Amen and amen. I came out of an agnostic household, started to become a Christian in college and after 46 years still am becoming one. It seems I cannot say the following often enough: A robust, living faith welcomes questions, can answer criticisms cogently, give mockery a pitying smile and ask the state only for neutrality. It is a brittle and moribund 'faith' that, ultimately, begs the state for help to quash questions, etc., and shore up its empty, or near-empty, shell.