I am a product of the Roman Catholic Church. It was my birthright: my parents were Catholic, and so where my grandparents. The Church had a monopoly in the countries my mom and dad came from — Puerto Rico and Cuba, respectively.

So, even though I grew up in Manhattan — a vastly different island with countless other faiths to choose from — my parents, understandably, raised me Catholic. They baptized me, paid for Catechism classes, and sent me to Catholic schools, where the curriculum was infused with Church teachings. There, I also had to attend church with my class every Friday and still attend Mass on Sundays.

I like to say that I put in my time, spending years of my life understanding Church doctrine. But the perpetual hypocrisy of the Church gnawed at me until I decided I could not longer be a part of an institution that has not atoned for waging war in the name of Jesus, enslaving others, and its brutal treatment of Jews and other “non-believers.”

Read the rest of this blog entry on HuffPo: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cindy-rodr/why-fallen-catholics-like_b_531673.html