Why I left Catholicism - the Cold War
Growing up in a Catholic culture I was comfortable in the community. It was supporting, cohesive and, simply, a community. To a point and for what it's worth.
There was one family in the neighborhood who were apparently Protestants, though no one knew for sure. They sort of kept to themselves. Think about that a bit. I think they felt uncomfortable in the neighborhood.
There were some ethnic lines among us - the Italian families went to an Italian church, the Poles to theirs, and so on with Syrians, Lebanese and we Irish, etc. At times we all went together to one church or another. Or to Saint Dunkin Donuts...
Yet there was a commonality. Most of our churches were Jesuit, so there was a rigorous focus on doing the right thing not the easy thing. Treating others as we would wish to be treated. Choosing empathy over simple dismissal. Turning the other cheek. Etc. The heart of the message of Jesus, in that religious point of view. Plus a vigorous support of doubt, questioning and action.
I took away a lot of things from that time. Some still make up a part of my life.
Somewhere along the way, back then, things changed. It was the Cold War. All of a sudden it was God vs. Communism. Which naturally morphed into "For God and Country". And the church increasingly became politicized. That was the wake up call for me. I literally watched a standard that I thought was taken for granted - separation of church and state - begin to dissolve.
That's when I left Catholicism. I've taken many good things with me from that time but I could see the trend and wanted to step aside.
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Air raid drills - we got under our desks. You at least had the chance to read a sentence or two before the big bang. 
