Faith, i̇denty and belonging though the conversion

Religion is very important in shaping the social structures and semantic world of each individual. Many situations like freedom of religion, differentiation in modern structure, spread of mass communication, reaching the information more easily with the new technology, the increase and in the cross-cultural interaction push people for seeking the meaning of life and this can be resulted in converting religion or sect. This research, which is crealised through the qualitative research design and where interviews are conducted through interview technique aims to understand social, cultural, psychological and economic reasons of the decision of people as to conversion from Islam to Christianity and to determine the factors affecting the decision of people who convert the sects in Christianity. In addition to this, the research aims to determine the problems people face in and after the period of converting their religions, and the changes in their social lives. For this purpose, data has been collected by interviewing 21 people, experienced conversion from 2 catholic, 2 protestant and 1 orthodox churches. The data has been distinguished in code unites based on themes determined beforehand by using content analysis technique then by transforming the interviews into narratives it has been interpreted. The acquired data has been interpreted with Lofland and Skonovd religion conversion motifs and it has been typified. According to the results of the survey, it has been determined that sociocultural interaction, ethnical origin, mystical experiences, missionary activities, religious suggestions, positive attitudes of religious officials, social interactions and rational decisions of individuals are effective in converting religions. According to the surveys carried out on religion converting motifs, sensual and mystic motifs are prominent. It has been observed that people who have converted religion have also gone through some changes in their daily routines. Finally it has been indicated that because of the religious beliefs, the people who convert religion face some problem with their families, colleagues, and social environment.