My mom is very strongly active in a conservative Christian religion.

I left this church years ago. I never really felt that I belonged in it, even as a child. I only went because we had to. I knew no other way.

I am an adult now, but she still asks me why I don't want to go to church, and how I plan to raise my daughter. I don't know what to tell her to a) get her off my back and b) reassure her that I'm still a good person even if I don't go to any type of organized religion.

I'm not sure I believe in "God" per-se. I do believe that there is a higher power that controls our lives, and that things happen for a reason, but we don't always know the reason. Call it fate. I believe that people should do the right thing because it is the right thing to do, not because of fear of going to hell. I do believe that families are important, and that the hardest and most rewarding job in the world is being a mother - but, I also believe that some women were given different talents, and we should use those talents and desires the way we see fit.

If you were my mother, how could I explain all this to you without offending you? Is it even possible?