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As any review of the current body of Roman Catholic "conversion stories" will bear out, fair, balanced, insightful representation of the facts related to sola scriptura, Papal primacy, the Mass, the Marian dogmas, purgatory, etc., is utterly lacking.

Is this gentleman reading the same literature I am?

A friend to whom I sent several books of apologetics by well-known converts (Mr. Currie, Mr. Ray, Dr. Hahn, etc.) had the opposite complaint! She said, "It's all about analyzing the details of Scriptural texts, historical understanding, ancient documents ... and nothing about their own spiritual and emotional experiences."

In all the conversion from Protestantism stories I know, the journey begins with a visit of the Mass, continues with the scripture and the history, and then the candidate struggles with the Catholic spirituality and ecclesiology — that is, Mary, the saints, and papacy.

Conversions from other faiths might be different. Dr. Roy Sholman (sp), a Jewish convert, had Mary appear to him. He did not know who she was...

LOL. Yep. Protestants -- at least the ones who are serious intellectuals -- don't convert for emotional reasons. They have to argue themselves in, and they can go over those arguments in excruciating detail.

There usually seems to be a "tipping point" argument, one which they can't refute, can't ignore, and to which they can't conform within a Protestant milieu.

fair, balanced, insightful representation of the facts related to sola scriptura, Papal primacy, the Mass, the Marian dogmas, purgatory, etc., is utterly lacking

That sounds like a fine description of James White's own writings.

Alex, have you read Patty Bonds' conversion story? I mention it because she describes, in some detail, her childhood years as a Baptist pastor's daughter ... how her father, said, from the pulpit, that Rome was the Whore of Babylon and the Pope was the antiChrist ... how her parents forbade her to play with a childhood friend, at least in part because the girl was a Catholic ... that kind of thing?

She and her brother were taught to hate -- and that is the only word that can possibly be accurate -- taught to hate Catholicism and believing Catholics from the time they learned to talk.

For me, my initial emotional and spiritual experiences occurred when I was a Protestant, the Catholic Church just completed my search for Jesus. I was already a firm believer, I didn't convert to Christianity to become a Catholic, I already was one. I bet it is the same with many of the others. It really became all about Scriptural texts, historical understanding, ancient documents, and they revealed the Truth to me.

Don't get me wrong, I had extreme emotional and spiritual experiences in my journey to the Catholic Church but it was finding the truthes that had evaded me for so many years. You can imagine finding answers to questions that you've had since you could think!