This is just a beginning for me in the blog world. I guess this is a good place to discuss my own experience, since this is the one I know the best.

Just so you know, I have been a Christian for over 30 years. I wasn't raised in a Christian home but found faith in Christ as a teenager. This may sound weird in the present post modern society we live in because most people are raised in a certain faith and then keep it come hell or high water. This was not my experience.

I understand a lot of Catholics  take on the faith of their family and culture, just the same way many Muslims do. They are born into their faith and then continue in it till death or marriage. Most families encourage their children to marry within their faith so that they can propagate their faith through their children- this happens in every religion.

As I said, this wasn't my experience, I didn't come to faith through my family. As a matter of fact my parents didn't encourage me to continue. As a matter of fact they thought I was insane because I spent a lot of time taking part in church life to the detriment of everything else. Is this normal? Probably for people new to a particular faith. I think many people don't study what is normative for believers in any religion but if you studied the actions and stages of any faith, I think you'll find that believers go through various stages of deepening of faith and crisis of faith.

I'm sure there's a good reason to do a psychological study of people belonging to certain types of groups, but I can tell you, over time, my faith is now deeper and more satisfying than when I first believed. The faith I have in Christ has gone through many crises, but because I've been through them, my faith is stronger. I kind of believe the maxim - what doesn't kill me - makes me stronger.