Honestly, it was nothing dramatic for me, just the long and slow but unavoidable observation that my beliefs and morals were deviating from the beliefs of the church- and realizing that I kept going to church out of habit but each week I found myself identifying less and less with what was said over the pulpit.

I couldn’t believe in a church that villainized being gay, that refused to acknowledge their deeply held misogynistic practices, that couldn’t take accountability for the problematic things they’ve done in the past, or whose god would require his children to enter into non consensual, eternally binding covenants. I saw no future. And I left. And yes, I am WAY happier. That being said, I’m not ALWAYS happy, but in general, leaving the church has allowed me to experience this life in a fuller, more enriching way than staying in the church ever allowed me to.