A copy of the first edition of Lev HaIvri by R. Akiva Yosef Shlesinger, a commentary on the will of the Chatam Sofer, which I recently sold, had an interesting feature. A previous owner of the book apparently found several passages of the book not to his liking, and these passages were neatly burned out. The offending lines describe a statement in the name of the Chatam Sofer where he stated that if a Jew decides that he will no longer be religious, it is preferable if he converts to Christianity.
“Thus I heard from several great Torah scholars, as they heard it from our rebbe (the Chatam Sofer, R. Moshe Sofer): Anyone who does not find the Jewish way of life appealing should find another religion, as our religion is not an ethically derived one, rather the word of a living [G-d]…. It is indeed a wonder why they do not convert out, and why they continue to identify as Jews. It is the evil inclination that seduces them that they should not convert their religion, as if they would have, they would have fulfilled the obligation of obliterating the evil from your midst, as they are worse for Jewry than the meshumadim and their punishment is greater than that of one who converted out.”
