As an atheist university professor, Dr. Holly Ordway, was convinced that by definition faith is utterly irrational. She would eventually become a Christian, but prior to her conversion she used the following analogy to explain why, as an atheist, she could not consider the option of believing in Jesus and going to heaven:

Imagine that you tell me, "If you believe that there's an invisible pink unicorn in the sky, I'll give you a new BMW." I see the car in the parking lot; you jingle the keys in your hands. If I can believe what you want me to believe, the new car is mine. Cool! But it's a waste of time: I know there's no unicorn. No matter how much I want that car, I am incapable of believing something contrary to reason in order to get it. Believing something irrational on demand to get a prize: that is what the evangelical invitation to "accept Jesus and get eternal life in heaven!" sounded like to me.

Despite her skepticism, she went on to accept Christ and to write a book about her conversion experience called appropriately Not God's Type.