I'm living proof that religion is not an immutable characteristic.
I was a Christian. Now I'm not
Ah, but you weren't a true Christian.
Or some bullshit like that.
If anyone says that to my face, they'll be getting a fucking earful from me.
I was devout. I believed it with all of my heart. Everything I did was for God, not for any reward, but because it was the Right Thing (tm) to do. What killed my faith was the constant backstabbing from the Christian leaders. The people who were supposed to be guiding me to the right path. My emotions were being sucked out of me like soda through a straw. And I turned to God for solace... and he wasn't there. He was never there. I prayed to him every night. I pondered "His Wisdom" and meditated on it. And he was never there. The only one ever there for me was myself and my family and what few friends I had.
And for a couple of years after that, I continued to believe anyways until I just couldn't anymore.
We searched for churches that had the "right doctrine", and still only darkness came... and we left good churches because of doctrine issues.
...Sorry, apparently that was a trigger for me. Thanks for letting me get that out.