For me, it was kind of like taking off a pair of sunglasses you forgot you were wearing. Faith tends to put a tint on everything that after a while just becomes normal until you take off the glasses and see what the world actually looks like and you realize the sky IS blue and the grass IS green.

I was born into a religious family and on the outskirts of any serious involvement with a church…I never really “felt” anything as a kid or ever later despite summer camps and bible school, so it was just this weekly burden and this unnecessary layer of thought to wade through in everything I did, so when I started working my way out of religion it was a massive weight off my shoulders.

I still consciously do good where I can, still give to others in need, etc…I still try to be as kind and empathetic to people as I can regardless of their beliefs, but now with the knowledge that I’m doing it just because it’s what I believe is right to do, not because it’s tied to a rule book.

Well, it depends pretty heavily on price point. Assuming you’re looking at the middle-to-slightly-upper end EV market and have a Tesla Model 3 on your list, I’d suggest the Mustang Mach-E. Of the upper scale EVs I’ve driven, it’s honestly surprising how good this thing feels despite all the mental gymnastics involved in it being called a “Mustang.” Ford has honestly been killing it with their line of EV offerings, especially the interiors and controls. It’s so far one of the only ones I’ve driven where I’ve said I’d own one (if I could afford it.)

On the less expensive side of things, the Chevrolet Bolt kind of surprised me with how solid it felt as well. They’re way cheap even in comparison to even the Nissan Leaf (I have not driven a current gen Leaf but the older generation were AWFUL) and from what I’ve seen from the now dead Volt (I know, not an EV but the same general idea) Chevy seems to skew towards well-thought out, overengineered products in this category, unlike some of their traditional offerings. Side note: I think the issue with them catching fire is overblown and not unique to Chevy - it’s more a limitation of current battery tech and Ford, Tesla, and practically everyone else has had issues here too.

Kia’s EV6 and Hyundai’s Ioniq 5 also seem surprisingly nice, although they’re not exactly what I’d consider cheap. I can’t comment much more on them though because while I’ve been around them, I haven’t had the chance to really drive one yet, but I have driven a slightly older Kia Soul EV (not currently sold new in the States) and was blown away at how nicely appointed they were and how solid they felt for a subcompact, so I have to assume it’s an even better experience than that.

I’ve driven probably close to a hundred different Teslas and nearly every electric car currently on the market over my career working with cars, and I completely agree with this take even when you remove Elongated Muskrat and the semi-functional, utterly misrepresented Autopilot entirely from the equation. Sure, a Tesla (in proper working order) feels really good to drive, but practically every other electric car on the market (outliers being the Leaf and the Bolt) are working as hard as they can to capture that same experience and most are doing a really good job if not exceeding that standard. The only differences are that most other manufacturers have what I have to assume is a massively more robust design and engineering team, better quality control, and generally decades upon decades more experience in designing cars in general, and not taking advantage of that as a buyer is a pretty dumb move, especially when you start researching the myriad issues with Teslas. Sure, Tesla may have kickstarted the electric car market, but with all the current, similarly priced options on the market, buying a Tesla is purely for the status-symbol optics or because you actually buy into Elon’s BS, which is its own can of worms.