Okay, "thwarting" may have been a bit strong. I probably got a little carried away with the title and picked that word more for style than precision.

But as to the "I don't see what the big deal is" point (which a number of people have raised), I do have some concern, because I know how seriously my friend takes integrated belief systems. Some have suggested that this may be a "belief in belief" issue, but that's definitely not the case. She's very much committed to there being a truth of the matter here, and my guess is that if she really did commit to Catholicism, she would be more like a "full-strength Catholic," not a "pick and choose what feels nice and go on my way" Catholic. My model of her was obviously mistaken before today, but I find it hard to believe that someone could go from atheist advocate to committed, full-strength Catholic and yet stay fundamentally the same person.

As to the family/SO factor, I don't think that's in play. She previously had a Catholic boyfriend, but they ended up separating a while back (again, this is info she herself has blogged about). I'm not aware that he in particular was involved in this process, nor that family pressure played a significant role.