Joram Van Klaveren: A former Dutch politician and member of the Freedom Party who once said that “the Quran is poison” while researching his book about how to debunk Islam ends up accepting it as his faith and publicly announcing it.
Growing up in a conservative protestant Christian household, Joram admitted that he always had doubts about his faith, with dogmas such as the Trinity, the Original Sin, and the sacrifice of Christ. He, however, put aside his doubts in his youth and decided to “just being a christian.”
While working on his book, he found out that the Muslims had answers for these very questions he had asked himself when in his youth, but these were much logical than the ones he got from Christians.
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“And because I already believed in one God, my acceptance of the messenger made me de facto a Muslim. But the night, I realized that there was still a feeling of aversion. After I woke up the next day, that feeling was completely gone, and I felt very strong and happy in my heart.”
However, due to his upbringing, he naturally had a bias against Muslims and saw them as evil. He even said that “anti Muslim sentiment is almost a cultural thing in Europe.”
When he did decide to convert finally, he was working for Christian T.V./Radio organization and was like “the voice of Christianity.” However, in a very unprejudiced act, his employers asked him to appear on the show and openly tell the people his thoughts.
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“It was like a Dawah experiance,” he said. It was due to this show that many of his old colleagues found out about his conversions, such as Geert Wilders, the current leader of the Freedom Party, his ex-colleague, and renowned Islamophobe.
When asked if he faced any backlash, he said that most people around him were very accepting. He faced the most criticism from ex-Muslims, who criticized him even more than his ex-White Nationalist friends.