I was raised in a strict Roman Catholic family; I have an aunt that is a nun, and my parents took us to church every Sunday. My maternal grandmother had converted to Catholicism so was a very passionate catholic, and would go to mass every day when possible.
I grew disenchanted with the church when I got to my teen years, seeing the hypocrisy of people who would attend mass, talk of turning the other cheek and loving others as yourself, yet would abuse and ridicule their own children, often in public.
I sat on the fence for quite some time; when I got married the first time my then wife came from an Anglican (Church of England Protestant) family, so we had an Anglican wedding with a Catholic priest there to give a blessing on the union.
My daughter was baptised as Anglican.
I have not regularly attended church services since my late teens.
I was on the cusp of turning completely atheist/agnostic when my father in law was dying from cancer. In desperation I went to the church my maternal grandmother had attended mass in and prayed for his recovery or loss of suffering.
It did not come.
His suffering worsened, and I gave up all belief.
Since that time I have been on an internal spiritual quest, finally settling on accepting Buddhist philosophies, and beliefs.
I believe in karma, I believe in reincarnation, and I believe in treating others with respect, dignity and compassion.
I think it is perfectly acceptable to believe this without having to believe in a creator or god of any sort.
If you were to ask the Dalai Lama, or the Buddha himself about the existence or otherwise of god, they would say your thinking is better used on things that are comprehensible, and that scientific evidence confirms.
I believe in Buddhism because it makes sense and is logical in an otherwise chaotic and disorganised world.
It took me a very long time and a lot of inner turmoil and conflict to get to this point.
I think many from religious families that stick to their belief do so, as to question their beliefs is to shake the foundations of their understanding of the world around them, and most minds are not strong enough to face the challenge this constitutes.
I think everyone should be free to believe what they wish, but if they want to question the beliefs of others they should not consider their own beliefs to be above question and discussion.
For myself, I may never truly be accepted as a Buddhist, as I would have to surrender to the triple diamond; the Buddha, the dharma (holy writings), and the sangha (Buddhist community); I'm too much of a non conformist and too cynical about the mind manipulation that goes on within religious organisations to conform and accept someone as a religious leader without question.
I blame a lifetime of questioning my former Catholic beliefs for this, but perhaps in a future life I will come back as a dedicated Buddhist.