Coming from a non-religious background and growing up in your standard secular Christian country, I never realise just how much religion is embedded in the history and culture of Western society. I don't think someone coming from the East will ever be able to fully understand it. The Pope could command kings for most of that history. People went to have crusades (properly armed as well, Eastern religions did fight with each other but not in armies as far as I can tell). When you marry, you don't just get married by the government, you also get married by your church.

All of those concepts and ideas would be completely alien in societies where Eastern religions operate like Buddhism or Taoism. I sort of get it since I kind of live in a country where the Western (actually let's just call them Middle Eastern = coz they are) religion does operate but not as intrusively as some other nations. 

When you look at the history of the world where the Judaic religions have eventually settled, that makes us Easterners like being stranded on a desert island. We seem to be the anomaly that the Judaic religions didn't touch until much later. So a lot of the thoughts and ideas of both sides will forever be lost in translation.

I picked the giggly one!

But as for my religious background, I grew up believing in God, going to Sunday School out of choice because I enjoyed it. I used to have chats with God while sitting on the loo - ha ha.
When I was 17 my sister (aged 9) died in a tragic accident. My faith in everything was gutted in one day.
I was angry with this so called God for a long time and we've never been friends since!
As I grew older (I'm 41 now), I became interested in Buddhism. It just seemed to click. But I never converted or anything, I just try to follow some of its principles.
Now I'm athiest, but hoping there might be something when we die. It would be nice to see sis again, and not to end as a consciousness. Maybe there is a consciousness 'collective' which we will re-connect to. But who knows until it happen.
I must also add that I do like churches. There is a strong spiritual side of me. When I enter a church I feel something but it has nothing to do with religion.