One day there were big guys denying her entrance to the Kingdom Hall. My mom knew she wasn't welcome anymore, but whenever she gets angry she doesn't walk away quietly, she wants to fight. My dad adores her and has always protected her. No stupid human religion will ever break that bond.

After that we were Quakers.

The Witnesses were upset because my mom wasn't staying out of politics, especially anti Viet Nam War politics that were largely organized by pacifist Catholics. The Berrigan brothers frightened them.

The Witnesses are pacifists but stay out of politics.

I rather enjoyed ignoring the flag salute in grade school and have ignored it ever since. That kind of "patriotism" can be as toxic as any religion. Supposedly the "Under God" part can buy you a direct ticket to hell, the devil takes your soul.

I've witnessed much misery caused by religion in my life.

One of my high school friends killed himself because he was gay within a religion (not JW) and community that would not accept him.

Another friend tried to kill herself in my bathtub. She was the first naked woman I ever touched and I was praying and doing everything else I could to keep her alive. She later married my girlfriend.

It takes a huge amount of courage to speak out against a religion when your entire family and most of your friends are immersed in it.

My family wasn't that way. Their only common religion was "Not Mormon"

Three of my grandparents grew up "Not Mormon" in Mormon country. The Not Mormon kids all hung out together at the freak table and sometimes married one another, even those whose religious beliefs were totally incompatible.

So I had four grandparents of four religions and nobody standing in the way of my further religious or anti-religious exploration.