionary compulsion. It is also critical to acknowledge the fallibilities of your own human mind. This is essential to maintaining mental health for anyone, as one’s grip or reality should never be appraised purely subjectively: it should always be validated objectively. Our mental health institutions are full of people who live in worlds that exist only within their own minds. Modern science has thankfully given us a way of diagnosing mental disorders and treating them.
The conversion experience is also what makes the newest Pentecostal Christian churches so persuasive when compared to more orthodox interpretations. It should be very carefully noted that some conversion experiences can be very successful and persuasive. I strongly advise fully investigating the doctrines of a church
prior to submission to a conversion experience or ongoing congregation so that an adequate appraisal of the church can be made in advance. I have developed a checklist for this very purpose and may get round to posting it below.
The baptismal conversion experience:
Candidates are often sourced from the usual prime conversion demographics. They are prepared by exposure to the congregation, or one on one talks. In smaller churches, the sermon may be specifically tailored to target potential convertees that undoubtedly everyone is aware are in attendance.
The message sold is strongly emotively appealing, with references to love, eternal life, protection, prosperity, happiness, joy etc. It is emphasised that the ancient Bible foretells of the ability to "experience God" and to speak in tongues.
Once the convertee has agreed to submit to the conversion, the requirement of "humbleness and submission to God" is emphasised. This submission, is of course, to the conversion process and to those who conduct it. It also begins to establish the process of submission demanded by church "oversight".
The convertee is further humbled by a process of dressing down to a physically vulnerable state (borrowed shorts and t-shirt) allowing oneself to be fully immersed in a large tub of tepid water, often within full view of entire congregation or large portion of it, who will be singing, chanting, praying in tongues in support of the procession. This is an extraordinary process for most people, combining an emotive, vulnerable state, an appearance in front of a large audience combined with the presence of charismatic church elders demanding compliance and submission to "God". After immersion the convertee will be instructed to repeat multiple syllabilic words, typically, Praise the lord, praise the lord, Alleluia alleluia while making an emotive appeal to a God. The church elders will be touching, encouraging and praying along with the convertee.
Not surprisingly this process often solicits an experience. Glossolalia is not uncommon. The convertee may experience an overwhelming sense of warmth, relief, subjugation, love, extreme happiness or which may be expressed in laughing or even crying. A catharsis. This is an intense experience and can overwhelm the individual. However it may manifest, it is rationalised in the Biblical context and touted as proof of the validity of the ancient Bible, especially if glossolalia occurs.
The convertee is now open to swallowing the doctrine of the church.
Or alternately: sometimes nothing will happen to the convertee. They will be asked to pray with fellow Christians for sometime in the hope that the above will result. They will be instructed to continue to pray over the next few days and to attend regular church meetings in the hope the transition will occur. Sometimes an experience does occur later, even sometimes when the convertee is alone.
Result? If nothing happens now or even after a long period of committed attempts, this will never be construed as an indication of the lack of validity of the process: it will always be interpreted as a shortcoming on the individuals behalf, eg wrong mind set, not humble enough, too disciplined which is actually true because the emotive experience requires a degree of mental gullibility or vulnerableness to succeed.
What does the emotional experience mean? People have religious conversion experiences all across the world, in many different belief systems. It can be likened to a form of emotional breakdown, and to degree it is because it establishes a completely new form of knowledge accumulation: that based on faith and appeals to authority/tradition. It in no way guarantees the validity of the experience because it occurs in so many different forms and the final interpretations depends on who is there to feed you dogma when the process occurs, be it Christian, Muslim, Buddhist or New Agist.
Such experiences are also replicatable through drug use, oxygen deprivation and have been replicated through stimulation of the temporal lobes (right down to subjectively interpreted religious imagery). The experience also varies from person to person and is totally subjective. It is not objectively replicatable.
The experience should not be used as a valid form of knowledge appraisal. It does not grant evidence or objective proof, it is no more valid than a schizophrenic episode. Beliefs resulting from process depend on input after process. It is also a very transient process: many believers nevertheless still fall from faith sometime after this process. Some Christian churches have merely identified a very ancient vulnerability of humans to certain persuasive inputs and they take advantage of this.
Further reading:
Theism Experience » Internet Infidels
™ Version 4.2