deathbed conversion

See also: death-bed conversion and death bed conversion

English[edit]

deathbed conversion (countable and uncountable, plural deathbed conversions)

(set phrase) Acceptance of religious belief immediately before one dies, typically in a state of anxiety or fear of the insecurity of what will happen to one in and after death.
- 2011 December 16, William Grimes, “Christopher Hitchens, Polemicist Who Slashed All, Freely, Dies at 62”, in New York Times, retrieved 28 May 2015:
  Mr. Hitchens discussed the possibility of a deathbed conversion, insisting that the odds were slim that he would admit the existence of God.
(idiomatic, usually sarcastic, often politics) An abrupt, last-minute change in one's professed beliefs, principles, or point of view in order to escape a serious threat or to increase one's chances of success.
- 1996 November 17, “Whatever”, in Newsweek, retrieved 28 May 2015:
  The dilemma was how to propose a big tax cut and still look credible. Dole knew that the Democrats would mock him for a deathbed conversion.
- 2002 July 16, Richard A. Oppel Jr., David E. Sanger, “House Passes Bill to Combat Corporate and Securities Fraud”, in New York Times, retrieved 28 May 2015:
  "A deathbed conversion" was how Representative John LaFalce of New York State described the House Republicans' change of heart.
- 2010 February 10, Andrew Grice, “Brown's insurance against defeat”, in Independent, UK, retrieved 28 May 2015:
  Gordon Brown's deathbed conversion to electoral reform may look like pure opportunism and widening the goalposts for his team just as the match kicks off.