Lisa, you wrote a fascinating account. The promise that some have seen in you is surfacing full throttle.

As you were describing the pull of Islam, I kept on thinking of Brown (the female journalist who is a 'moderate' Islamic believer) and Cat Stevens (a longtime convert to Islam). How confused those two must be. They, unlike you, have decided to swallow their cognitive dissonance despite their intelligence and talent. How admirable that you can do what they can't do. It is not uncommon to get pulled into a religion, but it is much more rarer to be able to leave its nonsense and negativity behind. Kudos.

It was telling how easy it is to get pulled into something as stupid and dangerous as Islam. In part, it is because religion in general, that is faith, is given such deference in our societies. It is regarded as a safe 'drug.' Well, it is not.

Your former state of mind which you described so well and so clearly reminds me of others who have been inducted into so-called cults. It is programming, pure and simple. The main religions get away with it because you see faith, that is belief without evidence, is regarded as a wonderful, marvelous thing instead of the pile of merde that it is.

Others will be influenced positively by you in the way you have been by Richard. Courageous clear thinkers just get better.