Displaying items by tag: Ayn Rand

Baptist Convert: Stacy Trasancos

Published in Baptist
Monday, 20 June 2011 23:59

Stacy Trasancos

Stacy is a Catholic convert from the Baptist tradition. A former chemist, Stacy is now a stay at home mom pursuing a MA in Theology at Holy Apostle's College and Seminary.

I am Catholic, simply, because I am alive. I began conversion in 2004 and entered into Communion with the Catholic Church in 2006. That I know of, I have a full decade of children to remember when I pray the Rosary, seven whom I am raising and three whom I never held in my arms. My life these 42 years has been full of self-induced pain. Today I know deep joy and peace because I am accepting the abundances of Truth and Love. I'm telling my story because as shameful as it is, it is real and needs to be told so others will know the dangers of life without a moral compass.

Catholic Revert: Dr. Kevin Vost

Published in Catholic Reverts
Friday, 25 March 2011 09:45

Dr. Kevin Vost

Dr. Kevin Vost was raised Catholic, became an atheist in his late teens, and returned to the Christ and the Church at age 43. Dr. Vost resides with his lovely wife Kathy and his sons Eric and Kyle in Springfield, Illinois.

From Atheism to Catholicism: A Tale of Three Supermen

Neither bird, nor plane… but Superman!

I was born and raised Catholic, but also Supermanian. Some of my earliest memories involve sitting in front of the television, mesmerized by that incredible, flying man of steel.  He was invincible, doing good and daring deeds effortlessly and with a smile. Men respected him, women adored him, and he didn’t even want people to know who he really was.  I too would come to don a Superman suit, cape and all, to such an extent that my mother’s friends called her “Superman’s mom.” One fine Saturday in the mid 1960s, mom informed me that Kevin, and not Superman, would be attending a relative’s wedding, so I attended in my street clothes. Fortunately, I was able to persuade an older cousin to take me out to the car.  Soon a young Superman (the car would be my makeshift phone booth) sat down in the pew right between his mortified mother and quite bemused father.

Atheist Convert: Jeff Miller

Published in Atheist
Wednesday, 09 March 2011 11:20

Jeff Miller

A retired Navy chief, Jeff is a simulation engineer and develops courseware for the military. He and his wife, Socorro, have two adult children.

The Soul Is Not Just Some Metaphysical Idea

There is a saying that if you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans. The converse is also true. If God wants to make you laugh, he will tell you his plans for you. On April 4, 1999, at the Easter Vigil, I was received into the Catholic Church. Just a couple of years before that, if a prophet had told me that I would rejoice on entering the Church or that tears would stream down my cheeks as I went to my first confession, I would have told him that he was gravely mistaken.

I was at the apogee of my conservatism based on Randian positivism. To me, radical selfishness was the highest virtue. The pinnacle of individualism and being a self-made man were my highest ideals. The natural virtues helped to modify this idealistic positivism toward how I related with others, but it was not enough. My nose had long before achieved orbit as I looked down at those poor superstitious mortals who still believed in hunter-gatherer myths such as God.