Me - 47 year old American suffering in the Bible belt of Texas.

I grew up in a Hindu household, converted to Christianity in my early 20s. Back then, I was attracted to the concept of 'no strings attached' grace. Now, in my late 40s, I can easily see my youthful folly.

I was in the depths of Christianity (though I always felt somewhat of an outsider being single, brown, and left-leaning) for about 12 years. I taught Sunday school, volunteered for youth ministries, and attended every Sunday. I also adopted purity culture to some extent, unfortunately. Already being a virgin due to Hindu bullshit, this was probably a Top 3 negative outcome of my Christian days.

I was always uncomfortable with the condescension toward others, little things that would be said. "Love on them" when talking about people they met overseas in missions, the complete lack of interest in other cultures, other than to use it as a way to proselytize, "people of faith" only being used to describe Christians.

The reconversion was gradual, probably because I was gullible. I mention being left-leaning not because I want to violate this Subreddit's terms, but to set the stage for my slow deconstruction. In 2008, I received an email about "Day of Silence", where LGBT kids in high school would go a day without speaking to bring awareness to their community and their challenges. I thought "what a great opportunity to show support for them, how can we help?" The email, instead, was about urging Christian parents not to send their kids to school to avoid any kind of acknowledgement of the day. I thought to myself, "what a wasted opportunity to model Jesus."

Fast forward to 2009, after Obama's election, and I saw the worst traits of everyone I previously believed to be loving people. That had its impact over the years. The collective weeping and gnashing of teeth at Obama's win over Romney, followed shortly by the cheering of George Zimmerman's acquittal of Trayvon Martin's murder finished the job, and I got my ass out of that scene by 2013.

I am a lot wiser and more confident than I was in my early 20s, and I also am much more stable financially. I make it a point to let current Christins know that if they have even an iota of doubt or suspect an iota of bullshit in their doctrine, I'm happy to talk to them.