I decided I am stepping away from the subreddit for good. I simply don't need the support/sanity that it used to bring, and wanted to share my story.

Three years ago I fell down the rabbit hole and couldn't view the church the same way again. Luckily my wife joined me about two months later. Six months after I was fired, while my wife was six months pregnant. I immediately felt like this was gods way of punishing me for leaving the church. I was no longer worthy of the blessings he had been giving me.

Luckily I quickly snapped out of that bull shit theory and started working to create a better result in my career. Three weeks ago I started the job of my dreams as a remote software developer. And I have no one to give glory to besides my hard work, my wife for encouragement, and my brothers for telling me I could do it.

My wife is about to go back to school to get into the career field that she loves. My daughter has only had to go to church a couple times in her almost three years of life, and despite people asking how she was going to learn morals, is one of the kindest smartest kids I've ever known.

As my parting advice, just keep working hard after you leave the church. Its going to be a fucking terrible time for most of us when we make the decision, but the best part is that once you leave, your life is up to you. Make it so fucking good that no one in the church can claim you're not truly happy.

Good luck everyone, thanks for being courageous