I did not grow up in a Christian family. My whole life changed when I as converted about 10 years ago. As I studied and learned more and more, many things surprised me, but perhaps nothing caught me more off-guard than a strange phenomenon I observed among "church folks." At the time I didn't know what to call it, but since then a couple of researchers have identified and named it Moralistic Therapeutic Deism. "What the heck is that?" you ask. It happens to be a preferred religion of Westen culture, which usually (and tragically) goes by the name Christianity.