I was raised Catholic (surprise).

  Around 6th grade, I started deeply questioning what I was being taught. This was devastating - I was quickly becoming suicidal due to the cruelty of my (Catholic) classmates and the sense of a loss that comes with a 12-year-old thinking that there is this wonderful protective force/that force is no longer something that makes sense.

  Had I not lost my faith, I would be dead. The logic being that if I died, God would welcome me into heaven and my pain would go away. But without God, well, I may as well try to make something of this life thing.

  It's been 12 years since then. I graduated from MIT, became a software engineer, am engaged to the love of my life, and generally love life.

  All I can say to people struggling with the illogical, overpowering force of religion in their lives: It gets better. Get to 18, become self-sufficient/move away from your family when you can, discover a world where people are wonderful and don't need imaginary beings to be wonderful.