By John North

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Andrew Bowen took on 12 religion in 12 months when he dreamed up Project Conversion in 2011.

In an Oct. 3 presentation in Asheville, Bowen spoke of his year-long personal immersion into the culture, practices, beliefs and rituals of 12 belief systems from around the world as a personal intervention after years of animosity toward faith.

During “An Evening With Andrew Bowen,” he addressed about 23 people in a free program at the Lenoir-Rhyne University Center for Graduate Studies of Asheville in Montford.

Bowen, billed as a perpetual student and champion of inter-religious peace and reconciliation, told how the project became a journey to religious tolerance for him. He said his mission for Project Conversion is to help create a seamless humanity

K. Paul Knott, director of the center, said that despite L-RU’s affiliation with the North Carolina Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, “We don’t really have a dog in this fight,” insofar as its hosting of Bowen’s presentation.

He added that “the conversation around spirituality really fits Asheville” and Knott said he hoped Bowen’s sharing of his odyssey will advance the discussion.

Bowen, who had spent time sharing his story with students on L-RU’s main campus in Hickory, was brought to the Asheville campus to share his saga once again. 

To that end, Knott noted that “we’ve got faculty and guests from the mothership, as we like to refer to the original university,” in attendance of Bowen’s Asheville talk.

In an introduction, Bowen’s Project Conversion was described as “one man, 12 faiths and one year to discover the humanity within.”

Bowen, who is married, began by noting, “Tonight, I’d like to talk with you about one of the most divisive terms — in-laws.” The crowd laughed.

“I’d like to explain how these stereotypes have to fall down one at a time, if we are to see the world in a real way.”

He said among the stereotypes is religion and he cited the late Christopher Hitchens, who billed himself as an anti-theist and once stated, “Religion/God is our first and worst attempt at the truth.” Bowen noted that he has been a “fan” of Hitchens’ ideas and books.

“This attitude Hitchens had was the one I had” prior to his immersion, he said “I was a militant anti-theist.”

Bowen then told of his upbringing, noting that “I became a Christian at 15 years old in high school. Over pizza, I thought Christianity might be a good idea... For some reason, I took that Christianity and turned it into a fundamentalist” faith.

“I routinely sought out Latter Day Saints on bicycles — when they were out evangelizing — and threw rocks at them. I was a jerk,” Bowen said.

“In college, I joined the Marine Corps,” where he got his first impression of Islam — “and I wanted to kill as many Muslims as possible.”

In autumn 2010, “I reached the boiling point and I realized that if I didn’t change, there’d be no turning back.”

He added, “Religion always seemed to be stuck in the middle of this strife.”

Bowen said he felt he faced a choice where “I could either maintain this path or humble myself” and get to know others’ paths.

“This was about me going about a personal intervention to cure the malevolence I had in my heart.”

He found in his path of immersion that it placed him “from here” and put him “somewhere else. It was a nosedive.”

Among the religions, each of which he spent a month immersed in, were Hinduism, Buddhism, Baha’i, Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Mormonism, Islam, Sikh, Wiccanism, Jainism and Catholicism.

“Because I only had 30 days, I had to have monthly structure” to cope, Bowen said. “I got a lot of flak with people saying I couldn’t learn a religion in a month.”

On week one, he would learn the religioous practices, worship and ritual; week two, learn culture and art; week three, learn social issues and conflicts; and week four, personal reflection.

“I didn’t realize the change that was taking place within me until I stood with Muslim men” in a mosque — “these were once people I wanted to kill!” Instead, he felt brotherhood with them.

“Catholicism, for me, was like the other side of Christianity because I came from a very narrow view of Christianity,” Bowen said.

He said Zoroastrianism is an “endangered” faith, with only 250,000 left in the world. Bowen also said he had trouble connecting with Zoroastrianism, which was the one religion in his immersion in which one cannot become a convert.

With a laugh, Bowen said, “My Mormon mentors — they were the only faith that actively tried to convert me.”

After getting to know the Mormons, Bowen expressed admiration for them, noting that their “young men and women give up one or two years of their lives to help others — right out of high school,” as a part of their faith tradition.

In reference to his behavior earlier in life, he asked, after getting to know Mormons, “How could I be mean to them? I always get excited when I see Mormons on bikes now” because he enjoys talking with them — and does not to lob rocks at them.

Bowen noted that his immersion experience amounted to “rocking the boat” for some in the faith community and “I had to deal with a lot of detractors.”

He reiterated that, for him, “It was not about converting to a faith, but converting from hate to compassion.”

Wiccanism was the most difficult faith for him to immerse himself because “a lot of journalists in recent times have been embedding themselves” in the hope of reporting scandals, Bowen said.

“It took me half a month to reassure them. It was the only time I wanted to quit.”

As for his conclusions from the year of immersions, Bowen said, “In 2011, I turned upside down ... in order to change, to heal, to expunge this hatred from my life.”

He also asserted, “I encourage others to take the same path.”