Thank you for sharing your story!

Nice essay. In your closer, I don't know that I'd characterize religion as THE driving force behind ALL war and "mistrust" (or really, tribalism). Because it's so entrenched, it's hard to tease out when religion is the cause or the symptom, or when it comes to things like war, the cause or the catalyst. In other words I think some of what goes off the rails in human interactions is not so much because religion wants it to, as that religion is used by the true power-mongers, or weaknesses fostered by religion are exploited.

For example in WW2, I think it's safe to say that various forms of nationalism / fascism are the root causes, and I don't know that the xenophobia that was exploited by Hitler and Mussolini were directly fomented by the religious. What I hold religion responsible in that case for was its moral impotence (not imparting their supposed superior morality to their members, thus serving as a true "leavening influence" on the host society so that such evil would be nipped in the bud; not standing up for what was right, or in the case of the RCC, actually making Faustian bargains with the regimes to protect its own interests, etc). But just the same -- that's a pretty huge moral failing of religion, all on its own.

I enjoy reading deconversion stories. Thank you for sharing yours.