I grew up in a liberal progressive agnostic family, became a christian in college, and left the faith nearly two decades later. Leaving the faith was a gut-wrenching process over a long period of time, but in the end was painful but rather quick, sort of like pulling off a band aid. It has proven more difficult to untangle myself from the web of religion because of the relationships involved. I am not here to disuade anyone from Christianity. I am happy to help dissuade anyone from an unexamined faith, though to be honest, when I examined my faith, it pretty much crumbled away. I believe contemporary american evangelicalism is woefully inadequate in this regard, and I seriously question whether it is intellectually compatible with modern thought. I strongly believe people need to be allowed and encouraged to think for themselves, and my experience of evangelicalism was that it only promoted that within very limited parameters. I know there are others forms of Christianity out there, but an experience with conservative christianity can make it very difficult to honestly consider them."