The debates raised questions like "Where did morality come from?" prompting Leah to seek the truth.
Leah Libresco Sargeant was a staunch atheist during her high school and college years. With a critical mind and a strong reliance on physical evidence, she dismissed faith as fiction.
As a moralist who loved math and science, Leah identified as a follower of Immanuel Kant, the German philosopher who advocated for rationality and universal law.
Upon entering Yale University, Leah encountered smart Christians, challenging her preconceived notions.
Though an evangelist on campus, her focus was on morality rather than faith.
She viewed prayer as nonsensical and engaged in the Yale Political Union debates, where she first encountered Christians discussing faith.
Leah was surprised by the consistency and moral framework of Catholicism, though she still considered it fictional. Her curiosity led her to read religious texts, including C.S. Lewis's "Mere Christianity."
After graduating from Yale, Leah viewed Christianity as consistent but wasn't fully convinced.
Working as a statistician in Washington D.C., Leah continued to grapple with her beliefs. Returning to Yale for a debate reunion, she was impressed by the compelling arguments of Catholic debaters.
Feeling an overwhelming urge to abandon atheism, she returned to Washington, D.C. with lingering doubts.
In the spring, another debate reunion at Yale deepened her admiration for Christianity. She encountered a future Lutheran priest and felt increasingly aligned with Christian beliefs.
The debates raised questions like "Where did morality come from?" prompting Leah to seek the truth.
Leah's search led her to realize that morality wasn't just a concept but a Being from whom everything originates. She recognized that her rational thinking, which led her to atheism, also originated from this Being.
Humbly admitting her mistake about religion, she converted to Catholicism in 2012, choosing Augustine as her confirmation saint.
Her conversion enriched her appreciation of the physical world. Leah now prays and recites the Rosary, finding beauty in both faith and math.
She grew up in a non-religious Jewish neighborhood on Long Island and previously blogged as an atheist for the Huffington Post.
She graduated with a B.A. in Political Science from Yale in 2011 and currently works as a freelance writer and school system analyst in Washington, D.C.
Leah covers topics in religion and statistics.
She loves math and often thinks about it during prayer, thanking God for its beauty. She believes God loves math but loves her even more.
Leah authored "Arriving at Amen: Seven Catholic Prayers that Even I Can Offer" and "Building the Benedict Option: A Guide to Building a Christian Community." Besides writing, she also speaks at various events.
"I’ve spoken on CNN, at Theology on Taps in multiple countries, at Chicago Ideas Week, and I could come to speak to you," she wrote on her blog.
Leah is actively engaged in the church and currently works in lay ministry for students at Princeton.
Leah Libresco Sargeant's journey from atheism to faith highlights the power of intellectual curiosity and the search for truth in shaping one's beliefs and life path.
