Since @amconmag and @roddreher want to know, #ILeftBecause the church I grew up in taught me that my father and my friends were going to hell to be tortured forever. But wait there's more! 1/ https://twitter.com/C_Stroop/status/1328721279898116097

#ILeftBecause my church endorsed a local republican for political office, while sullying the name of his opponent. They called his opponent demonic, a babykiller, and a heartless man. Oh, did I mention his opponent was my girlfriend's father? He was none of those things 2/

#ILeftBecause I began to see the racism of White Evangelicals. Church leaders were quick to criticize Black members who showed any pride in their Blackness or their children's Blackness. The common rebuke centered around "We are all one in Christ" 3/

#ILeftBecause I was told that Muslims wanted to "kill us all." When I finally met Muslims, I found that to very far from the truth. After 9/11, I discovered it was local Muslims that needed protecting from Christians. 4/

#ILeftBecause of rapture anxiety. Imagine telling your children that the greatest blessing they could have was to never be able to grow up because you could be whisked away to heaven. It was awful to think about all the experiences I would miss. 5/

#ILeftBecause the satanic panic of the 80's never stopped. We burned books, CD's, due to fear of demons. Frank Peretti's books made that worse. We would pray against demons we thought influenced every thought and every decision. We literally jumped at shadows 6/

#ILeftBecause evangelical Christians still freak out about satanism and demons they are sure exist, and those Christians influence everyday life. Paula White is a great example, but lets take a look at the most divisive member of my City Council. These people are leaders? 7/

#ILeftBecause you aren't allowed to question the teachings of the Church. If you think for yourself, church leaders are quick to berate and rebuke you. If you don't fall in line, they tell you that you are sinning. It's their way or the highway. 8/

#ILeftBecause when you question your faith, the Evangelical community will turn your back on you. Years of relationships are abandoned. When I started looking at other churches and faith, they turned their back on me so quick and never looked back, unless it was to berate me 9/

#ILeftBecause the teachings of the church are incompatible with reality. Want to know why education is scary to evangelicals? Because science and history based in reality don't jive with the church, and the church refuses to budge in the face of evidence contrary to them. 10/

#ILeftBecause the church considered my LGBTQ friends and family as completely evil. How do you reconcile a "religion of love" that spends so much time condemning people you care about? How can you even consider that "Love?" 11/

#ILeftBecause the Evangelical church is incompatible with the basic belief in equality. The Evangelical church believes that everyone outside of it is "less than" and the only path to equality is assimilation into the church. 12/

#ILeftBecause I don't want my daughter raised with any of the Christian supremacy that @amconmag and @roddreher seem to want in American politics. It simply doesn't belong. I have seen faith pushed on to the faithless too much. It is time for that to end. #EmptyThePews /13